In 2018, I traveled to nine countries while still holding down a full time job. And while I had to slow down this year because I moved across the country, I’m still going to Jordan and Israel in October, Spain in November and exotic Chicago in December. Traveling while working nine to five is real, guys.

I don’t do anything crazy to make traveling this much happen. I haven’t picked up a shady side gig, and I’m not bribing my bosses with the promise of strange souvenirs. I’ve just developed a few strategies and have carefully planned my year around them. Easy peasy.

So how do I do it? Let’s dig in!

1. Take redeye flights!

Redeyes (AKA: overnight or ungodly early flights) are my go-to flights because they save me so much time. To go to Jordan and Israel, for example, I’ll be going straight to the airport from work on a Friday evening. Like, your girl is going to take her big ass backpack to the office, and at 6pm, will clock out and go to Jordan.

Obviously I’m not doing this for the great night of sleep in an economy seat. I’m taking that flight so that I won’t use a precious day of vacation time while sitting on a plane, fighting for elbow room. By booking that overnight flight, I’ll arrive in a new country on Saturday and have the weekend ahead of me. And I won’t have used a single hour of PTO. I’m taking a weekend morning redeye home, again to skip using PTO for something as dumb as an uncomfortable flight.

Total PTO used for Jordan and Israel : Ten days
Total time abroad: 11 days, not including travel days

**Warning – I’ll be the first to say that this depends on your tolerance for discomfort. And your willingness to have bags under your eyes so big that they could be checked bags of their own. But for travel? It’s worth it to me. I just bring face masks with me. ;)**

2. Put paid holidays to good use. 

These are free days as far as I’m concerned, and I build my trips around them when possible. Take Thanksgiving for example; this year, I have both Thanksgiving Thursday and the following Friday off as paid holidays. Obviously, that’s followed by the weekend, which brings us to four days off. These days are begging to be put to good use! By taking a half day Wednesday to fly out of New York, and the following Monday to return home, I’m going to have four full days in Barcelona. (I know this contradicts my point above, but I wanted the extra day in Barcelona, so it was worth it to me.)

Total PTO used: one and a half days
Total time abroad: four full days, not including travel

(Adding up both trips I’ve just described, that’s roughly 12 days of PTO for three countries!! Have just two weeks off per year? You can still do both of those trips, just shave a day or two off of either one. You can still see three countries in one year!)

3. Put your weekends to good use!

You’ve probably noticed a trend from the above – booking travel around the weekends. I always do this to use fewer PTO days. But you can also take a few quick two, three or four day trips by using Fridays and/or Mondays to lengthen your weekends. An example? It was pretty easy to drive from San Diego to Ensanada, Mexico (about half an hour south of Tijuana), I had a great couple days and didn’t use any PTO to do so!

4. A SUPER unique way I built travel into my year: paid volunteer time!

If your employer offers paid volunteer time, see if you can use that abroad. I used three days of paid volunteer time in Guatemala. By using that time, redeye flights and scheduling around the weekends, I used just two days of PTO for an 8 day trip to Guatemala. THAT. IS. CRAZY.

In summary, I don’t blackmail my boss, or pull any other crazy stunts to travel. I just manipulate my own schedule and utilize my company’s benefits and policies to stretch my vacation time. That’s all! Using those simple tactics, I’m easily going to three countries in the next few months.

And if you have more than just two weeks of PTO, all of these practices still apply. That’s how I was able to travel SO much in 2018.

If you need any help planning, let me know! Happy flying!