Courtesy of Dr. Cacinda Maloney of PointsandTravel.com.
She based this pattern on the advice of a business coach she hired many years ago.
She and her husband "thought he was crazy at first, especially since we had just graduated from college with our doctorate degrees and in debt of college loans at $100,000 each," she told Business Insider in an email.
"We were go-getters who were ready to work after 10 years of college. However, the advice he gave us ended up being the best advice we have ever received from a coach."
Maloney and her husband took the advice to heart, and made a point of traveling every six weeks as they built a chiropractic practice together in Arizona, working traditional hours. "I grew up during a time when people said you can't go to Europe unless you go for two weeks," Maloney said. "Well, as owners of a busy practice, we never had two weeks off in a row, so we made up this system to make it work for us. "
The system consists of four strategies:
- They traveled to one destination at a time. Not two cities, for instance - only one. "You can see the highlights of any city in three days, plus by then you have eaten and drunk too much," she said. "You can always return if you want to see more ."
- They never took consecutive international trips. Instead, they would alternate one international trip with a close destination, "where you can get into vacation mode in 2-6 hours ."
- They tried to coordinate trips with national holidays, "so that you have built-in extra time to rest after you return from
travel ." - They favored Tuesday night red-eyes for international trips. "Work Monday and Tuesday, then take the Tuesday night red eye to your international city, then stay there until the following Saturday, or Sunday if it is a holiday weekend. Be back to work on Monday, or Tuesday if it is a holiday weekend," she explained.
"It took a lot of trial and error to finally make this work," said Maloney, "but it works as a business owner, since you determine your work schedule. " And in the end, she added, "we exchanged experiences of life for money, and it was and continues to be worth every penny."
As of 2014, Maloney upended her every-six-weeks schedule, changing careers to become a travel ambassador, writer, and photographer through her website, PointsandTravel.com. "Now my philosophy of travel has changed," she said. "I search out and find soft adventure, culture, and smart luxury travel experiences to share with my readers. I am looking for places, experiences, food, and cultures where my readers can say 'Wow! That was a fantastic trip!'"