If you had all the time and money in the world, what would you do? One of the most common answers to this question is to travel the world. But what if we told you that you don’t need a six-figure salary, a lottery jackpot, or a trust fund. All you need is a little bit of savings, courage, and the willingness to make some sacrifices. Backed with a healthy appetite for adventure, that’s a small price to pay for an experience that will change you to your core for the rest of your life. Quitting your job to travel the world could be the best decision you’ve never made.
Why you ask? Well, for starters you won’t be stressing about the upcoming rent that’s due as you down beers at Oktoberfest, and your weekly grocery list will be far from your thoughts as you stuff your face with pizza in Italy. Instead of spending your hard-earned cash on new sneakers or bottomless brunch, you’ll be splurging on once in a lifetime experiences, like bungee jumping in New Zealand or partying on a booze cruise in Halong Bay.
Rather than hitting your alarm clock to go through that same boring routine, you’ll be eager to wake up and witness the epic sunrise at Angkor Wat or be on dawn patrol to catch some waves in Bali. Your morning commute stuck in traffic or packed on the subway becomes a road trip on the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
When you wander through remote areas of South America and practice your Spanish with locals, you’ll appreciate people and nature more than ever. Time is on your side, and it’s easy to reflect on what’s important, as you swing in a hammock on a beach in Panama. Traveling long term teaches you how to live in the moment and say yes to adventures leading you to new experiences, like a jungle rave in Thailand on your birthday.
There will be no question when it comes to whether or not to sign up for that pub crawl in Slovakia, or partake in drunk tubing down a river in Laos. After all, every day on the road is Saturday and you don’t have to work tomorrow.
In between all the bus rides and checking into and out of hostels, AirBnBs or wherever you rest your head, you’ll sample tons of new foods and drinks and will eat things you’ve never even heard of. For sure you will meet thousands of new people, and accumulate new friends all over the globe. Without showing up to the lecture hall, you’ll be gaining an education that is far more valuable than what any professor or classroom can teach you.
Things are simpler and appreciating the small things will never be more relatable. When you’re on the road, a simple hot shower with solid pressure will be worthy of celebrating with a cold one. The immense value of experiences will be clearer than ever, because the only possessions you own will fit into a 50-liter backpack…and you won’t even really need everything that’s in it. After stepping out into the unknown, you will have the courage to do almost anything.
Sure it’s not always rainbows and sunshine. Hostel roommates will wake up the entire room with lights and sounds of zipping backpacks at some ungodly hour. You will get the runs. Your rental camper van may get stuck in a ditch sideways. Your patience will be tested as you wait for that bus or train that never shows up. But there is a silver lining in each of these travel moments. Travel teaches us to be present. Traveling teaches lessons about the world and life, because every day is different, and you never know what lies ahead.
Adapting on the fly will become second nature and quickly you’ll learn that no plan can sometimes be the best plan. There may be times where you miss something about home, maybe a clean bathroom, familiar faces, a particular meal or following your football team. But when you are living your dream every day and have the ultimate freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, it will hardly matter and you’ll discover what’s truly important to you.
A trip around the world could be not just the trip of a lifetime, but the experience of a lifetime.
Of course, you’re going to visit some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Places people can only dream of. However, the further your backpack takes you, the more you’ll realize it’s not just about flexing for the gram at Machu Picchu. The journey is what it’s about. The people you meet in the hostels, the quick meals you grab from the market, the interactions and experiences with locals and their cultures. That’s the bulk of travel, not the bucket list checks. Traveling long term is not a vacation. Traveling becomes your life and quitting your job to travel the world will change you for the better in more ways than you could ever imagine.
Sometimes you need to flip your life upside its head. Change can be scary, but ultimately is what allows us to grow. Life can become dull when you spend all your days doing the same things with the same people. There will always be another job waiting and another paycheck. There won’t always be more time and time is the most valuable thing we can spend. Life goes by fast and before you know it, you’ll be 65 and your prime years will have passed you by. Maybe you’ll have the opportunity, money and energy to travel then, or maybe you won’t. Quitting your job to travel the world doesn’t sound so crazy anymore. Remember that tomorrow is not promised today and there is no time like the present.
Start living your best life.
Get out of your comfort zone.
What are you waiting for?
READY TO PURSUE YOUR DREAMS OF TRAVELING THE WORLD?
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