My wife and I went both routes and spent about three and a half years away from home. After those three years, our finances were comparable to our friends' who had not traveled during that time. Then we put down roots and had a child.

When you’re about to have children, people say, “Your life is really going to change,” and this cliché applies doubly to travel. Most trips soon involve going to visit relatives. Being away from an infant for more than a few days sounds better on paper than it really turns out to be. Now that she’s almost four, we have more latitude, but the long-term backpacking days still won’t be returning for us anytime soon.

“If you are European, you can ignore all this. ”

Other people, or their spouses, have the dream job they’ve always wanted and are reluctant to resign. Still others have saddled themselves with so much debt and “stuff” that they can’t possibly stop working, even for a month.

So what’s a person to do? If the travel bug is biting, but a long trip is out of the question, you have to find wanderlust in small doses.

The following is a bit of advice for three common situations: traveling with a family; insufficient vacation time and a significant other who is not up for a journey.

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