When it comes to money, if you’ve been taught anything while growing up, it’s the importance of saving “just in case”.
“Just in case of an emergency …”, “just in case you need to repair the car …”, “just in case the boiler packs up …” – not exactly inspirational or exciting.
But what if it was the norm to save up for unforgettable moments and not just in case of a rainy day? Below, we asked two people to relay the magic of saving for a sunny day.
Carolyn Pearson, 59, Leeds, chief executive of a travel security company
Sunny day: a solo trip to Tahiti
Tahiti wasn’t just a dream waiting to be fulfilled for Carolyn Pearson, it was an “obsession”. The 59-year-old says: “I saw a brochure with a water bungalow in Bora Bora – and it was before water bungalows were really a thing.
“So I had this massive dream that I wanted to go to Tahiti and it must have lasted about 20 years – it was even my password.”
Pearson has an Isa with Coventry Building Society, but saving didn’t come naturally to her at first. She initially tried a selection of quick-fix ways to make Tahiti a reality, from taking part in a lottery syndicate to setting up an alert for “win holiday to Tahiti”.
“Then I just thought, I really want to do this, there is nothing stopping me except my own head. I know it’s expensive, but I should just give myself the permission to do it,” she says. “Once I’d set my mind on it, and then started saving, it was no longer ‘how can I make this happen?’, it was, ‘I’m making this happen’.”
With this mindset and a Tahiti vision board as a daily reminder, Pearson started regularly putting money away in her savings account, “if I got three numbers on the lottery, saved 100 quid on my car insurance, got a tax refund, or anything like that”.
A year-and-a-half later Pearson was able to book her tickets. As a solo traveller, she opted for a hotel stay instead of a water bungalow. This was followed by 10 days sailing around the islands on a yacht.
The holiday was topped off with a visit to the exact same place as the picture that had taken pride of place on her vision board. Describing it as “a moment of absolute synchronicity”, she adds: “I really went into my feelings. This is a gift that I’ve given to myself, and it’s beautiful. And if I ever doubt that I can do anything, I always have to remember this moment that I’m actually in this place.”
Reflecting on her trip, Pearson says: “It’s a gift that I get back every day – because I have those memories.”
Alice Acreman, 32, London, textile designer and owner of Alice Acreman Silks
Sunny day: a Sri Lankan sabbatical
As a small business owner running her company single-handedly, Alice Acreman knew it wasn’t going to be easy to pursue her urge to travel to Sri Lanka to take a month-long sabbatical. But she was determined to make the trip happen, even if it meant travelling alone and working flat out to save enough funds.
“Being self-employed means that I have the ability to take longer periods away from work, which not all of my friends and family can,” she says. “It felt important to do something a little out of my comfort zone. I’m used to travelling to Europe, but I really crave discovering unknown places and the feeling [of being] away from the normality of everyday life in London.”
Saving for the trip involved taking on extra freelance jobs as a textile designer and working round the clock. “I was aware of my spending in the run up to the trip and have gradually been building up a fund for travel over the last year.
“It made me feel excited to have a goal for my earnings and also gave me a reason to be more considerate about how I spent my money.”
Indeed, the sense of anticipation was a reward in itself, she notes: “I enjoyed having a big trip planned rather than letting money trickle away on smaller joys.”
And when the timing was right with her business and she’d found someone to rent her home while she was away, she took the plunge. “Buying the ticket and other travel expenses felt a little bit scary, spending all my hard-earned savings in such a short space of time. But it gave me such a buzz to have the trip booked.”
Acreman made sure to squeeze some art gear into her backpack, knowing that the sabbatical was also an opportunity to feed her love of painting. “I had to be really strict on what I brought with me. I knew I’d feel inspired and really enjoy painting in Sri Lanka, so I left a little room for paints and a sketchbook.”
“It also feels good to know that I can be creating and working while I travel, combining my love of design with travel.”
With Coventry Building Society, you can prepare for the unexpected while also saving for those unforgettable moments that shouldn’t be missed
