One Week Down Under

Is Australia a country on your bucket list?  Do you only get one week of vacation off a year?  Here is how you can spend 7 full amazing days in Sydney by utilizing a travel loan!  

First,  you need to factor in traveling time - it takes 14+ hours to fly from the United States to Australia.  What you do NOT want to do is spend one of your precious vacations day traveling.  So here is how you can make the most of your days off.

Book your trip for a Friday through Friday, that way you leave time for any unexpected travel delays, and for time to recuperate before Monday.  Also, if you have any sick leave saved up use it and leave on Wednesday to give yourself a few more in country days.  Also, choose a specific region to explore like New South Wales, and call Sydney your home base.  Its a great jumping off point for a lot of attractions. 

Now that you have figured out your travel days and location, its time to call United Military Travel to book it.  By traveling via a travel loan you will open up such huge opportunities to do things in Australia that you probably wouldn't be able to if you simply payed out of pocket.  When you book travel through a travel loan, you start paying your trip off monthly thus creating more liquid cash for the actual trip.  

Our motto is "travel now and pay later" - so go ahead and book your Australia dream vacation because you can afford it! 

Ok, so imagine that you have got your trip booked and you fly out in a couple of weeks.....what are you going to plan to do while Down Under????  When I was in Australia, Sydney quickly became a favorite area of mine. 

 The region of New South Wales offers so much diversity - you can explore the Blue Mountains one day, mingle in the sunshine at Bondi Beach the next, sip cocktails at the Opera House by night, explore downtown on foot, and take a ferry rides to Manly Harbor for a special treat.  

Here is a look at my 7 days in Sydney....

Sydney Opera House by day

By night...

Sydney is a large city, so in order to see all of their "downtown" you will need to split it up into different days.  Like, I spend one whole day exploring the Opera House area, then later I went to the Sydney Harbor Bridge area for some shopping, and then hopped on a ferry and cruised over to Manly Harbor.  

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Arriving in Manly harbor from Sydney...it was a quick ferry ride of about 45 minutes.

The main strip in Manly

Are you ready to get out of the city and into some raw Australian country?  Book a trip to the Blue Mountains through, Blue Mountains Tours, and spend one, two, or three days exploring the breath taking mountains.  I booked just a day trip, but if I could go back I would have done two full days.  I hiked a long trail and got see some gorgeous vistas but when it was time to go, I just wanted more.  The Blue Mountains are truly special - when you get deep into the woods you feel like you have stepped back in time and I half expected to see a dinosaur come crawling out of the woods.  Things are just bigger and greener there....but it is a tropical rainforest after all.  

Deep in the forest

Vista

Essentially, my 7 days in Sydney was spent hiking through rainforest jungles, concrete jungles, and cruising the waterways of Sydney.  I cannot imagine myself spending my time any other way, and yes the long travel time is worth it.  If you have a desire to visit Australia, but keep putting it off for when you have "more time", stop. Just go - pick a region and explore it!