Wandering Worldwide – Where to Next?

Forget someday, there’s no time to waste. Travel now. 

I’ve always been interested in traveling, but I never felt I was financially capable of acting on it. I remember seeing friends upload pictures from their study abroad and family trips to Europe and having sincere FOMO and deep, unbearble envy.

I settled for making it around the U.S. as I could – either visiting friends or physically moving my life somewhere new just to experience new places, see new things, learn new cultures, meet new people, and learn from it all. Life started in Melbourne, FL, and in my 27 years I’ve held residences in Colorado, California, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Florida again, Alabama, and now the fine state of Illinois!

Since moving to Chicago, I’ve shared the pains of many who live paycheck to paycheck struggling to balance paying off that wench Sallie Mae and buy groceries. Traveling didn’t seem like it would be an option for me for at least 10 years.

Then at a Sunday Supper @ 6, my friends encouraged me to forget about the money and go anyway. Heck, that’s what credit cards are for right? 😉 I wasn’t willing to put myself in a bad position financially, but I was determined to find a way to make it work – the wanderlust is strong in this one.

I did end up opening a credit card… one that accumulates flight miles so that I could apply them to international trips. I also started doing research of the top places I wanted to visit and figuring out how much I would need to get me there. I started living much less frivolously so that I wasn’t desperate for my bonus checks or income tax return. I decided that any additional income would become my travel bank and it’s worked out quite well for me. I didn’t exactly take my friends advice on the credit card, but I did act on their suggestion to just GO!

Since we had that chat, in early 2014, I’ve made it to some pretty cool places… and I’ve managed to do it within my financial constraints. Sallie’s still getting her checks and I’m still eating all the brussels sprouts Jewel Osco can supply.

These are the places I’ve checked off so far:

• 

  Columbus, Ohio

• Cozumel, Mexico
• Galveston, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Mackinac Island, Michigan
• Cinque Terre, Italy
• Florence, Italy

• 

  New Orleans, LA

• Phoenix, AZ
• Reykjavik, Iceland
• Rome, Italy
• San Antonio, TX
• Sarasota, FL
• Sedona, AZ
• Tuscaloosa, AL
• Venice, Italy
• … where to next?

So now I have to decide where to next? In the poll, I’ve listed some of the places I’ve been thinking about. Let me know what places were your favorite or what I have to see.