To travel is to live!

During my 27 years of life, I have traveled over 70,000 miles by air alone so far, not to mention the MANY other trips by bus, train and car. I still have over 10,000 miles of travel left in the remaining months of 2014. I am officially moving 5,000 miles away to Oahu, Hawaii in the beginning of 2015. And in case you're wondering, yes, I am 100% nerdy enough to calculate this shit. The point is. I like to travel and for my age, I have definitely done quite a bit so far. 

Within the last couple years, I’ve been doing a considerable amount more traveling. The main reason for this is because I took care of my grandma for several years before she passed in January 2013, and it made me realize how unbelievably precious and short life really is. I made a vow to myself to make every day count and that by any means necessary, I would go after my true passion in life, which is to travel and explore new cities, countries and cultures. The loss of the most important person in my life was devastating and is still hard to deal with almost two years later. However, in a way, it’s really become inspiration and motivation for me to live life to the fullest, even if just for my grandma and to make her proud.

So I just go for it. I decide where I want to go, and somehow I make it happen. It doesn’t have to cost a lot or be a huge deal either. Once you begin traveling on a frequent basis, it actually becomes a quite simple routine. If I don’t say so myself, I have become quite a pro at booking cheap trips, planning, packing, and the entire travel/flight/airport ordeal. So I've decided to dedicate this blog to my passion by sharing my experiences and travel tips. I am constantly researching travel info and reading excellent travel blogs written by real experts and nomads who make my travels look elementary. Plus I have gained some good experience myself so far. So due to popular demand, I’d like to put it all together and shade if here!

To start, I want to address the MANY inquiries I have been receiving from very curious people. I seriously cannot even count how many times I’ve gotten questions like “How do you afford it?” “Do you have a hook-up or something?” “Which website do you use?” “Who is your travel agent?” “Can you help me plan/book a trip?” This kind of baffles me since while I have been getting around and traveling about once a month, I travel no way near as much as REAL jet-setters and world travelers. I'm a peon in the scheme of things. So I'm a little surprised at these inquiries. I have even had people ask me some of these questions WHILE I am on a trip, as if I should stop my vacation and help them with theirs. Kind of blows my mind.

For the record… This may sound kind of mean, but I need to make this clear. I am NOT a travel agent, nor do I use one that I can recommend. I am not here to book your trips or plan your vacations. Sorry! I spend a LOT of time researching my plans and monitoring prices for my own trips. I have a full-time job just like everyone else, so I simply cannot do that for others, and can't even imagine how others expect someone else to anyway. However, there are numerous travel agencies and online resources available for you. I am more than happy to share my tips/advice, and I don’t mind helping people out (which is what I'm hoping to do here) but this is something you have to do yourself and will get better with in time, just as I did!

Listen. There is NO magic tricks or secrets to this thing. If you want to plan epic and unforgettable trips, it takes time and effort. But it doesn’t have to be as complex as people think it is. If you really want something, you make it happen. If you set your mind on going somewhere, you will find a way. Simple as that. You can put it off and keep saying “one day I will go there” or “someday when I have more money” but guess what? That may never come. Before you know it, you will be older or in a situation where you're unable to do those things, and will live to regret it. That is why I decided to change my approach and attitude, and I realized how feasible and affordable travel can be if you really want it bad enough.

So for those who share my passion for travel and want to know what advice I have to offer, this is for you. I have quite a few helpful tricks and pieces of advice I’ve picked up along the way that may be able to help or assist others. Stay tuned!