livingyourdreams – Need Coffee Will Travel

Hi there, today I wanted to focus on travel goals, because like all other goals, they deserve some attention to keep you feeling balanced! If you are like me, you dream of traveling on an almost daily basis. Maybe your sipping tea at an outdoor cafe in Paris, or cozying up to a roaring fire in a lakeside cottage….whatever you’re dreaming of, let’s try to make it a reality!

I wanted to talk about a few steps to think about in making your dream a reality, as well as a couple of my travel destination goals to help inspire you along the way!

My Travel Destination Goals

NEW YORK, NY

In the past year, I’ve researched some of New York’s top attractions, finding at least a handful of places I’d love to see! The city would be amazing at Christmas time as well. I also came across the lovely Library Hotel, which has bookshelves filled with books in its lobby, and each room. This cozy hotel also has lots of warm lighting, very clean and modern rooms, seating outdoors, and a lovely city view. How can you not fall in love?

The Library Hotel
New York Skyline

ESTES PARK, CO

I read about this town in a novel by Heather Graham called The Hidden. First of all, the book is amazing! Read if you love mystery, romance, and the paranormal! Second, the scenery in Estes Park sounded idyllic in the book, and upon looking it up, I definitely had to add it to my bucket list. The mountains and woodlands have amazing views, and allow for activities such as hiking and horseback riding.

PARIS, FRANCE

Paris Cafe
Eiffel Tower

It has been a dream of mine since I was about twelve to travel here! I want to see the Eiffel Tower, and walk the streets of the city, stopping along the way to eat a ton of macarons and drink lots of coffee. I’d also enjoy the shopping experiences Paris has to offer.

A Few Planning Steps

CHOOSING YOUR DESTINATION

What’s the place you’ve always talked about wanting to go? Make a top ten list of places you’d like to visit sometime in the near future. Try not to filter through them for elimination until after you’ve finished! Once you’ve got your list, start thinking about the additional factors. Which of these destinations would you really like to make a reality in the next two years? Which would bring you the most happiness and benefit you now, rather than later in life? Think about whether you’d like to travel alone or with other people.

WHAT’S YOUR BUDGET

A rather large factor in travel decisions is how much money you have to set aside for your adventure. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have much set aside now. If you are dreaming of traveling abroad, give yourself some time to save, you may be surprised once you’ve started your travel fund! After all, you’re making goals so you can plan and prioritize. No matter what, it’ll be the best feeling to be able to tell yourself I’m taking a trip to blank in a year and a half!

RESEARCH RESEARCH

This is one of my favorite parts. Look up your destination on major travel search engines and sites, and read up on tips from the experts and those who have traveled to this place. If you like books, buy one on your destination! Learn what each season has to offer, what are the peak seasons, what seasons are cheapest. Trying a quick destination search on Expedia will give you a list of hotels in each price range, top attractions, neighborhoods, airports, and types of lodging available. Doing the same on Kayak will give you a price range for each month on traveling to your destination, as well as cheapest flights, and specific airport tips. These are both great places to start, so you can branch out from the general stuff. Take notes!! You’ll probably forget what the name of that cool restaurant you wanted to go to was called. This will make it easier to get your itinerary in order and help you book hotels and airports close to your interests.

BOOKING (YAYYY!)

Once you’ve got an idea of things you want to do and places you want to see, you can zero in on a neighborhood that is the most central and cost effective for you. Personally, I like to be as close as possible to my destinations, so when it comes to cost I’m willing to pay a little bit extra to have the added convenience. Figuring out your mode of transportation is also an important factor. City travel is obviously much more central than going to a cottage near the mountains. Do you need to rent a vehicle or are you just needing a lift from the airport to your hotel?

Once you’ve got your list of points of interest and your hotel figured out, you’re ready to book! Make sure you look at different options-some travel sites offer bundled discounts for booking a flight, hotel, and car together. Do the math and see if this is cost effective for you, or if booking directly will get you a better deal. Make sure to read up on cancellation policies when booking through third parties also! Decide if travelers insurance is a smart choice for you. I often find that once the booking is done, there is a weight lifted off my shoulders. The dream has become a reality. The saving and planning is about to pay off!

