I am not here to sell you a dream. I understand that most people (including me) have a job that they have to attend. Equally, I understand that a lot of people have a burning desire to travel and explore the world. So, I want to help you implement some simple habits and tips that will help you travel with a 9-5. These habits have drastically changed my potential to travel with a 9-5, now it’s your turn!

Some of these tips are job dependant, but here are 9 easy things for you to try in order to travel more with a 9-5.

Hours in Lieu – Travel With a 9-5

If your job asks you for overtime, you may be able to work for extra days off rather than pay. I do this, and most companies who offer overtime should also be able to facilitate this option. For example, you could work an extra hour every day. Subsequently, you have around 20 hours at the end of the month that are owed to you. Now, you have an extra 2.5 days you can take on top of your paid holiday. This could be enough to get a short weekend break each month without touching your normal holiday allowance. Alternatively, you could work a Saturday twice a month and then take those 2 days back. It is a great way to increase your flexibility and may be the best option.

This may not be an option that companies will willingly offer to you. So you will need to propose it to them. Equally, if they are not happy with, simply wait until they are desperate for you to cover overtime. If they need you, this is the time to get what you want this is one of the easiest travel tips to implement.

Zero Hour Contracts

You can ask for a zero hour contract. This one, however, can be a bit trickier as you will be relying on a lot of trust. But, if you explain that you want to continue to work the same amount of hours as you do now but with more flexibility for travels, they may come to an agreement with you. Alongside the additional flexibility, you still get paid holiday pay but it’s based on the hours you work.

There are some risks involved with this travel tip. Firstly, you actually don’t have any job security as they could just stop giving you hours. However, if you’re good at your job and valued at your workplace, why would they want to do that? As long as you stick to your end of the agreement and continue to perform in your role, it should work out fine and you’ll have more opportunities to travel with a 9 to 5. Secondly, it may affect any applications for mortgages etc as they sometimes ask for your employer to confirm your contract. Although this is not that common, they usually just ask for your payslips to see what you have actually earned.

Working Remotely

You need to ask if there’s a possibility of working remotely from time to time. If you mainly work on a computer, and can demonstrate to your employer that you don’t physically need to be in the workplace to complete your work, give it a go. As with previous points, it really helps if you are valued and good at your job. This means you hold the leverage. Also, you could say that you get distracted by others and that you are more productive at home. Make it sound attractive to your employer and highlight the benefits to the company and it will help your case.

By law, you can make a statutory or non-statutory request for flexible working. Obviously, your employer can refuse this. Equally, if you can demonstrate that your request does not meet one of the 8 refusal criteria, they will have a hard job rejecting it. Also, they may not allow you to do your work abroad, so you will need to have this conversation. Again, if you can convince them that your work will still get done, there should be no reason to reject the proposal. If they do, maybe you need a new boss anyway ;).

This may be a better option for a lot of people who want to travel with a 9 to 5. On the whole, it allows you to travel without having to sacrifice your contract, your finances, or your holiday allowance.

Strategic Holiday – Travel With a 9-5

You need to plan! In the UK most people have 28 days holiday (full time), and some lucky people have more than 28 days. So, if you work office hours, booking a Thursday to Monday off gives you 5 days, 9 times a year! Alternatively, if you work shifts, you will be able to work out a similar pattern with the same results. Therefore, you can easily travel more with a 9 to 5. Just make sure you are careful with how you do it and implement this tip. Don’t get me wrong, this is all personal preference. Some people would prefer to take a two week holiday every 6 months. But, if you want to travel regularly and see more of the world, it works better to do smaller trips.

Also, make sure to get your holidays booked early!! We don’t want to be in a situation where you see a great deal but can’t have the time off. You have to compete with other employees who may already have time booked off. You need to be proactive and make sure you’re always on the lookout for cheap deals to get ahead and make the most of your ability to travel with a 9 to 5.

