A wise man once said that, “If you ever have the opportunity to climb a mountain, or sail an ocean, or run a river, or travel the world, then do it! It’s the greatest education you’ll ever have.” Unfortunately, our natural tendency is to convince ourselves that these examples of opportunity are unobtainable. There is always a more practical way to spend our time, money and efforts.

Eliza and Devan Baucom strongly believe that traveling the world is “good for the soul”. During their first year of marriage, they spent three months living out of backpacks, counting their pennies, and traveling around Africa and Europe. When they came home to reality, they promised each other that they would find a way to do it again. They both maintained full-time jobs while finishing college and built up their travel fund. Three years later, their passion for travel sent them on a six month “for the heck of it” trip around the world.

They were counseled by many that extended travel would be a poor financial decision and suggested they should buy a house instead. Eliza said, “We were young, healthy, and just the right amount of irresponsible. The investment we made in ourselves was worth more to us than the nicest house on the nicest street in Salt Lake City.” They decided that those kinds of things could wait and it would be more fun to “shake things up” a little.

Here are five suggestions that Eliza and Devan believe will build the confidence that long-term travel is possible:

• Set a goal

Find a realistic date that you want to leave and make a game plan to do it.

• Give up the small things

Budget out the things that don’t matter (three trips a week to Smash Burger, a new jacket, an iPhone upgrade) in order to save money.

• Buy the ticket

Just buy it! That way you won’t chicken out, or push the date back. You won’t tell yourself you can’t go anymore. Book it, and work your butt off to make it happen.

• Sell the things you don’t need

If this is going to be an extended trip, then you won’t need all the stuff built up in your apartment. Get rid of the extra Crock-Pots you got from your wedding, the ugly nightstand you inherited from your grandma, and the DVD collection you’ll never use because let’s face it, Netflix rules the world. You’ll be surprised how much money you can make off of your junk.

• Find a way to bring in passive income

This one is hard and not necessarily mandatory. Whether it’s an Etsy shop, cryptocurrency investing, freelance design, consulting, editing, WHATEVER. Having extra money coming in would be great.

Eliza and Devan want people to feel confident that you CAN do it. Extended travel is worth the investment in yourself and can be made possible by setting a goal, giving up the small things, buying the ticket, selling the things you don’t need, and finding a way to bring in passive income.

Follow @elizabaucom if you want to be inspired by amazing pictures from around the world, or have any questions regarding long-term travel.