When my husband was laid off earlier this year, we were initially stunned. I spent the first hours worrying over bills, health insurance, and the slow job market for his field of work.
We had some savings, but how much would we need? Once the shock wore off, however, we saw an opportunity.
Time off had always been a challenge with his previous employer, and while we both love to travel, long trips had felt out of reach. Now, he had the time — we just had to get creative with the budget.
We traveled to see family first, and then opted for a bucket list trip using credit card points
Our first trip was to see family in the Pacific Northwest. We booked the cheapest tickets we could find and spent a long weekend trying dim sum for the first time with cousins in Portland’s eclectic food scene.
Staying with family not only made the trip affordable but also gave us precious extra time with them.
We enjoyed Portland so much, we decided to take further advantage of this free time and go big — Italy.
This may have been a touch of insanity for someone in our shoes, especially since we had no family to help curb lodging costs, but it had been a long-talked-of dream between us.
Plus, because we’d had no time to travel the previous year, we had a healthy amount of credit card points to use, which ended up completely covering the cost for two, two-way plane tickets.
Turns out, we also had friends with a beautiful Airbnb in Tuscany who heard about the job loss and offered us a free stay.
With their generosity and a few more cashed-in points to book nights in Rome and the Cinque Terre coast, we enjoyed two weeks eating copious amounts of pasta and admiring the frescoed ceilings of old-world cathedrals.
It was a magical experience of la dolce vita and a time of reconnection for us as a couple, yet it didn’t break the bank. After credit card points and the free stay, we spent about $1,600 for two weeks abroad.
Next, we took a spontaneous road trip to the national parks with our dog
After seeing how rewarding traveling was during this uncertain time, we decided to embark on a road trip to visit more family and old friends, stopping in national and state parks along the way.
We mapped out a journey through Zion, the Redwoods, and more, staying with friends, family, and at budget-friendly hotels.
We took our dog to avoid sitter fees and chose hotels that had no, or only small, pet fees. We also packed a cooler of easy meals — like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, to limit food costs.
It’s been full of memorable moments, such as hiking the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park with my mother-in-law over Mother’s Day and watching sea lions hunt off the coast of Cape Disappointment.
The job search continues as my husband takes calls with recruiters and continues applying on every trip.
My work in building a freelance business is remote, so I pull out my laptop as needed. In fact, I’m writing this from the deck of a friend’s cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains after seeing a bear in the wild for the first time.
With others’ generosity and a tight budget, we spent around $1,500 for this three-week-long road trip.
Keeping perspective helps us to stay in the moment and enjoy the opportunity
To enjoy the travel, neither of us goes down the rabbit holes that are easy to fall into when dealing with unemployment.
We view this time as a season that, like all things, will pass (as long as we don’t give up).
We’ve been through enough of life to recognize that there will always be something difficult, and that it’s best to enjoy the positives that might not be available in another chapter of life.
Having savings also helps to provide some security while waiting for the right job.
However, the best thing about all of this is how generous our friends and family have been. Who gets to stay in the countryside of Tuscany free of charge? We did — and I recognize how lucky I am to say that and how wonderful people have been.
We’ve used unemployment as an opportunity to make a literal journey of the time. I can safely say what began as a tough start to the year has turned into one of our best yet.
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