Utilise Short Breaks

As mentioned above, taking smaller trips can have a huge impact on how much travel you can fit in when you also have to work full-time. Also, try to take breaks over your days off where you can, and simply add a few days either side. This way you can maximise the use of your holiday allowance. If you want to start seeing the world, you don’t need to be gone for weeks at a time. You can easily explore nearby destinations over a few days.

I understand that it is attractive to visit tropical countries, or countries further afield. However, there is so much to explore in between these longer distance trips. There are so many beautiful countries in and around Europe that you have to visit and I think this is one of the best travel tips to implement.

Stay Close to Home

Depending on your home country and location, you can explore your own country. Or, even neighbouring countries to save on travel time and costs. There is so much to see, you don’t have to go far to explore and have a good time. Especially if you’re in the UK, it’s so easy to fly to various different countries within a 4 hour period. This makes it so easy to explore places on short breaks as mentioned above. There is even a growing trend of ‘extreme day trips’. This is where people will fly an hour or two to spend a day in another country. That shows just how useful it can be to choose destinations that are close to home.

As well as this, there are also plenty of areas in every country that you can explore and have amazing experiences. The only difficulty with doing this is that it is often cheaper to fly abroad than to travel within the UK.

Flexi Time – Travel With a 9-5

You can ask for a Flexi contract at work, which is a nice middle ground between working from home and having a zero-hour contract. Essentially, you are able to choose when you work as long as you meet the hours in your contract. So, if your workplace is open outside of your usual working hours this is a great opportunity for travel with a 9-5. For example, my job role as a quality assurance manager in a care home doesn’t affect the basic day to day running of the home. I have weekly and monthly responsibilities to complete but it doesn’t matter when I complete them. Therefore, I could work through the night if I really wanted to as there are always people there.

Honestly, this is almost like the opposite hours in lieu. However, this option is more flexible as you don’t have to keep track of what you’ve worked as overtime and when you can take it back. With this option you just work when you want and don’t work when you want. This is probably the best tip for you to travel more with a 9 to 5. Equally, it’s probably the least accessible option as you need to work in an industry which runs 24 hours a day and then need to be in a job role that doesn’t require you day to day.

Sabbatical Leave

This is a bit of a different travel tip as it is essentially unpaid leave, rather than travelling whilst working. However, it does mean your employer has to keep your job open for you, if they agree to it. Of course, they have to grant the leave and this may depend on how valued you are as an employee, unfortunately. Equally, if you work hard and show your worth, you should have no problems, because they will probably want to keep you in the long term. I know this won’t be for everybody due to financial constraints, but if you can save prior to your trip, it is definitely worth considering as it will increase your ability to travel with a 9 to 5.

Another thing to consider is how sustainable this is, because your employer may not be willing to continually accept periods of sabbatical leave no matter how valuable you are. This could be when you ask about working remotely, if it is possible.

Sickness Policies

Honestly, this is not a joke. You need to learn your companies sickness policy and monitoring systems so you can pull a few sick days without getting in to trouble if you have to. For example, my company policy would technically allow me to take 2 periods of sick leave of 5 days within a 3 month rolling period. That’s essentially a 5 day period every 6 weeks. Obviously, depending on your circumstances you may not get paid sick pay. Equally, you need to be careful not to post anything on social media as companies can use that as proof for falsifying sickness. However, you can utilise their own policies to get some extra days to allow you more travel with a 9 to 5.

You will also need to be careful that you do not do this too regularly as it will become obvious to them if it is a consistent pattern of sickness.

Conclusion

So, I really hope you have found value in some of these ideas and can implement some of these tips and tricks so that you can travel more with a 9 to 5. Honesty, they have helped me so much in my abilities to maximise travel and you only really need to focus on one or two of them to drastically change your opportunities. Check out some of the trips I did in 2024 thanks to these tips – Romania, Bulgaria, Italy.

Which ones of these have you used before and which ones are you going to try next time?