Grow Rich In Experiences: The 9 Vacation Styles
Don’t just create wealth, EXPERIENCE it.
Life is NOW (and it goes quick). Create memories you’ll never forget with people you love (or just go solo)!
As a Financial Planner, I love seeing my clients spend money, but only if it adds to the bottom line of their lives… and doesn’t derail their other financial goals too badly ;)
Rather than spending your money on ‘things,’ invest in experiences making memories with the people you love or on a solo trip where you’ll learn a side to yourself you may have never seen before. Investing in experiences & relationships will help lead you to living a fuller, happier life, and make you feel alive as ever. This holds true in both the fun and the challenges travel brings, it all shapes you to be a wiser more open minded person.
If you’re ready to create new memories, consider these nine vacation styles.
1. Adventurous Vacations
Do you have a bit of a wild side and don’t want to do the typical ‘touristy things’? Step out of your comfort zone and take adventurous vacations.
Think of things like white water rafting, safaris in Africa, hiking half dome in Yosemite, deep sea dives, road tripping the California coast, Alaska cruises, exploring the North East during the fall, swimming with whale sharks in Mexico, or anything else that has interested you but you have yet to do. Do your research and find vacations that sound thrilling, and give it a try.
Sound too expensive? Consider road trips, camping trips, staying with a friend, or using flight rewards to cover the cost of flights to signficantly reduce travel costs.
2. Work-cations
Work for a company where you travel for work? Extend your trip a few days after the work ends, you owe yourself time to explore and make new memories. Maybe you can even bring someone with you or have them meet you when the work part of the trip ends.
If you work remote, do remote work weeks in beautiful exotic places at co-living spaces like Selina hat have locations all around the world. These spaces provide accommodation and coworking space and are a great place to meet tons of other travelers.
If it’s somewhere you’ve been, take advantage of knowing the area and either explore new things or do your tried-and-true favorites, giving yourself a break before you go back to the hustle. Life goes quickly, opportunities like this shouldn’t be passed up.
3. Solo Self-Care Travel
Traveling is about self-care, but sometimes the entire trip needs to be focused on YOU. Consider it a retreat, a time to find yourself, or a healing journey. Whatever you call it, the trip is bound to transform you somehow.
There are retreats geared toward certain goals, such as finding a new career or healing from the loss of a loved one, or you can vacation to a spa, or other healing vacations, such as meditative retreats, or there are specific group retreats (i.e. for entrepreneurs, first time travelers, etc) that connects you with a whole array of likeminded people.
Get out of your bubble, experience the world. If you go solo the discomfort may be higher, but so too will the personal growth!
4. Friend-cations
Hit up a friend that lives in a city you’ve always wanted to see! Or find somewhere in between you both want to see and and meet up!
You can do friend-cations with family or without. For example, if you want to do a girl’s trip, plan a trip to Nashville or a spa, meet up and make new fun memories. You can also meet up with other families and have large gatherings. The more, the merrier, right?
This option even works if your friends live near you, but you just need time away. You’ll make new memories and see a different side of your friends.
5. Show-cations
Do you love live music? Is your favorite band playing a few cities or states away? See your favorite band live and a new city at the same time in one trip, two birds with one stone!
Do you spend a lot of time binge-watching your favorite shows? Make travels out of it to see the areas the shows were filmed. Head to Northern Ireland for Game of Thrones; Astoria Park in NYC for Orange is the New Black or West Berkshire England for Downtown Abbey. Relive your favorite scenes in the shows and take in the other sites and sounds in the area. It will be a thrilling and memorable trip, especially if you travel with other die-hard fans and get to travel to countries like Ireland!
6. GOAT Vacations
GOAT = Greatest Of All Time. What’s that one vacation on your bucket list you never did, have always dreamed of doing, but convince yourself it’s too costly/time consuming, etc to make happen. Well, life is now, and it passes QUICK. Don’t live in a “one day” mindset, there’s no better time than now to plan that GOAT trip. Think about which vacation would give you memories that would last a lifetime, ones you’d smile at on your death bed. That’s the one you need to budget and plan for, no matter how extravagant.
You only live once; if you budget properly, you can make your dreams come true and cross that item off your bucket list. Connect with others who have similar interests, live boldly, and make their dream trips happen. You’ll rarely regret your decision to do bucket list items, as long as it doesn’t derail your other financial goals too heavily.
7. Pet Vacations
Your pet might not need a vacation, but you do and if you don’t want to leave FIDO behind, bring him on your travels! Today, many accommodations are pet-friendly. Some even encourage you to bring your pets.
Look around at your options. You might be surprised to find venues that even pamper your pets – making them feel at home.
8. Romance Vacations
Romance vacations had to make our list, right? Whether you have children or not, you must get away from the hustle and bustle of life and focus on yourselves. Think about something you both love to do and make it happen.
This trip should be about romance, with romance packages included in your hotel stay and even other accommodations. But most importantly, it should include time alone for the two of you to reconnect before you head back into the craziness of life.
9. Travel With a Parent
You are never too old to travel with your parents; honestly, traveling with your parent as an adult allows you to get to know them in a whole new perspective. You’ll create memories that will last your lifetime that you might not have fully appreciated as a teenager. To treat your parents to a trip like this, after all they’ve done for you, might be even more special to you.
When you’re in a different atmosphere, you learn things about your mom or dad that will improve your relationship and give you memories to treasure for a lifetime. It can be an adventurous vacation, laid-back, or something in between. The key is to spend time together doing what you both love.
Final Thoughts
We all spend money, but is the money you’re spending having a high impact on your life? Spending money on trips, even if extravagant, is a wonderful way to make memories and live a more fulfilled life. It’s a way to feel alive or recharge when life begins to feel like a hamster wheel. Re-think you spending to shift from low impact spending on “stuff” to high impact spending on “experiences and relationships”.
You can’t be robbed of memories; they’ll stay with you in a way material things never do.
Find balance between an epic today and a secure tomorrow. If you want to make your money work for you so you can travel more,
schedule a free 30 minute call with me here. I help young families and professionals better understand how to grow their wealth AND spend it (with higher impact).
San Diego Financial Advisor | Fee-only Fiduciary
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