I have previously written about not letting fear get in the way of travelling and how it can effect even the strongest of wills, but staying motivated is a completed different matter. It’s a lot harder to do and it effects everyone, I myself have a hard time staying motivated sometimes, already this article has taken two days, as I wrote only the first paragraph, found a good distraction and let my motivation to finish this article lapse.

For travel especially it’s hard to stay motivated because for a lot of people, travel is something that takes time, only a few lucky people can decide they want to travel and then jump on a plane the very next day. For the rest of us travel involves months of planning, saving and just waiting. But there is certain ways to cope when the motivation lapses for the different areas of travel.

Saving Money

That can take its tole and suddenly you reach that point, the motivation has dipped and even though you are still saving fanatically to escape the real world and travel, a certain stage has been reached that you would rather avoid. That money jar is looking awfully tempting and suddenly you realise that you have been meaning to buy that nice new shiny thing.

STOP!

Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

There are ways to cope with a lack of motivation that don’t result in you buying said shiny thing and then spending the next couple of weeks regretting it.

When saving for travelling a lot of things are now off limits for you to buy. That can take a toll on you if you are just escaping the real world and the urge to buy, buy; buy is still ingrained in your senses. But there are ways around those impulses. Budget for it. Take say twenty dollars each week and let yourself spend it on whatever you feel like. It will help you stay motivated and not crazy.

Will …. (whenever you’re going) never come?

The money now may not be a problem but that trip still seems like a long way away. Start researching where you are going, if you have exhausted that try and find some travel blogs about where you are going.

That last piece of advice I would use as a bit of a last resort. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with travel blogs. Yes I love reading them, some of them out there are outstanding, but most of the time I walk away so jealous that I want to scream.

Sometimes it does help with the motivation as I fuel the jealously towards getting there that much faster. But then other times I just get so depressed that my motivation plummets and those months from the trip seem all that much longer.

But I have done research for everything. I want to go now.

Well unless you have the money and the time that is not going to happen. But there are other ways to ignore the whining going on in your head (make no mistake you are whining, but that’s okay) and keep the motivation going.

Most people will recommend plaster different photos of your travel destination on your desk at work or home. I have tried it, it doesn’t help, sometimes it actually makes you feel worse as you realise you’re still at work and still staring at that same photo.

What I would suggest is go one step further and make a little game out of it. Plaster pictures of where you are going everywhere you can. In your wallet, on the wall, in your bag, in the fridge, at work. Everywhere.

It may annoy a lot of people as everywhere they turn there is a picture of your new holiday country, but you can always ignore them.

To make it really interesting find a little picture uniquely you and the place you are going. For example if you are going to London, take a picture of you and Photoshop it in front of a picture of a London phone box and stick it everywhere.

Attach it to office documents. Put it in your email signature. Sticky tape copies of it in the bathrooms, in the kitchen at work. Leave a copy pasted on the back of your seat in the bus. Stick it in a book you’re returning to the library, put a copy in your borrowed DVDs, make a badge of it and wear it around work.

Make a game of it and seen how far you can get this symbol (you probably shouldn’t put your face on it for some of the more public places), spread it around the world if you can.

The benefit of this little game is not only can you tick off everyone around, you which usually makes the time go faster, spending some time each day trying to think of new and exciting places to put the symbol it really makes the days fly by.

The End is near

Focus towards the end, even if it’s months away, create your own little fantasy land and spend a few minutes every day imagining that you’re already there already living life exactly how you want it.

Motivation is a hard thing to hang onto, but the idea is to just keep pushing through the days until it becomes second nature. Try not to focus on losing motivation, just do it.

Remember, time is relative, before you know it you will be sitting back grateful that you kept your motivation and ended up exactly where you wanted to be.

Now of course these are only my ways to keep motivated, I am interested to know what other people do to keep motivated when that travel adventure seems ages away. So please comment below and let me know.

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