suze -I'm glad you have enough money for travel but I stand by my original comment. the first obstacle to travel is money, having the time comes next.

A person could have all the time in the world but if they lack sufficient funds their ability to travel will be curtailed. Ask any of your retired friends or others who have time on their hands but are less fortunate (financially) then you what prevents them from traveling more. The answer will almost always be affordability.

Doesn't matter how much money I have, if I can't get the time off from my job to take a trip.

I don't have any retired friends. Everyone's still working.

I do agree you need both... time & money... perhaps equally?

Time may be more important. You can often figure out how to travel more cheaply. You just have to be willing...

Money of course ;/
And sometimes the lack of free time

I still think that an app that answers the question (for example), Where shall I go this weekend? could be successful. It could include driving routes of a suitable length, staycation options, and cheap air and rail and hotel deals. Right now, one would have to visit numerous websites to amass that kind of info.

I'm the same as lots of others here--pets and money. With two cats and an elderly dog it takes a lot of preplanning (and a fair amount of money as well) to go away.

I'm back to thinking time is the most important.

If I was one of those retired people someone mentions, with plenty of time, but not enough money... as long as my healthy was good, I'd find a part-time or temp job and save money so I could travel.

So I'm back to voting free TIME is the key.

Thus the need for money! No money = no travel

I am going to change my answer to "money". If I had enough money, availability of time off would bot be an issue.

But what constitutes "enough"? If I waited to travel until I had what many Fodorites would consider "enough" I would never leave home.

Enough that I could consider myself independently wealthy. $9,000,000 should do the trick.

Lol - well I certainly wouldn't be out here traveling in that case.....

OK sparkchaser makes a good point. If I have oodles of money then I would quit my day job, and limited time off would no longer be an issue.

The OP was asking about trips, not life lived permanently on the road. However, I seriously doubt that many people on long term trips are multimillionaires. Most have figured out how to make money while traveling (sometimes by telecomuting), others are on sabbaticals, or taking a long break between jobs. Hang out on twitter or check travel blogs and you'll find plenty of them. Others are retired, although not, I suspect, with 9 million. When I asked about "enough" I was not asking about a luxurious existence permanently on the road, but I bet I could buy a large enough (for my needs) single premium lifetime annuity with inflation protection at age 65 for a lot less than 9 million.

9 million was my number because since we're fantasizing, that would be enough for me to do what I want and buy what I want and go where I want (first class or charter).

You may be fantasizing, but I'm not. I asked a serious question. Plus, I took early retirement so I could travel, if not full time, at least extensively, before I got too decrepit. And I had nowhere near 9 million, lol!!

Even if I had the means to do so, there is no way I would travel full-time.

If I could, I would travel for a month every year! But ...

We have elderly parents (multiple cancer survivors) and I am the only local kid left to pitch in if they need help.

We own a farm with animals -- *fortunately* no dairy animals anymore, and we've stopped breeding which eliminates two big obstacles. But it's still tough to find someone willing to step in and run a farm for two weeks or more.

We have kids who will be going to college all too soon; one just finished braces and one will be getting braces soon. $$$$$

I have a demanding job and can barely manage a day off, let alone a week. Example -- it's early October and I haven't taken a single vacation day yet this yet (to be fair, I *am* traveling at the end of this month, but the rest of my team will be adversely affected, which is a crushing level of guilt).

I've got this pesky thing called a full time job... pays the bills so can't ditch it!

For me, money is certainly a necessity for my travels. I've got lots of vacation time (at my job for 31 yrs) but plan on working another 9 yrs so I can continue to travel.

I also have dogs but my husband doesn't like to travel so he stays home w/ them while I get 2 trips a year to France!