I’m a huge fan of travel and I’m pretty certain you are too. Before I go on however, I would like to point out that this post is in no way trying to have a dig at those amazing people who have quit their jobs to travel the world. To leave a job and travel the world brings about so many challenges and for their guts, determination and tenacity, I applaud these people. I however think that there are several ways to skin a cat (I know that’s just a saying but why would someone ever want to skin a cat???)
That being said, one of the downsides of the ‘quit your job and travel the world’ mantra is that for most people, it’s unrealistic. Most travellers at heart both want and need their jobs and so, it can feel like having a job and travelling the world is unrealistic but this isn’t true. I know that it’s possible to travel the world and have a job – those two things are not mutually exclusive and it’s very important to remember that you can do both.
Here are the reasons you don’t have to quit your job to travel the world:
- If you want to quit your job, chances are that this has nothing to do with travel and a lot to do with the fact that you actually don’t like your job. If you don’t like your job, then look for a job you do like. Easier said than done I know but akin to the quest for love, strive to find a job that you love – one that keeps you engaged and looking forward to Mondays instead of dreading it. Trust me, this can be done!
- Life is about balance and too much of a good thing (i.e. 24/7 travel can become quite tiresome after a while. The simplest analogy I can use here is for you to imagine eating your favourite food all day, every day for the next 12 months. Needless to say, in a year’s time (probably even less) it will no longer be your favourite food. If you still need convincing, these posts by Gary Arndt (see post here) and Robert Schrader (see post here) who have both done the whole “quit your job and travel the world” thing will probably have put things into perspective and expose you to some of the not-so-shiny realities of quitting your job and travelling the world and why it may not necessarily be the most suitable option for you
- I’m a fan of the “have it all” school of thought – holding a job and finding time to travel is the harder way to go, yes but this way, you’re not sacrificing anything and still getting to do and see all the stuff you want to
- People meet best friends, husbands, wives and partners at work all the time. Dear goodness, don’t go to work with the sole aim of meeting your better half in your job (I most certainly wouldn’t advocate that) but be open to the possibility that the people you work with can sometimes end up being very important people in your life
- Sometimes, what you don’t like is not the job you have but the routine you have. Before quitting everything, it might be worth spending that extra time thinking about if there are ways to change or improve your routine
- You could always work for yourself. If you’ve toyed with an idea for a while and can see clearly how you can make a living from your idea, it might be worth giving this a go now. If your idea is one that allows you to do it from any location in the world then you have the opportunity to live the travel/work life that you’ve always wanted (if indeed you’ve ever wanted one of course)
- If you enjoy your stability and routine yet you want to travel the world, then chances are that quitting your job to travel the world would actually make you very unhappy. These two things are most certainly attainable in tandem and so it’s important you don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise and instead focus on being able to do both.
- Your financial stability matters to both you and people around you. It’s important for you (and perhaps other people around you) that have your job but it’s also important that you make time to indulge in your passions including travel
- You could also be a pioneer and stand out in your own right for juggling work and travel. This is not a real reason in itself not to quite your job to travel but like I said before, the easiest option is to do one or the other (i.e. work and no travel or travel and no work) so juggling both not only says something about your personality, skills and tenacity but can also leave you as a shining example for other s looking to do the same. Hey, you might even find that you want to start to write a blog about it… 😉
- This is the most important one to remember too, a lot of time, people will tell you how to do things or not to do things on the basis of their own limitations which will have nothing to do with you or your potential. The tricky thing is that it’s very hard to tell when this is the case as some of these people will genuinely have your best interest at heart. This being said, it’s important to remember that no one knows you like you know yourself. You’re capable of achieving so much more than some of the people realise, heck, sometimes more than even you realise. Don’t let things you read or stuff people say, make you think that you can’t have it all. You can have it all and even if you find out it’s trickier to do so, it definitely shouldn’t be for lack of trying!
I know this might sound (to some people like I’m trying to convince you to give up on dreams of travelling the world and stay put at home but on the contrary, I’m challenging you to not use your job as an excuse for not travelling (or as an excuse to procrastinate on travelling) and instead start to thinking creatively and flexibly about how to travel and have a job you love. More importantly, if there’s one thing you take away from all of this; it’s the fact that it is very possible to do both – travel the world and have a job! 🙂
I realise as I wrote this post that it’s not just enough to say that it’s possible to travel the world and have a job but instead to also write out tips and tricks on how to do so! You can find these tips and tricks in this post here on “7 Ways To Travel The World And Hold A Job“. Hope you find it useful!
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