I have heard a lot of excuses about why people can’t travel.

Oh you’re so lucky you can do that! I could never…

When I ask why, these are the typical answers:

I don’t have enough money.

It would ruin my career.

I have kids.

I only speak English.

And the list continues.

I get it. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be intimidating. Especially if you’ve never left the country before.

I think that if more people understood the truth about travel, more people would be out exploring. More people would take that trip they’ve always dreamed of.

What I want to do now is break these down one by one to eliminate these awful excuses and get you out on the road.

I don’t have enough money.

This is the number one reason that people don’t travel, and it’s the most dead wrong of them all.

For many of the years I traveled, I spent around $20-25 per day. That’s way under $1,000 per month.

It’s shocking, I know.

Yeah, but that was so many years ago, you might say.

True. But even if costs have increased by 50% around the world (and they haven’t) that would still be $900-$975 per month.

When done right, traveling can be cheaper than staying at home.

In the majority of the world, the cost of living is much lower than it is in the U.S. or Canada or Europe or Australia. If you are fortunate enough to make money in one of these currencies, your money will stretch farther abroad than it will at home.

It’s true. You might not have enough money to travel… to Europe or North America or down under. Do you have enough to go to Ecuador, to Indonesia, to Thailand? Probably yes.

For example, if you’re based in the US, you could take a flight to Guatemala City, take a van over to Antigua, find a little apartment to rent for a month and study Spanish. You could get away with this trip for under $2,000 if you tried.

Or maybe you mean that you don’t have enough money because you have so many bills at home. I get that. Can you rent out your car or your place while you’re gone? Downgrade your phone or cable plan? Sell some of your junk on Ebay or Craigslist? Wait until your lease is up to take advantage of no rent bill and put your stuff in storage

I’ve found that we can usually come up with some extra cash and save extra cash if we make it a priority.

It Would Ruin My Career

This sister excuse to this one is It would look bad on my resume.

It surprises me how often younger people say stuff like this. Instead of lecturing you on this point, I’ll tell you a story of my own.

In November 2016 I was hired at an international marketing agency in Miami. I hadn’t had a corporate job for 10 years.

10 years!

And I was somehow still hired. Both of my supervisors had lived overseas and done a fair bit of traveling themselves. All that really mattered was that I had the skills to do the work.

If I can get hired after 10 years of location independence, I’m betting you can get away with taking a few months or even a year or two off between jobs.

Not to mention, would you really want to work somewhere that thought traveling for an extended period was somehow a detriment instead of an asset?

The typical job application process is losing its effectiveness anyway. Standing out and providing value in a way that emphasizes your skills and minimizes how you look on paper is becoming normal (and a lot more likely to land you a job.)

I Have Kids

It’s funny I’m writing about this because I used this as an excuse myself for almost three years. After taking my son on a trip to Colombia, I realized that he is pretty much made for travel.

He is adaptable to pretty much anything as long as mom and dad are around. We’ve taken him to a few different cities in the U.S. and to Colombia twice. He’s great on planes and long drives. He likes new experiences. At this age he is a sponge and I know that our travels will benefit him for years to come.

Soon I’ll be writing all about my adventures with my toddler. But if you want some inspiration beforehand, here are a few great families you can follow.

I Only Speak English

The first time I went to a non-English speaking country, I also believed that no one would speak English and that I had to learn the local language to communicate.

I bought a little language handbook for Bahasa Indonesia and began studying it a few weeks before my trip to Bali. On the plane, I recited the most common phrases that I’d need to know, like thank you, please, I’m a vegetarian, how much does it cost.

Turns out I didn’t need to speak a word of the language to move around comfortably. Almost everyone who was tourist-facing--souvenir sellers, hotel staff, restaurant workers--spoke English.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t try to learn a few words. That’s my number one strategy for endearing myself with the local people and making friends.

But if the only language you speak is English, you are in a very fortunate position. English is the language of tourism and the language of business. In every major tourist destination around the world, there are at least some people who speak English. Your taxi driver might not, but someone at the hotel probably will.

These are just some of the major excuses that I’ve heard around people not traveling. I hope that these words will give you a different perspective, will make you consider taking a trip.