We are heading up to Denver this afternoon in preparation for our flight to Quito, Ecuador, tomorrow. We almost always stay at a hotel in order to save on the cost of parking. This was a post that we previously shared regarding using hotels to avoid airport parking fees.
Almost every blogger’s dream is to turn their passion into a career that can pay the bills and fulfill their desires, whether that is traveling, cooking, or some other interest. We certainly have not found the secret of success, but we do get a definite sense of satisfaction through all of the interactions that we have had during the two years since we started our site. Blogging has definitely changed the way that we travel, the way that we take photographs, the way that we view our experiences. We have found it important to have a schedule and keep to that schedule when it comes to sharing our adventures. So, as we prepare to leave for Ecuador in seven days, we have been having conversations about how we can keep up with our usual routine and whether we should even be worrying about that.
So, that begs the question, has traveling become a job for us? Do we feel a responsibility to fill our trips with interesting destinations, locations, excursions that we can write about or do we do them just because we want to and if we can write about it, then fine? The reality is that it is probably a little bit of both. We do think about whether or not something might be of interest to everyone that we’ve connected with, but we are also consumed by seeing and learning about new and different things. One of the biggest differences is that when we traveled in the past, we would have carried a camera and nothing else. Now we take an assortment of electronic equipment with us and getting through security can be a challenge at times.
If you are doing what you love, then you aren’t really working is true, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t work. We enjoy visiting places that we haven’t been before, meeting people with a different culture than ours, and trying regional foods. We have “real” jobs, but there is a reason that we take time every day to focus on connecting with other travelers. So, perhaps traveling has become work for us, but if it has, then it is work that we love and if we could make that our only job, we would do that in a heartbeat. What do you think, how much of what you do to create your stories is work and how much is simply what you would do even if you didn’t share it with the world?
Many of the travelers that we meet have very specific goals that they would like to achieve from their travels. We’re not talking about bucket list items, like visiting a specific place, but these are bigger goals. Some people have goals like 30 countries before the age of 30 or traveling to all 50 states in America. Perhaps you want to visit all of the countries that make up your ancestry or maybe you want to visit all countries that make up the European Union.
Our goal is going to be difficult to achieve, especially since we started traveling later in life. We want to make it to all seven continents. At this point, we have been to five of the seven continents with Australia and Antarctica left. We have been looking at going to New Zealand in early 2018, but it isn’t technically part of Australia, but is part of Oceania, which includes the islands that surround Australia. In order to keep it official, we are now looking at combining Australia and New Zealand into the same trip next year.
Just because we have a goal to go to all seven continents, that doesn’t mean that it limits our travel choices, it just enhances them. We have smaller goals, like exploring more of Central and South America, which is why we are going to Ecuador in September. Obviously, we had been to Europe before, but that didn’t stop us from seeing as much of it as possible during the time we stayed in Germany. Travel is rewarding in and of itself, but sometimes having a goal can give you something to focus on or to help push your boundaries.
What is your travel goal? Is there something specific that you hope to achieve through your travels?
