I visited 7 countries in one year without using PTO heres the travel tip that helped me do it

Meet the mom who visited seven countries in one year, spending just $3,180 — and using NO paid time off.Claire Howard did 13 extreme day trips — visiting each location within the space of 24 hours — in a bid to tackle fear of flying.Now 47, her phobia started when she was just 21.But the English teacher, from Solihull, England says the shock therapy worked — and she is no longer afraid of flying.The mum-of-two took a leap of faith and booked her first solo day trip from Birmingham airport to Geneva, Switzerland in January 2024.Despite waking up the next day in a panic and trying to cancel the trip, Claire went ahead with it and enjoyed it so much that she ended up smashing her target — taking 13 trips in 2024. And she did it all taking no annual leave.Claire said: “After a late night of scrolling I just booked one.I decided to go on my own, I just thought ‘if I can do this then I can do anything.’“When I woke up the next morning in the cold light of day I panicked and tried to cancel.

But there was a $49 cancellation fee and I had only spent $51 on the flights so I decided to just go. “I was really anxious but also so excited.The feeling when I got back and I had done it was amazing, I was on such a high from it.”Claire’s fear of flying began in the late 1990s when she was 21 years old and was traveling the world. Her flight from Perth to Singapore had suffered really bad turbulence, which sparked a lifelong phobia. She said: “I was young, I was on my own, and loads of people on the flight had started getting out prayer beads.

It was really terrifying.That was what really sparked my fear of flying. “I did fly again, but I was at the point where I had to go to the doctor and get diazepam to get on a plane. “It starts a couple of days before.

I start obsessing about getting on the plane and running through all sorts of scenarios. “When I get on the plane, any sort of sound or judder will make me freeze.For me it is the lack o...