About

Takeyourbigtrip.com is a site dedicated to you…you dreamer, you traveler, you. You have travel dreams and it’s time to live them! Take Your Big Trip is a resource of tips, itineraries, advice, and photos to inspire you to get out and travel, be it around the world or around your city.

What I share with you is what I would tell my friends and family. My hope is that these posts inspire you to take your own Big Trip or take a second and third…

I believe you can live your travel dreams. Yes, you can.

 

About Kristin

taj mahal india

I am a chronic world traveler. I left one life in 2008 – a life of expectations and corporate ladder climbing – to live my life’s dream: travel around the world. The first big trip was to India and Nepal, the second to the Middle East, and the third back to India, around Southeast Asia. In between trips, I always knew that I had to travel again. My professional experience paid off and I consulted with Fortune 500 clients in between trips, saved money, lived frugally and headed back out.

After the third one I settled down in San Francisco. I chose this city because of it has an incredible soul – it’s internationally diversity, full of quirky neighborhoods, and economic opportunity. Now, I travel around the city, writing about its treasures and all the day trips.

Paying for Long-Term Travel

I funded my trip from savings and then used my professional experience to find consulting gigs in the US to pay for a several months of travel. I chose destinations where the dollar went further – like India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East – and also minimized air travel and tours. Also, I found that having more time meant that I could save more because I traveled slower and took the time to find the best deals on hotels and transport.

I budgeted with a “top-down” approach, deciding where I wanted to go and then estimating costs to get an idea of how much I would need to save.

  • India and Nepal for three months cost $6000
  • Middle East and Spain for two and a half months cost $7,000
  • India, Southeast Asia, Morocco, and Italy for four months cost $9000

Those numbers include everything – visas, transportation, tours, tourist activities, mailing home gorgeous gifts, etc.  I worked three to seven months between trips to earn and save enough for each.

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Deciding Where to Go

To decide where to go, I looked within and thought – where have I always wanted to go. The 1999 National Geographic Traveler “50 Trips of a Lifetime” Issue has always been a dream list and I visited a good amount of destinations on short vacations, not really experiencing them beyond a great picture and a check mark on the list.

in 2008, I decided to go to India to open my heart and created an itinerary that gave me experiences to do so – volunteering, spiritual classes, and lots of nature time. I’d always wanted to see the Pyramids and Petra, so that became the foundation for my Middle Eastern trip.

When I start thinking of a trip, I always ask myself, “Where have I always wanted to go?” and what comes to mind first is where I start to think about and research.

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My Travel Style

I traveled mostly solo and or with Intrepid Travel for two-week introductions to a country. In country, I traveled by train, plane, bus, shared jeep, on the back of a motorbike, and walked a lot. I varied between staying in one place and exploring the area and going from place to place on the backpacker circuit. Sometimes, I found the latter to be quite exhausting and more of a checklist than an experience.

I stayed in youth hostels, homes, at volunteer lodging, with friends and in hotels. It was a balance of major tourist sights and blending into local activities. In India and Egypt, just getting a hotel room felt like an adventure. I’d use local transport when possible – the Kolkata bus lines, the Kerala ferries or the Metro in Cairo.

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Dealing with Challenges While Traveling

When I started to travel, I had a really hard time letting go of the urge to develop an itinerary and go with out an organized schedule. I fought and fought this urge to NOT plan and just kept getting in trouble: sleepless nights, wasted money, and worry.  The beauty of traveling long term is that there is no need for a schedule, just intentions and a loose outline. Once I let go of everything about one month into my first trip, this beautiful serendipity flowed in. I had richer, more surprising experiences than I could have planned.  It took a lot of sheer will for me, but I stuck to it and it worked!

Safety: As a woman traveling alone, I followed some key guidelines that kept me safe: stayed in at night, covered my arms and legs, didn’t smile at strange men, and stayed close to ladies when I could. I also lied and said I had a husband. I had only one instance where my safety was compromised. It was in Luxor, Egypt and a man started touching my arm and saying some pretty inappropriate things. I yelled “GET AWAY” and he did.

I got scammed a bunch of times too, that took some time to get over. I learned compassion and forgiveness for myself and others in the whole process

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How These Big Trips Changed Me

It’s hard to sum up how living my travel dreams has changed me. Overall, I feel like I’m no longer wearing a heavy winter jacket of a life I don’t want. I trust myself and have the faith that if I follow what’s in my heart, everything works out. I entered long-term travel with a lot of fears – specifically fears that I would come of out this with a terrible time, no job, and no money and have to live with my parents forever. Everyday, this fear was eroded – the time while traveling felt like the most true experience I’d ever had – it was the first time in my life where I felt that, yes, this is what I was meant to do.

When I came home multiple times, the fear of no money/no job/live with parents awaited me at the entry gate. Each time, the fear was  less and less – I found jobs and apartments quickly on my return. I now trust myself and believe that because I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, everything will be OK.

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So what are you waiting for? I did went out on a big trip and thrived. Now, you can to.

If not now, when?

If not you, who?

Learn More About Take Your Big Trip

iSeeiTravel, an organization dedicated to conscious travel, interviewed me about TakeYourBigTrip. Check out the interview here.

 

Feel free to contact me at any time at kristin@takeyourbigtrip.com.  I also have a professional page and travel writing portfolio.