Hey everyone! Happy Monday. This past weekend was a very lazy one, and I don’t think I got much done. I have been sick for the past week, and I’m hoping that I’ll start feeling better soon.
The weather has been great lately, but it’s been all over the place. It keeps switching from 90 degrees to 45 degrees which means that my allergies are horrible right now.
FinCon is this week and I am super excited. It’s my first blogging conference and I can’t wait to meet everyone. I hope everyone is ready for St. Louis because it will be pretty crazy considering everything that is going on with the Cardinals and baseball right now.
We have been thinking about travel a lot lately. Soon we will be going to Chicago to visit my family, and then we are going to St. Thomas.
Hopefully Colorado and a bunch of other states will be on our agenda for this year also. We have really been thinking about doing some long-term travel, but I guess I’m a little nervous as well. It just seems like there is so much to plan, and the expense of long-term traveling just seems crazy as well. Are you preparing for long-term travel? What’s something that I should know? What’s your favorite travel blog?
Spending
I don’t think we have bought much in the past couple of weeks. However, I do plan on buying a new laptop soon, as I need something a little more reliable. My current Mac isn’t doing exactly what I want it to do, and it’s pretty old also.
Food spending has still been pretty low. We spent $150 yesterday but that will last us awhile, and it included dog food.
Business Income:
Business income has been going very well. And I have added two decent-sized gigs to my business this month already. I am still thinking about how I will be more safe/secure with publicly publishing my business income. What do you think I should do?
I do plan on increasing my business even further, as I don’t know what I would do with all of my free time. I’m used to working, and I like to keep busy!
If anyone needs any help, check out my Hire Me page and let me know what services you are interested in. Lately, a few other website owners have asked me to help run their website while they are gone for just a month or two, so this is a new service that I am also offering. If you are starting a new job, about to have a baby, want to do some long-term travel or something else, please let me know.
Being healthy
Being healthy has not been going the greatest. I have been doing okay with eating healthy, but I honestly don’t think I’ve worked out in weeks. It doesn’t help that I’ve been sick for the past week, so working out is not something that I want to do at all.
I’m really hoping to switch this around soon. I just hope I start feeling better!
Wedding Planning
I have hardly done anything related to the wedding in a very long time. All I have paid for is the dress and the photography, and the wedding is in less than 8 months. AHH!
I think I will be choosing a very light peach for our main wedding color. The girls will each be choosing their own dress, and I’m pretty open as to whatever they want, as long as it’s all the same length and a similar material.
My goals for this month include finishing the save the dates, and looking for a caterer. And a DJ. And find a tent, chair, and table rental company. The other things can wait a little bit longer.
Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?
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Michelle, you should TOTALLY take the leap towards long term travel. I highly recommend it and you have no reason to worry about funds as you seem to making a killing doing what you’re doing. While many seem to think that it’s expensive, it’s far from it. Of course, it also depends on where you want to go, what your style of travel is (budget, mid-range, luxury, slow travel) and so on.
I’ve been traveling full-time since May of 2010. This past March my girlfriend quit her job and joined me on the road. We spent six months living in Thailand and now we’re getting ready to wrap up a two month stint in Europe before heading home to visit our fam for a few weeks.
On December 17th, we’re flying down to Mexico City to explore for a few weeks before making our way down to the Yucatan to find an apartment for the next 5-6 months. We’re yearning for the beach!
The biggest question you’ll want to ask yourselves is whether you want to be constantly on the move (which is EXHAUSTING), or if you’re interested in slow travel which gives you the opportunity to settle into a place, get to know the locals, culture, cuisine and more. It also allows you to have a “home” and be able to take off on road trips around the region, and explore your destination versus simply passing through it.
While I enjoy traveling to new places, I must admit that after visiting more than 35 countries in the last few years, I’m pretty burnt out. 2013 has been an amazing change of pace for me as we spent a good chunk of time settling into Thailand, making tons of new friends, getting into a good fitness routine and more.
Nowadays I like a mixture of slow travel and normal, faster paced travel. I’d say 6-8 months in a location, followed by a couple months of on-the-go travel, followed by a few visits to see the fam would be the perfect recipe for a kick ass life!
I highly recommend that you do some traveling and then find yourself a home base and explore your surroundings. 😉
Remember, life is short. Don’t keep putting off your dreams…
Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message!
You win comment of the month Ryan! Haha I love when readers leave such thoughtful comments 🙂
We definitely want to start traveling more. I guess I am just hesitant because we have a house and two dogs, and we would want someone reliable to take care of them.
Yay! LOL. I hope you know that I have an answer for every excuse you make for not following your dreams of traveling the globe! 😉
Fortunately, for you, there are websites that will solve all of your home and animals needs. You may or may not have heard of these but I’ll go ahead and list them anyway. Check out: trustedhousesitters.com, housecarers.com, and mindmyhouse.com. All of these websites have qualified house and pet sitter that are eager to take care of your home and animals on the drop of a dime. Many of them are slow travelers who are looking for their next destination to settle into for a few months. Of course, you will want to do some research before choosing your ideal sitter but that’s a given.
Feel free to contact me anytime!
Thanks! But I am a crazy dog momma, and I don’t trust my pets with anyone. Someone dog sat for us once and our dog died, so I am very reluctant when it comes to things like that.
Wow, that is terrible! So sorry to hear that. Have you ever thought of taking the dogs along with you? I’m sure it’s not the easiest thing in the world but it can be done.
Agree with Pauline – you’d need to travel slow. (The slower you go, the lower your daily expenses and you can get some good accommodation deals through Airbnb etc) I have hardly blogged since we hit the US as it’s been go go go and am at the end of my scheduled posts! I’d say maybe dip your toes in – maybe travel somewhere for a couple of weeks, or do a trip for like a month to a couple of places and see how you like it. (Obviously somewhere with good internet! ) It can be pretty draining. Honestly, I’m a bit exhausted, and I think we’ll be going home at just the right time. This time next month we’ll be back in Auckland!
Yeah, I don’t think I could travel too quickly. That would be tiring!
I’ve been ill for over a week too! I hope you get better soon!
Long term travelling is something that I plan on doing in a couple of years. First, I need to save for it though! I can see why it can be a bit scary, but I’m sure you will not regret it!
Thank you Eva!
I hope you feel better soon! The weather has been up and down here, too, and my allergies are having none of it. As for long term travel, I think you can do it. You have had a lot of discipline to be able to work full time and build up an online business, so I think it’s possible for you to do whatever you set your mind to. Traveling but acting as a local is always a great tip to make it more affordable.
Great to see that your business income has been steady over the last few months. Hope it keeps growing in the months to follow !