How to start? I’m pretty sure I have more questions than answers. But, let me try. Hey guys! My name is Emilee and I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon my blog. Considering that one statistic I read said, “A new blog is created somewhere in the world every half a second” well, it’s a miracle we’ve found each other. So thanks for being here!
Four years ago my husband and I took our first trip to Europe together. At the time I was blown away. I couldn’t believe I was traveling overseas. At that point in our life it really wasn’t in my realm of thinking. We had three little ones at home, my husband owned a small business, and I was a staying at home with the kids. Nothing in our finances or lifestyle would make me think I could hop on a plane to Europe. But, my in-laws graciously paid for the trip and we were so happy to be there. Little did we know we would fall in love with traveling. If you told me then I would go back 4 times in the next 4 years – well, I would have never believed it. But, we did. We found a way to make it happen. Why? Because we couldn’t not go. We literally talked and dreamt and planned until we just pulled the trigger and went again. And again. And again…
We would try and convince our friends to go with us or on their own. We planned out so many dream itineraries that we could have been travel agents. We loved showing people what we had learned to do and not do. But we constantly heard “we can’t afford it.” I get it. Really, I do. We started our married life in married student housing. I know what it is like to live on every penny. (Although it was the only time in our marriage we had heated bathroom floors. #swanky). The thing is our friends would never believe us when we told them how affordable it was. These same people didn’t think twice about an annual beach trip. A quick google search pulls up that the average family vacation is $4,300 for a family of four. That seems high to me. Maybe it’s my love of a good deal, but we don’t spend that much on our family vacays. But – we also don’t spend that much on a trip to Europe. When I ask most people how much they think they would need to travel to Europe they say $10,000. What the what??? We have never taken a trip that cost close to that. If you have $10,000 to spend on a trip – go for it. I’m sure you will find some very amazing experiences (maybe even heated bathroom floors?!) But if that’s out of your wheelhouse, we get ya. It’s out of ours, too! But trust us when we say, you can make it happen. And we want to show you how. We want other people to explore this gorgeous world. We have found a way to make traveling on a budget doable and enjoyable.
We named this site Explore Before because most people say they will travel later in life. Maybe you want the kids to be grown, the bank account to be full, the language to be easier. The list goes on. We could let a thousand things keep us from pursuing our dreams. Unfortunately, none of us are promised tomorrow. We want to encourage you to Explore Before. Whatever your “before” may be. I hope we inspire you to travel now – while you can!
So, if you want to travel but never thought you could, stick around. I realize not everyone has the desire to travel abroad – I get it! We live in a great country with more to see than could ever been seen. Get out and explore it. But, if you have a desire to travel abroad, I hope we can help you to see that it is doable. And it is oh so worth it. Consider yourself warned – I think you’ll fall in love, too.
How to start? I’m pretty sure I have more questions than answers. But, let me try. Hey guys! My name is Emilee and I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon my blog. Considering that one statistic I read said, “A new blog is created somewhere in the world every half a second” well, it’s a miracle we’ve found each other. So thanks for being here!
Four years ago my husband and I took our first trip to Europe together. At the time I was blown away. I couldn’t believe I was traveling overseas. At that point in our life it really wasn’t in my realm of thinking. We had three little ones at home, my husband owned a small business, and I was a staying at home with the kids. Nothing in our finances or lifestyle would make me think I could hop on a plane to Europe. But, my in-laws graciously paid for the trip and we were so happy to be there. Little did we know we would fall in love with traveling. If you told me then I would go back 4 times in the next 4 years – well, I would have never believed it. But, we did. We found a way to make it happen. Why? Because we couldn’t not go. We literally talked and dreamt and planned until we just pulled the trigger and went again. And again. And again…
We would try and convince our friends to go with us or on their own. We planned out so many dream itineraries that we could have been travel agents. We loved showing people what we had learned to do and not do. But we constantly heard “we can’t afford it.” I get it. Really, I do. We started our married life in married student housing. I know what it is like to live on every penny. (Although it was the only time in our marriage we had heated bathroom floors. #swanky). The thing is our friends would never believe us when we told them how affordable it was. These same people didn’t think twice about an annual beach trip. A quick google search pulls up that the average family vacation is $4,300 for a family of four. That seems high to me. Maybe it’s my love of a good deal, but we don’t spend that much on our family vacays. But – we also don’t spend that much on a trip to Europe. When I ask most people how much they think they would need to travel to Europe they say $10,000. What the what??? We have never taken a trip that cost close to that. If you have $10,000 to spend on a trip – go for it. I’m sure you will find some very amazing experiences (maybe even heated bathroom floors?!) But if that’s out of your wheelhouse, we get ya. It’s out of ours, too! But trust us when we say, you can make it happen. And we want to show you how. We want other people to explore this gorgeous world. We have found a way to make traveling on a budget doable and enjoyable.
We named this site Explore Before because most people say they will travel later in life. Maybe you want the kids to be grown, the bank account to be full, the language to be easier. The list goes on. We could let a thousand things keep us from pursuing our dreams. Unfortunately, none of us are promised tomorrow. We want to encourage you to Explore Before. Whatever your “before” may be. I hope we inspire you to travel now – while you can!
So, if you want to travel but never thought you could, stick around. I realize not everyone has the desire to travel abroad – I get it! We live in a great country with more to see than could ever been seen. Get out and explore it. But, if you have a desire to travel abroad, I hope we can help you to see that it is doable. And it is oh so worth it. Consider yourself warned – I think you’ll fall in love, too.
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Tuesday, September 4, 2018
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Destinations /
Travel Tips /
Trip Itineraries
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