What travel I'm prioritizing in 2024
There's more world than there is time and money
Coming out of the pandemic, I prioritized travel throughout 2023 to make up for lost time - a cancelled trip to Paris in July 2020, no annual birthday trips for a few years, and friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I previously reflected on a summer full of travel, where I was home for barely two weeks total in June and July.
Following that was a slow period; besides a few weekend road trips and a work obligation, I’ve been living a “normal” life at home so far this fall. But I typically travel a lot between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, so I’m already gearing up for a busy fall. And that has me thinking about how I prioritize travel throughout the year, and how I’ve already had to set those priorities for 2024.
Knowing my travel boundaries
I’m also looking ahead to 2024, and I know that the amount of travel I did in 2023 is not sustainable, both financially and time. In fact, I’ve already allocated nearly all of my PTO for 2024 to a few big trips, instead of a lot of smaller trips or work-cations like I did this year.
Personally, I prefer trips that are around a week long. It’s enough time for me to decompress from work and everyday life, but also a reasonable amount of time to pack for. Much shorter and while I’ll enjoy myself, I never find myself feeling fully relaxed. Too much longer and I inevitably run out of some toiletries (CVS, have all my money) or don’t have enough outfits to account for the changing temperatures (see: the number of souvenir sweatshirts in my closet). I also need to build breaks into my longer trips, but the feelings of guilt sometimes creep in when I do that.
Making an exception for a once in a lifetime opportunity
The trip I’m going to be pushing myself the most through in 2024 is the Olympics. I’m stoked to be able to go (I lived in France when Paris won the 2024 Summer Games, and I’ve been planning to attend ever since). I’m also going to be traveling with my two younger sisters, who have traveled extensively with each other but neither much with me. We’ll have 10 packed days of traveling from our base in Paris to a few different cities and dealing with the massive crowds that are anticipated. Nothing will stop me from going but I also know that it’s a different kind of trip than I’ve been keen on lately.
The recurring travel
The rest of my PTO is allocated to a few events that I go to every year. I'm an avid boardgamer, and I go to the same few conventions across the East coast every year since I moved to Boston. I have local friends that go with me, and some “con friends” who I only see one or two times a year at these events. I usually book my PTO for these events a year or more in advance - as soon as I know the dates. Most of the cons are long weekend trips in the spring and fall, but 2 days here and there can add up quickly! But when it seemed like I might have to pick one con to skip in 2024, I instead amended other plans to have enough PTO available. It's amazing how quickly your values become apparent when faced with a dilemma like that.
And I already have more travel plans on offer! I'm trying to fit a trip in to visit my sister in Alaska over Labor Day weekend, and I haven't figured out what I'm doing for my birthday next December (but luckily it's on a weekend!). Any suggestions? How do you prioritize travel when there are practical limitations?