Sarah K is our Woman of the Week, and the first by my count to reside in New Zealand! This working woman also shares her adventures on her blog, Sarah Sees The World. Want to learn how you can travel while working full-time? Ever wondered if travel insurance is worth it? Then this is the interview for you! Happy reading, and thanks for sharing your story, Sarah!
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Tell us about yourself?
I live in Wellington, New Zealand and work full time in Marketing as well as running my travel blog Sarah Sees The World. Recently I visited my 34th country which leaves plenty more out there to explore.
As well as travel my key passions consuming delicious food, coffee and wine, hitting the gym and reducing the ‘to-be-read’ count on my bloglovin’ feed.
Why do you travel?
I travel to experience the world and new things, to break up the monotony of daily life. I love my home city of Wellington and being based here but visiting new cities allows me to sample the lives and lifestyles of others for a small amount of time, change things up and learn a lot. It also gives me the kick I need to get back into the ‘work’ part of the work, save, travel cycle.
How do you balance work and travel?
Living in isolated New Zealand I learnt early on how to use my annual leave to my advantage, maximising it as much as possible by combining it with weekends and public holidays.
5 years ago I quit a job to travel for 9 months and since then, most of my jobs have been contracts giving me a set period of employment to save, plan and then take an extended trip somewhere. It’s something which really works for me.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned from your travels?
More money does not equal more enjoyment.
On my most recent trip I visited Norway, Sweden and Iceland. They’re beautiful, yet crazy expensive places that I couldn’t have afforded to visit a few years ago, and could barely afford to visit now.
I was in a way taken back to my low-budget travel days, when it was hostels rather than mid-priced hotels and preparing supermarket purchased food rather than eating out, but it was way less of a blast.
Earlier this year I did a food tour in Madrid and realised it was the best possible way I could have seen the city. Not only did I have a memorable day out with my best friend eating and drinking at spots we’d never have found without a passionate local who wanted us to get the most out of his city, but we learnt a lot about the history and culture of Madrid.
Take out travel insurance! I worked in marketing for an insurance brand for too long not to understand the benefits of having it and the trouble (financial and otherwise) you can get yourself into if something goes wrong and you are not insured. If you think you can’t afford it then you really can’t afford to travel.
Recently I had to make my first travel insurance claim as not only did I miss my flight due to security staff strikes at an airport, but my suitcase was not off-loaded and was then lost by the airline. I didn’t get it back for four days and I had to buy essentials as well as make new travel arrangements.
Thanks for reading! Want more travel tips from Sarah and women like her?
Join the Suitcase Six mailing list and you’ll get access to 3 freebies to help you plan your next adventure!
After you sign up, you’ll start receiving the following freebies: 50 Practical Travel Tips from Solo Lady Backpackers (a 6-page PDF), 20 Tips for Sustainable Travel (a checklist), and 30 Jobs to See the World.
Want more interviews? Head to our Woman of the Week archives for the full library.
