We have always loved the idea of working hard and traveling harder. But, when we get emails from young graduates who just want to pursue traveling rather than higher education or a job, it breaks our heart.
We do not advocate leaving your job to travel. Instead of quitting we urge you to explore your skill set, rather than leaving everything for travel. Opt for a sabbatical if you want to travel full-time or switch to a nomadic lifestyle if you hate your job.
Sharing with you guys few things you should consider before calling it quits –
No matter what, financial stability is important and so is a base location.
Travel is an expensive passion to pursue.
Travel is not as glamorous as you see it on social media.
In case of any medical emergency, let’s be practical hardly any stranger that you have met on the road is going to come and help you. You have to cover for your own expenses.
Not every country is kind enough to issue a tourist visa to a freelancer. You have to show a certain amount of money in your bank account to even apply for one.
If your idea of full-time travel is to hop from one country to other for 5-10 days. We would say don’t quit your job, better switch to a job you’re passionate about and travel.
Look at all the full-time travelers: Many ( there are exceptions though ) actually just hop from one country to other for few days trip, many only go on press trips or familiarization trips organized by tourism boards or brands. But, most of them after a certain time settle in a place to work and travel on and off.
Most of our favorite full-time travellers now have a fixed base and there is nothing wrong about it. So, rather judging someone’s travel style or getting carried away by the trend, prefer doing what works for you. Opt for a sabbatical if you want.
Travel is not everything. Yes, we love traveling but we will never glorify it as “THE” coolest/ greatest thing to do on the entire planet. We have all read this famous quote — ” The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only a page” but it’s okay to focus on just one page rather than flipping through the pages of a book called “TRAVEL”.
If staying at luxury resorts for free is your idea of full-time traveling. Trust me, you can do that with your job. After a dozen free stays, all rooms and pools will look the same and you won’t appreciate it much.
Friends and family do matter. Rather than hitting the road in search of finding stories, prefer being part of stories of your friends and family. Your parents will be gone in another 20-30 years so don’t take them for granted.
Nomadic lifestyle has its own perks and perils. It is not a cake walk as it sounds. It needs a lot of determination and hard work.
When it comes to “finding yourself“, “meeting strangers” or “unique experiences”, it can happen anywhere and anytime.
Full-time travel needs sponsorship or some sort of assignment/collaboration for sustainability and there is no guarantee that you will have work/sponsorship every time and all year-long. Having a steady income will help you travel more without any compromise. The time you spend in a place is completely yours. You will not be bound by assignments or have to promote a destination and experience if you don’t like it.
Lastly,
DON’T QUIT TO TRAVEL BECAUSE YOU HATE YOUR JOB, INSTEAD SWITCH.
Quit your job to do anything else but travel. Travel will follow you if you are passionate enough. Work hard and travel harder.
FEW JOBS THAT CAN HELP YOU WORK REMOTELY AS WELL AS HELP YOU TRAVEL
Freelancing, offering online courses, setting up an online business, Travel writing, Travel guide, Travel Agent, Flight Attendant, Cruise Worker, English Teacher, YouTuber, Travel / Food / Fashion / Tech Blogging, Software Engineer are some of the options that you can consider.
( PS: We both are Software Engineers and we love the fact that we can move to different countries; we can set up a base for some time and experience a place like a local)
All we can say is –
THINK WELL
PLAN WELL
DON’T JUMP INTO THE BANDWAGON, JUST BECAUSE ITS COOL.
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NOTE
If you do find our article useful in planning your trip, don’t forget to send a note/picture of your trip to us ( Email: thetalesofatraveler@gmail.com)
Mani @ A New Life Wandering says
What a great article and something that needed to be said.
susmita kapoor says
agree with your post……..this is what we need to understand…money is needed in any situation…
Mayuri Patel says
agree with you and I am happy I haven’t quit my job for the sake of travel.And its not everyone’s cup of tea.You can quit your job if you have someone who can bear your expenses. Lovely and inspiring article.
Krunal P says
Wow, That makes sense… have been hearing a lot from past couple of years about quitting the job and travelling, but the harsh reality is here. Great post
sumit jaiswal says
Hello ..
Good Article Thanks.
The Tales of a Traveler says
Glad you liked the post 🙂
SuniKans says
This is very true and very few blogs out there talk about this, rather alot ofth3m portray quit the job a d travel as very easy amd glamorous, good you guys put out the truth.
Thats exactly the way we planned it too, earn save travel repeat makes a lot more sense.
Timmy @ Go Sawantwadi says
Amazing eye-opener article. Comes at the right time as the thought of leaving my job to travel full time is in my mind for quite some time now. Thanks for sharing!
Bombay Nomads says
Very sensible article. Young people nowadays don’t want to work hard, and have it all…
If it were that easy, EVERYBODY would be doing it