Day 1. How come you travel so much?

Today I'm starting a 30-day blogging challenge inspired by Sarah Arrow to practice my writing skills and train my blogging muscle that got a little wobbly recently due to the lack of free time, inspiration, cookies and warm squared blanket, you name it. So I thought I would sign up for this 30-day marathon to see what I'm capable of, and here I am!



The first task was to write about the question I get asked the most. Since I'm an ardent traveler with 40 countries visited, naturally the most frequent question I hear is, 'How do you travel so much?'. I work full-time and only have a 28-day annual leave; yet my husband and I manage to squeeze at least two long trips into a year and a number of smaller ones.



Here are some ideas for those who would like to start exploring more of our beautiful world:

  • Use your vacation to the fullest. Sometimes adding one or two days in between public holidays might help you turn them into a whole one-week vacation. For instance, we normally have May 1 and May 9 as days off. Taking two or three vacation days between these two public holidays helped us turn the beginning of May into a 10-day vacation!


  • Search for cheap flights on forums and dedicated websites. For instance, Winsky Forum might come in handy for Russian speakers. Other resources include Fly for Free and Holiday Pirates.


  • Once you see a cheap ticket, BUY IT RIGHT AWAY! Don't wait for your friends to discuss it hoping the cheap tickets are still going to be there. Unfortunately, they are probably not, not until after lunch, not even for an hour. If you see a ticket that is abnormally cheap, chances are there might have been a bug on the airplane's website which is going to be fixed soon, and webmasters are definitely not going to let you take advantage of that.


  • Pick your dream destination. We all probably want to see all 195 countries but setting your target will help you focus on the thing that matters most to you. Have you always wanted to visit Thailand or Samoa? Start planning ahead!


  • How do you plan your travels? Share your helpful tips!