Globetrotting mum explains how she's visited 100 countries for bargain price

30 December 2023 , 15:56

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Susie with husband Dan at the Taj Mahal

Globetrotter Sandie Harrison has knocked off more than 100 countries in the most breath-taking way possible.

Because she’s done it all on mini-breaks. And nowhere is too far away for the mum of four – from the Taj Mahal to four days away to see the Great Wall Of China. Sandie, 48 – who works in recruitment – is never short of ideas for her next dash abroad. And when one pops into her head, it’s already almost a done deal. “So many people say to me, ‘Oh, I wish I could see this place, or that landmark.’ I just jump on a plane and do it,” says Sandie who thinks nothing of popping to Pisa for the day to visit the leaning tower or a 72-hour round trip to Rio on a whim to see the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer.

“I make the journey part of the fun,” says Sandie who married maintenance supervisor Dan on a mini break to New York. I treat long haul flights like a duvet day and measure them in how many films I get to watch.” She says she takes her husband or friends with her as her grown-up children from a previous marriage got fed up with being dragged around the world. “It’s worth the jet lag. I have always had a love for travel, there’s a big world out there and I want to see it all,” says Sandie who lives in Rugby, Warwicks.

In Rio with friends

With Dan in Kuala Lumpur

And before you think she must be rolling in it, she does it all with careful budgeting. The eight foreign trips she made this year to Madrid, Pisa and Florence, Rio de Janeiro, South of France twice, Dublin, Singapore and Phuket, and Albania cost £2,974 in total. While the 10 she made in 2022 – to Cyprus, Vienna, New York, Dubai, South of France three times, Tobago, Budapest and Euro Disney came to £3,475. That’s compared to the average British spend of £2,527 per person just on a summer holiday, says the VoucherCodes 2023 Holiday Report.

Sandie – who gets 20 days annual leave a year – says: “I usually try to get a flight out on Friday after work and return Sunday night. Then I don’t have to use any holiday days, or one or two at the most. You only get a few hours in each place, but accommodation doesn’t cost much and often I want to go to a place to see one or two particular landmarks. I’ve been to well over 100 places now, but there are so many more on my list.” Sandie says there are times when she’s been away three weekends in a month.

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“A few years back, I read Dracula and decided I wanted to see his castle, so I booked for us to go to Romania for a night. I really wanted to see the Taj Mahal, but didn’t want to spend weeks in India. Instead, I booked for us to go Thursday to Monday.”

Wedding in New York

In Rome

She went to Albania just to shop at a Christmas market. “We’re not super rich,” says Sandie. “I spend as little as possible on flights and accommodation, but instead of going out drinking at the weekend, I like to see the world.”

She also shares a holiday piggy bank with some of her pals. “We travel together as a group to celebrate birthdays and big life events and we started having a pot of money which we each put about £30 a month in for our trips. When I suddenly find us a great deal on flights to Brazil for a long weekend, for example, we can just go. That trip was three days, so we only needed one day off work.”

Now Sandie has used her skills taking mini-breaks to the max – she trained to become a travel agent and started her own business, Harrington Travel, helping other people find super-cheap deals. “I get such a buzz from it, it’s more of a hobby than a job,” she says. “I’d spend hours helping family and friends find a cheap flight and suddenly realised I might as well be doing it as a business.

In Paris

In Romania

“Often, though, if I manage to find a great deal for a client, I end up booking it for myself too.” Sandie’s passion for travel was born when she begged her parents to let her go on a school skiing trip at 13. She says: “It was £350 and my parents couldn’t afford it, so I got two paper rounds and an evening job in a chippie to earn the money. The buzz of saving up and taking myself across the world was incredible. I don’t think it’s ever left me.”

Her top tips for others wanting to make the most of mini-breaks are to have a holiday fund with pals like she has. “Then when a deal comes up, you’ve got a pot of cash to pay for it. “Also if you’re flying for a really short trip, make sure the airport is near what you want to see. And always keep a holiday case permanently packed with chargers, adapters, sun cream, etc. It saves so much hassle when I book a last-minute trip.”

Heather Main