How to start travelling. Where to get time and money?

People like to experience the different and the new as long as they are confident that they can return to the hinterland that is typically called home. Travelling is a favourite pastime of many people. You just need to have the time and finances to travel. However, finances are not essential and travel can be done on the cheap! What is more important is having time or rather knowing how to manage your time well.

Society has indoctrinated me too with the idea that I have to work all the time and go to a job. And that once a year I should go on an expensive luxury holiday for a week, a fortnight at most. Of course, travelling to an employer's office on a regular basis is very time consuming and costs some money as well. Since becoming an independent professional, I've become the master of my time, and so I've been able to plan my daily and weekly schedule to suit myself and, more importantly, start managing my time and travel costs efficiently.

Time

The average person's day is divided into three parts:

1. Sleep
2. Work
3. Personal time

Skimping on sleep is not good, and it doesn't pay off in the long run. Unless you're the son of a rentier, you have to work. That leaves you to manage your personal time effectively. I'm deliberately not referring to it as free.

People spend a lot of time travelling to and from work. The moment you stop this waste, with an average 1-hour journey to work, you save a whole working week each month. In addition, you also save on travel costs (petrol/diesel, car depreciation, ticket).

Money

If you drive to work and you start working from home, you suddenly have money left over that you can use for transport when you travel. Some people like to look at fancy hotels, but you need to consider that for the price of one night in a hotel you can spend a whole week camping. After all, when travelling, in a hotel just as in a campsite you only need somewhere to sleep.

What to visit

First and foremost, you need to think about what to visit, and choose the area and specific location accordingly. Personally, I like cycling, nature, historical monuments, peace and quiet, so I go to places where you can cycle and there are monuments and nature around. That's why I tend to look for smaller towns as a base that are surrounded by nature, forests and places to swim. Historical sites and interesting places are everywhere.

As a computer scientist and introvert, I like quiet. But that doesn't mean I avoid people. On the contrary, travelling is an opportunity to visit acquaintances, relatives, friends and customers. I often design travel itineraries accordingly. And visiting someone is a very simple way to make someone happy.

Accommodation

As I mentioned before, camping accommodation is inexpensive, quite a few campsites today are very well equipped, but the main advantage I see is that you can plan your travel according to your mood, time availability and weather. So then you don't have to plan too much, you don't have to arrange anything and just arrive at the campsite.

Camping stuff

What to bring to the campsite? This paragraph will serve as good documentation not only for you but also for me.

Clothes

The length of the trip needs to be taken into account. The longer the trip, the more clothes you need, as there will be no opportunity to do laundry, but more importantly the weather can change and in light clothing you will find the cold hard to bear. But anyone who isn't a small child knows how to dress.

Food

I typically cook rice or corn pasta with olive oil, gouda and Balkan cheese. For spices I add basil or lovage, salt and pepper. Plus olives.

As a vegetable I take a cucumber or make a salad of iceberg lettuce, ideally with Balkan cheese or mozzarella.

Breakfast

I always make my own breakfast to make sure it's good enough and rich enough. I usually make rice pasta.

Lunch

I prefer to skip lunch if the trip is all day and intense. If I'm only planning a short trip, e.g. 2–3 hours, I have lunch at a restaurant and leave for the trip at 2 p.m. If I have a free day or just sightseeing on foot, I go to restaurants for lunch. As I've found to be true on business trips to Prague, Asian restaurants are a sure bet for reasonable meals. For example, crispy duck with rice without sauce is a sure thing.

Dinner

Night is the time when the body has time to regenerate and digest, so it's important not to forget dinner and choose a good and rich meal. For me, that means making my own dinner. I usually cook corn pasta.

Diet on the trip

When hiking, it is ideal to replenish sugars, preferably in the form of fruit. And it is essential to replenish water. For how to eat healthy and how to eat while playing sports see my other articles. Often when you travel you will come across fruit trees or even orchards. You can also buy fresh fruit and vegetables from local vendors.

Bike

What to bring on bike rides and events was taught to me by racing cycling. A backpack with the essentials: pump, puncture repair kit and chain tool are a must. I take a few spare inner tubes with me, and keep one in my pack so that when I'm on a trip I just replace the tube and don't have to glue anything.

Technology

The mobile phone is an essential human gadget today. It mainly helps the cyclist to find his way around the terrain and can also help him to navigate. On long trips, a power bank is also a must, to ensure enough power if you are riding through unfamiliar places and so need to have the map display on frequently throughout the day.

Daily routine

Always and especially in sports it is good to observe the day and night as indicated by the time of day. In addition, there is minimal light at night in the campsite, so there is no point in staying up late.
As the length of day and night varies throughout the year, it is a good idea to check what time it will be dark when going on long rides!

When to go on a trip

When I go on a day trip I leave right after breakfast. I burn the food off on the way and in the evening I'm very hungry.
If I have to travel by car, I eat breakfast early. Breakfast at 8, 9 a.m. at the latest, at 9:30 I leave by car and that way for example at 10:30 I will be there and from 11 it is already nice and warm and hurray for the trip.
If I need to do some more work, I do it after breakfast or stop somewhere, typically for lunch, and then I have the rest of the day off for the trip.
If I don't go anywhere on the Internet I save a lot of time. After all, a day bike tour takes time, especially if you stop at monuments.

Photos

More photos can be found on my Instagram profile Josef Jebavy.

Off we go

I hope this article has motivated you to go somewhere and experience something new instead of making excuses.

If you like to travel in a way that you drive to a campsite where you sleep at the campsite and explore the area by bike, then get in touch and we can arrange some trips together.

If you want inspiration from places I've been cycling, check out the GPS route logs.