So many people dream of taking a gap year or backpacking around the world, yet so many of those very same people always come up with reason after reason not to follow those dreams. Here is exactly why those all those excuses are absolute bull**** and why you have no reason at all not to take that gap year or round the world adventure.
In the last fifteen years I have travelled all over the world and have had the time of my life doing it. I love inspiring others to do the same and have always said that if I can do it, they can too. I do get that it isn’t always easy but just because something is hard, that doesn’t make it impossible. Time and time again I always come across so many people saying they wish they could travel, they wish they could do what I do. And time and again I hear the same tired excuses.
Here are the top ten common reasons people say they can’t travel, and the top ten reasons why those excuses are all bull****!
You Don’t Have The Money.
Then save up! How do you think the rest of us do it? You thin we all won some random lottery? No! It is all about making travel a priority, and then saving up for it. If you blow all your money on fancy sandwiches and la de dah skinny mocha lattes every day and then blow all your wages online shopping on a blu ray and high heel shoe binge every week, of course you won’t have the money to go travelling. Make travel a priority, make some sacrifices, and you will have the money to follow your dreams in no time. It takes time and effort, but you can do it!
Check out 10 easy ways to save money for travel.
It’s Too Expensive To Travel.
No it isn’t. Taking a gap year or travelling the world costs money, of course it does. But it isn’t out of the majority of people’s reach, and in fact depending on the way you travel it can be a LOT cheaper than you think. There have been more than a few places around the world where I have spent a lot less on my monthly expenditures than I would have done paying rent, buying food and getting around at home in the UK. If you budget well and plan well, it doesn’t have to break the bank at all.
Check out how to manage your money on your gap year.
You Don’t Have The Time.
Then stop binge watching Netflix, get off your arse and make the time! Seriously, how many hours a week do you waste watching TV? How many hours a week do you waste spying on your friends on Facebook or playing Candy Crush? We are all busy, we all have our priorities and we all have families and jobs and housework and other annoying demands on our time, but we all also have the same amount of hours in the day and weeks in the year. It is all about prioritising your life to fill your time doing the things you love, instead of the things you think you have to do.
Check out Warning! Reading this can be seriously hazardous to your comfort zone.
You Don’t Want To Go On Your Own.
Why not? Solo travel is one of the single best ways to travel, trust me! Okay, granted it isn’t for everyone, but everyone should try it at least once. I completely understand that it can be a little daunting at first, I get that, but the only way to get over that wall is to not only climb it, but bulldozer it down with a huge battlecry of ‘**** you nerves’! Once you do, you will find that solo travel is not only easier and far more fun than you thought it would be, but it will be one of the most liberating, empowering and confidence boosting things you will ever do!
Check out Why solo travel is awesome!
You Don’t Want To Leave Your Partner.
Aw, how cute. Suck it up buttercup. Can your relationship not stand a little alone time away from each other? Just bring them with you. A great adventure around the world can be made even more awesome by the fact you have the person you love by your side. If your partner doesn’t want to travel with you then it’s not the end of the world, just go it alone! No loving partner would ever hold you back from following your dreams, if they do maybe they aren’t worth being with anyway and if you are worried your relationship won’t survive you not being tied at the hip 24/7, then I hate to break it to you but it probably wasn’t that strong in the first place! It is a common truth that the best and the strongest relationships are those where each individual is allowed enough space to grow and follow their own path, their own dreams, and only then come together in a strong partnership.
Check out How to deal with unsupportive reactions to your gap year.
Your Family Won’t Let You.
What are you, 10? The choices you make in life are yours and yours alone. I understand completely that parents and loved ones may be nervous or worried about you, but you can’t live your life based on your fears, let alone theirs. The best thing to do is have a rational conversation with them, explain your reasons for doing it, then come up with ways you can keep in touch and work together on the numerous safety precautions you can take before you leave.
Check out Reassuring parents about your gap year plans.
It’s Too Dangerous To Travel.
This is one of the single most ridiculous excuses I hear every single day, and one of the most annoying. Unless you are planning on flying into an active warzone and being dropped straight into a firefight in your underpants with nothing but a dull fork to protect yourself with, this – even amongst this stellar bunch of stupid excuses – is absolute bull****. There are definitely risks out there, and there are certain precautions you can take and ways you can prepare to minimise those risks, but that does not in any way mean that it is too dangerous to travel. Preparation is good, paranoia is not. Travel is safe, and the world is generally a safe place that you can make even safer by being prepared.
Check out Travel safety advice, the good, the bad and the downright crazy.
You Are Worried About Your Personal Safety.
This is very closely linked to the excuse above. Look, I understand that people get nervous, I understand that people get scared. I do. Fear in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing – in some cases it can be a useful tool – unless that is it stops you from following your dreams. The key to beating this fear is being prepared. Do your research, take reasonable precautions for your own safety and you will be fine. Being prepared and taking steps for your own personal safety and security is a good thing. Letting irrational fear to dictate your actions is not.
Check out Solo female backpacker safety tips. and Solo MALE backpacker safety tips.
You Need To Finish Your Degree/University.
