You should go ahead and take that vacation. Now.

And by “now”, I don’t mean immediately go to the airport and hop on a plane. Considering I’m a travel advisor, it goes against my beliefs to not plan your vacation in advance.

But you should decide to take that vacation. Now.

Because I’m done with any excuse that you have to tell me about why you can’t or shouldn’t. If traveling is important to you, you need to decide to make it happen now. And if you need some reasons, I’ve got your back.

Reason #1: Our Careers Consume a Big Chunk of Our Lives

Did you know that the average professional spends 68% of their days at their job? This calculation is only accurate if you don’t work on the weekends and you get the standard holidays off from work. One study claims that this will equal out to one-third of your total lifetime. Even if you were to take 10 days off from work every year for a vacation, you would still be spending 66% of your days at your career.

So despite these depressing statistics, we still allow our careers to creep into our personal time and take over even more of our lives. We work on the weekends, and we put off taking vacations because we can’t imagine how we could ever take off any time from work since we are constantly connected to our jobs in the first place.

It’s this never-ending cycle that can leave you wondering “do I even have any hobbies anymore?”, “when’s the last time I had some fun?”, “is this really it?!”.

I am so happy to tell you that no, it’s not. You can take back control of your work-life balance. And when you do, you’ll see all of the time you could’ve been spending doing things that bring you happiness. You’ll see that it is possible to give yourself regular breaks from a routine that will kill you slowly. And you’ll see that it’s actually possible to feel good about temporarily disconnecting from your job to go on epic vacations several times every year!

Reason #2: You Ain’t Getting Any Younger

I’ll be honest, I don’t love the phrase, but it is definitely an effective one for putting things into perspective and inspiring some action in us. I truly believe that there isn’t a set age where you are “too old” to travel, nor do I believe that once you get to retirement it’s too late to travel; however, the fact is that we’re all on this Earth for a limited time only, and we don’t know how long that will be. The longer you wait to follow your dreams, do what makes you happy, and enjoy your life, the more likely you won’t have the chance to see those dreams come true.

If your dream is to travel to Europe, what are you waiting for?! For a time when you have zero responsibilities, all the money in the world, and you’re in the best shape of your life? You will never reach that point where you feel like all three of those accomplishments are “done”. You will always be striving for more. There’s no time like the present.

Reason #3: The Sooner, the Better (and the Happier)

The sooner you decide to take a vacation and then start planning it, the better your vacation will be. I mean this from a super practical, vacation planning standpoint. Even if you don’t know where, when, or how you’re going to make that vacation happen, I always recommend you start planning now rather than later.

If we’re talking specifics, I recommend that you plan an international vacation at least 6 months in advance because when you plan ahead you are more likely to:

• Carefully choose the right destination for your vacation expectations
• Find the right flight, lodging, and activities (of the hundreds!) for your style and budget
• Make sure that all of the logistics are in place and your vacation is rock-solid

By making the decision to take a vacation and starting the process of planning for it, you also get the added bonus of feeling happy and motivated because of the anticipation of your vacation.

Any Reason Why You “Can’t” is an Excuse

If you truly have a desire to travel to somewhere in the world, then every reason you’re telling yourself as to why you can’t go is an excuse. And the more often you feed your brain these excuses about why it’s not the right time to go, the more your brain will be trained to find more excuses on why you shouldn’t go.

Luckily, our brains work the other way too. If you instead focus on when you will go to Europe rather than how you are going to be able to go to Europe, your brain will eventually accept it as an inevitable fact that you’re going to travel to Europe. And then it will look for actions that you can take to make that happen! I sure love how that works.

So the next time your brain feeds you some story about why you shouldn’t make that next vacation happen, flip that exact statement around to something positive, even if you don’t believe it to be true. And don’t forget:

• You’re already devoting a big chunk of your life to your career.
• You ain’t getting any younger.
• The sooner you decide to go on vacation, the better the vacation will be.

I’m Angela, founder and travel advisor with Wild Hair Travels. I’ve learned from my travel experience that the secret for taking epic vacations is making sure that they are 100% personalized to you. As your personal travel advisor, I work 1-on-1 with you to make this happen while also helping you make the most out of your precious vacation time by handling all of the details before your departure.  I specialize in planning independent vacations for my fellow Texans.