We’ve all said it: “I’d like to travel more, but I just can’t get the time off work.” I was the same. At the office watercooler, colleagues would ask if I had any trips planned, and I would answer “Nah, nothing much”, time and time again. But the plane that flew over my head as I cycled home one evening late in 2015 inspired me. Why wasn’t I on it, jetting off elsewhere for a fix of culture, adventure and escapism?

So I set myself a challenge. I would take a holiday every month in 2016 — and I’d still hold down my full-time job.

In the event, I did better than that. I squeezed in a total of 14 trips. I climbed Morocco’s highest mountain, took city breaks in Copenhagen and Mallorca, went skiing in France, followed the England football team at the European championship and even went on a two-week expedition to Greenland. Despite spending 69 days — almost one day in five — on trips, I took no more than my allocated annual leave and spent just £2,890 in the process. And do you know what? You could do it, too.

Yes, it helped that I was young — 20, turning 21 — and single, and didn’t have a cat to feed or a mortgage to pay. But with clever use of weekends and bank holidays, and a modicum of disposable income, most people could do the same. Here’s how I went about it.

This article was published in the Sunday Times in March 2017. You can read the article here.