Okay, this is actually fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact finishing your education is a good thing, but you can have your cake and eat it. No one said travel has to be an either or thing, and getting an education and world travel are not mutually exclusive. Why not take short weekend breaks or take a snap year in the long summer break, then plan for a gap year or extended backpacking trip when you graduate?
Check out Study, work, career and gap years, the middle way.
You Need To Concentrate On Your Career.
And who says you can’t do both? I’m living proof that you can have a good career and travel whenever you want, I’m a registered charge nurse by day and an intrepid world adventurer by – well, whenever the hell I decide to take time off and go travelling! In fact if you spin it right, having a gap year or two on your CV can actually be really beneficial to your career!
Check out How backpacking and volunteering can help your career.
You Can’t Take Time Off Work.
Who says? Are you chained to your desk? Have you been sold into some form of indentured servitude? Are you so vital to your workplace that the whole company would implode if you left your desk for just one second? Please. If I can pull a sickie to jet off to the Philippines for a bit you can take some time off, and I’ve got news for you, unless you are the CEO (in which case you can skive off whenever you want anyway) you are not so vital to your workplace that you can’t leave. Take ALL of your annual leave and then ask for some unpaid leave on top, negotiate a sabbatical, quit if you have to. (You can always get another job on your return, trust me). Work is NEVER an excuse not to travel.
Check out 10 Realities of quitting your job to travel the world.
So that’s it, everyone gives so many reasons and excuses not to travel but each and every single one of them are just that. Excuses. There are more of course, these are just the ten most common that I hear almost every single day. And I call bullshit on each and every one.
Did you enjoy this article? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below or on my Facebook or Twitter pages and please feel free to share it with any or all of the social media buttons. If you want to get more great backpacking tips, advice and inspiration, please subscribe to updates via email in the box to your right.
Related Articles.
Excuse Buster Series Part 1: Why People Make Excuses Not To Travel Independently.
Excuse Buster Series Part 2: It’s Too Expensive To Travel.
Excuse Buster Series Part 3: I Don’t Have Time To Travel.
Excuse Buster Series Part 4: It’s Too Dangerous To Go Backpacking.
Excuse Buster Series Part 5: I’m In A Relationship.
Excuse Buster Series Part 6: I Have No One To Go With!
Excuse Buster Series Part 7: Taking Time Out To Travel Will Ruin My Career!
No Great Story Ever Starts With I stayed At Home.
No One Wishes They Travelled Less When They Die.
Michael Huxley is a published author, professional adventurer and founder of the travel website, Bemused Backpacker. He has spent the last twenty years travelling to over 100 countries on almost every continent, slowly building Bemused Backpacker into a successful business after leaving a former career in emergency nursing and travel medicine, and continues to travel the world on numerous adventures every year.
Bemused Backpacker 
I really enjoyed this! I suffered from making excuses for many years until someone gave me that final push and now I can’t get enough. Keep it up!
Thank you. You aren’t alone, I see people making these excuses every day and almost all of them wonder why they worried at all once they take that leap!
I have heard so many of my friends say these exact same things! I’m going to show them this post, thank you.
Thank you Lucy. I hope it helps them. 🙂
Hahaha, so true!
Thank you. 🙂
I absolutely hate when people say it is dangerous even to go hike at a local park around here… and travel can be fairly cheap if you do it right. Great post!!
Thank you so much, and I hate that too. Too many people are just so afraid based on absolutely no facts whatsoever, in many cases they are afraid of travelling despite the facts and statistics telling them it is safe. Thanks for the comment I really appreciate it.
Inspiring as always! There really is no excuse not to travel!
There really isn’t! ;D
Good job on just destroying everyone’s excuses! In my experience though most people who keep making excuse after excuse like this will never travel, or follow any other ambition either, because they won’t allow themselves to listen to facts or reason. Clinging to those excuses is just easier for them,
Thank you. I think you’re right, most people will just take the easy option.
I was one of these people making these excuses myself last year! It was actually reading your site that gave me the push I needed six months ago and now I have almost saved enough to start my gap year in May. Thank you so much for that.
That is really awesome to hear Allana, thank you. And I’m really happy to have helped give you that push!
Love this! So true. 😆
Thank you. 🙂
Yes! Exactly! There is no reason to not go travelling if you want to. Everything else are just excuses.
Very true. 🙂
Excellent post and very insightful too. People make so many excuses because they get so stuck in their own little ruts. It can be a hard thing to see it of that bubble and just how easy it is to travel the world.
Thanks Harry, you are absolutely right, people never want to take the hard option and step out of their comfort zone. That is where most of these excuses come from.
Perfect! I think you just about covered every excuse! Haha.
Thanks! If you think of any more let me know and I’ll add it! ;D
Hahaha I love this! I’m going to show it to everyone at work who keep telling me they wish they could travel but they cant! (I am saving up to take a gap year at the moment and everyone I have told at work has come out with one or more of these!)
I fel your pain, I hear them all the time too! Please come back and let me know what they say when you show them!
Haha this is so accurate! I hear these from my friends all the time when I say come travelling with me. You’ll be glad to know I have saved up and am now just planning to go solo!
That’s awesome news! Have a great time.