I’ll let you in on a secret: we haven’t been out of the house for about six months now.

Okay, we did have a handful, maybe less, of excursions here and there but it was almost nothing compared to what we have *accomplished* in the preceding months.

You see, the transition from full-time office jobs to freelance work-from-home has not been entirely a walk in the park. We’ve been having struggles money-wise and the best we can do for now, as adults, is to make sure that the bills have been paid for first before anything else.

We aren’t born to just pay the bills and die but, honestly, when there’s a threat of a bouncing check and bloating interest fees looming in every month, you kind of have to forget everything else and set your priorities right.

But let me tell you about travel and being outdoors and moving around to prevent that sedentary life.

The last time we went camping in the mountains was about nine months ago. That’s a loooong time and it wasn’t the best memory either. The trail was steep and difficult and I cried because I could no longer carry my heavy backpack to the camp site and it was already dark.

The last time we went hiking was early this year. And my knees gave in. I fell down twice and I cried.

Several times during these trips, I wondered if I was really fit for the outdoors life. My body wouldn’t cooperate and so won’t my pocket.

And you know what, the truth is, I don’t 100% like traveling either.

I hate having to prepare for travel. I hate packing and having to decide which items to bring. I hate giving in to the pressure of packing light.

I also hate walking around and hot, humid air. I hate it when it gets sticky and I hate it when I start to smell.

But, it’s also nice to be some place else and not worry about time or money. I love it when the air is in my face or when we go on long rides not knowing how long we still have left to reach the destination and basically not knowing where we are going.

Sometimes, I feel like a phoney: I don’t entirely like going out of the house and I haven’t been out for a long time now — and yet here I am, making a living out of writing about it.

Then again, it’s probably just a phase. Things aren’t great now but I’m pretty sure things will be better in the coming months. We’ve made quite a lot of progress in the past months and I’m positive nothing will stop us from living the life that we really want.

I will continue doing what I do best: writing about travel. And I will continue daydreaming about a life of travel.

Traveling isn’t a race, after all, and it’s really not about seeing who gets to check off their bucket list first.

It’s awesome to be able to visit the places you have always dreamed of. But if things don’t go as planned, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. Something better might be brewing up on the horizon — or the time to fulfill those dreams just hasn’t come by yet.

I hate scrolling through Facebook and seeing all of my single friends going from one destination to another almost every week.

I don’t really like going anywhere awesome without my family so we’ll just have to wait up. Until we can afford to actually travel. Until we have figured out a way to pay for our dues without sacrificing other things.

There’s no point going to a new place and celebrating ‘going out’ when, in the end, you will just end up crying because the bills start creeping on you.

In the meantime, we can all start dreaming and making actionable steps to make sure we get to where we want to.

There’s always a perfect time for everything. But you also can’t wait — you have to do something to make it happen.

There’s a few kinks that just need to be ironed out — and I hope you will join me on the ride, too.

XX

About the Author

Hi, y’all! I’m Pam and I’m an outdoors-loving and adventurous millennial momma who moonlights as a freelance writer, blogger, and ghostwriter. I help encourage parents — and non-parents — explore the outdoors, spend more time with their family and take control of their finances to live a life they’d never want to take a vacation from. You can connect with me via social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.