PACKING

Try to give yourself plenty of time to pack! This way you can make a list, and do it little by little so you don’t try to do it all at once and forget some things in the rush to get it done. I like to start my packing a week or two before I leave for my adventure and do it in chunks. The day before, and the day of departure I check over my list to make sure I hit everything.

ENJOY YOUR ADVENTURE!

What are some of your dream destinations? Please share, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! I hope you enjoyed this post, and will visit me in the future for similar posts about travel, coffee, and inspirations! Thank you for reading!

Photo Sources Below:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city, https://libraryhotel.com/en/gallery.html, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/520376931929777884/ , https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/paris-for-the-first-time/paris-in-1-2-or-3-days/the-essentials/the-essentials2 , https://www.alltrails.com/us/colorado/estes-park, https://www.colorado.com/cities-and-towns/estes-park, https://blazepress.com/2015/10/the-30-most-beautiful-travel-destinations-on-earth/ , https://www.pinterest.com/pin/151855818668650252/, https://www.visittheusa.com/state/hawaii

Hi there, welcome to my first blog post! I would love to share with you the story of how I decided to take a leap of faith for myself, and go on the trip I’ve been dreaming of for the past couple years….and hopefully inspire you to do something for yourself too. You deserve it!

I have always had a fascination with travel, even from a young age; I have always loved the exhilaration of experiencing a completely new place. I believe each town, city, and village has a story to tell us.

With that being said, a few years ago, I decided to take a trip to Seattle with my mom for a weekend. Although it was a short time, there was just something about Seattle that drew me in. It felt like a home I had never known before, as strange as that may sound. That was two years ago, last year I returned for another weekend trip.

However, even though I had visited frequently, it still didn’t seem like enough. I still had an itch to go back. When I had free time, I’d find myself looking at Seattle apartments, restaurants, and current news….

Part of what fascinates me about Seattle is city life; I’m a small town girl. I felt the need to experience city life for more than a weekend. I often wondered what is would be like to live in a city, plus what’d be better than the one I had fallen in love with? And also as a lover of writing, this would be a great time for me to do some much needed time working on that.

Now, I definitely did NOT make this decision overnight!! Actually, I waited a little too long to act on it. I had been thinking about this for over a year before I actually took the leap of faith and did it. Why I don’t recommend waiting is because if you don’t live out what you dream of doing, you will feel unsatisfied with life. This happened to me all too quickly….I was unhappy with life in general, and I kept thinking to myself, you have so much to be grateful for so why do you feel like this?? I kept thinking what I could do differently.

This had been something I dreamed of doing, but felt extremely selfish for wanting it. Why? Because I had a relationship, an apartment, and a job that I felt I needed to put my daily effort into, and that it would be wrong of me to step away and do a trip by myself. I felt like everyone would blame me, like they would see it as an inconvenience. After having a long talk with my mom (bless her soul) she actually encouraged me, because she knew it was what I wanted/needed for myself.

After having a heart to heart with my mom, it was a little easier to bring it up to others. Although it came as a shock to everyone, no one discouraged me from doing it because I told them the honest truth: This is what I need to be happy. And I need to choose to be happy. People definitely try to understand that. I felt really bad telling my boss I had to leave my job, even had an embarrassingly tearful conversation with him, but I am very glad that I did, and was able to part on good terms.

Now, with saying that everyone was pretty encouraging, I know that this may not happen for everyone! Maybe they think this is a crazy inconvenience. BUT, I’m telling you that you can do this! You need to do this, because you deserve to do what makes you happy. Everyone deserves to make decisions for themselves that will give them inner peace.

Everyone has things they want to accomplish, but what if you stopped thinking of them as “those things” and start making a plan to do them? Maybe you can’t do it tomorrow, but when is the soonest you can? Following a dream can be logical!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and encourage you to check out more of my posts in the future about travel and more! Feel free to comment or contact me with your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you!