For a lot of people their immediate answer is “YES!”. I prefer to travel for a week or two and then return home. What do you think of when imagining traveling for months at a time? There is a wide range of thoughts anywhere from constantly on the go living as a nomad like Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere or Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt to traveling in Europe for six weeks and returning home.
My personal preference depends on where I’m traveling. If I’m traveling in or near the United States I like to go somewhere for up to two weeks and then return home to re-group and comprehend the recent experience. Also, I like the comforts of home in between new experiences. If I’m traveling overseas to Europe or Asia than two weeks is the minimum. My general guidelines come from the length of time it takes to get someplace.
Ideally I would like to go someplace new once every other month. There can be a lot involved in planning and executing a trip such as places to stay, air, passports and visas, ect. so some downtime in between is often helpful. There are some limitations to traveling like this. Trips are packed with more to do in less time because time is limited and it is more difficult to say I will do or see that tomorrow and stay in a location for a few extra days. This is of course an assumption since I have never really experienced the nomadic lifestyle. The costs are higher due to traveling home and then off to another destination as well as the expense of keeping a home which means maintaining a job.
I use to believe that traveling from one destination and going to the next one would be great. Now… I would have to give up a lot of things I enjoy with having a home, family, and work so I choose to travel on occasion. Another belief of mine is that travel is a great lifetime of adventures. Traveling for a few years straight can lead to getting burned out after a year or two reducing the enjoyment of the next adventure. Getting burned out is something I have read from travelers who have been on the road for an extensive amount of time. I know, many of us would like to give it a try. There are many new experiences and adventures that I look forward to from completing the National Parks Monopoly Board to diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Keeping that travel excitement and anticipation is part of exploring a different area.
Traveling is great but returning to a home is re-assuring. Maybe not returning to a job though.
It may be difficult to learn wha the world has to offer from a few weeks of vacation a year. Not enough time to immerse in a culture.
That can really depend on what you are looking for out of travel and your willingness to communicate with local people during your time with them. If you aren’t willing to talk to the people around you than months will be difficult to learn the culture. On the flip side, a week can be a lot of time if you engage with your surroundings.
I’d like to just go somewhere once.
You can’t stop at one once you’ve traveled somewhere.
I agree. I like returning home to a familiar place and spending a lifetime to explore.
To just keep going would be nice.
I love the idea of traveling for months or even years. You make some good points for going for only a few weeks also. For me, I want to discover a new way of life!
Go get it!
I can’t decide if I would like to travel for months or years at a time or just a few weeks a year. Having a place to come back to is really nice. Not sure I would want to get rid of that.