Packing for Adventure

I’ll be honest, hiking Machu Picchu was not a priority of mine. I was not opposed to it, but it was not an immediate, or even a future, goal of mine.

I knew since my high school days that I wanted to travel. I took an Art History class in high school that sparked an enduring love for art. I knew I’d travel in life, but I imagined wandering through Europe, soaking in museums, cathedrals, and cobblestone streets.

It was Chris who wanted to see Machu Picchu. He had even started the process of booking a trip there around the time we started dating. He was going to go with a work buddy. I don’t remember why they didn’t go.

Our first trip together was a cruise on our honeymoon. Any trips after that in our early marriage were in our home state. Chris had brought up hiking Machu Picchu a few times over the years, but I just didn’t feel like we could afford it. After a few years and a few job promotions, we wanted to do a bigger trip. After a few months of careful consideration, I decided that if we were going to travel to Peru, it was now or never.

We were both making more money than we were before, but we also had a much larger mortgage payment than we had before. We had two dogs and no kids yet. We were not wealthy by any means, I just felt like now was the only time in our lives where we could be a little reckless. I was hoping to start a family sooner than later, and Chris wasn’t quite on board yet. I hoped a trip to Peru would convince him otherwise.

So I took a bit of a financial risk. I opened up a new credit card that had an introductory rate of 0% for a year. We put the whole trip on this credit card banking on the idea that we’d be able to have it paid in full before the introductory rate expired.

Do not jump into credit card debt with both eyes closed. Carrying a balance on credit cards leads to compounding interest and a hole so deep it can be very difficult to climb out. If you use credit, have a solid repayment plan in place before you book.

To find out my strategies for paying for travel, check out my Travel Financing Page!

This was what I meant by “now or never.” I didn’t want to make this kind of financial risk when we had more on the line (i.e. children who need consistent nourishment and clothes and lodging etc). I fully planned on this being our trip of a lifetime, with the caveat that we’d also go to Italy for me. Then once those trips were done, we’d have kids and settle down and never really do big trips until our empty-nester years.

Instead we caught the travel bug, and it turns out the only cure is more cowbell. Or more plane tickets.

So now I’ll tell you about the trip that started it all: the one that ignited our curiosity and set us on a mission to see the world!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1ymch-PC4tNQBzNiNAvVdNz4UqLUy8Iw&usp=sharing

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