Niyi and Kimmie have traveled to over 20 countries, all while still holding down full-time jobs. Niyi works as an engineer while Kimmie is in the healthcare field.
Just a few years ago, the couple made the decision to be intentional about traveling at least twice a year. They have joined Samba dances in Brazil as well as island hopped in Greece. For them, having full-time jobs is simply the means to fund their new found love and passion.
Luckily, they have careers that allow them to travel up to six weeks in any given calendar year. In the last year, they have managed to see six countries and twenty-one cities alone.
They have truly mastered the art of planning travel around full-time schedules. We spoke with the couple via email to learn exactly how they do this and they provided the following tips.
Just because you aren’t taking a plane, it doesn’t mean you aren’t traveling.
Taking advantage of cities that are near you is important. We live in the Texas area and every two to three months we find ourselves hopping in our car for a weekend getaway to explore surrounding cities. Every downtown city area, coffee shop, restaurant, or place you have never been is still traveling.
Try to find a job that gives you flexibility to travel
While this may take some work, it can make a huge difference. We have been fortunate enough to have this advantage in our careers as Niyi travels often as an engineer and Kimmie works remotely. Honestly, this has been one of the sole reasons we have been able to travel as often as we do.
Use weekends to your advantage
There are over 100 weekend days in a given year. Why not take advantage of that and go? We typically like to use one or two of our vacation days around weekends to make a three or four-day vacation to travel. Leaving work at lunchtime on Friday, or even for the whole day, gives plenty of time for a weekend away or for a mini European or Caribbean island getaway.
Look for airline stopover options
When you have a layover of more than 24 hours, airlines will add an extra incentive to explore your layover city. This is basically giving you a 2-for-1 deal without paying extra. One of our more recent long stopovers was to Nigeria that allowed us to have a 14-hour connection in Dubai. We had the chance to explore the beautiful Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall. We encourage part-time travelers to explore the multi-city option on airline websites to maximize your itinerary and budget. Emirates airline is one of the airlines we’ve used to take advantage of their stopover programs.
Work overtime hours in exchange for vacay hours
Some employers may allow you to work overtime in exchange for using the hours for vacation later. This is another perk that we have benefited
from in our full-time jobs that have allowed us to have vacation hours throughout the year.
If you want to learn more from Niyi and Kimmie you can find them online at www.wepacktwofly.com or IG @wepacktwofly