The Dilemma of Quitting Your Job to Travel the World
A few days ago, I received a 700-word email from one of my readers, mentioning how he has been holding on to a marketing job for the past 10 years. But now he wants to leave his career and start travelling.
He wrote to me in search of some kind of assurance. But more than assurance, I felt, he needed inspiration. Inspiration to let go, to break free and find his freedom again.
As an assurance, I told him how even if he quit his corporate career almost recklessly, and if tomorrow he couldn’t find a way to make money and live out of travelling, he won’t return to the same old corporate life empty-handed.
To Travel Is To Find New Opportunities
Travelling is an educating experience. And people who haven’t travelled in their life (please note that by travelling I don’t mean taking recreational holidays with friends, but something more profound and educating in nature) have absolutely no idea what they are missing out. They have no frame of reference for what it is like.
The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
After travelling solo for a long time, one thing I’ve realized is that the places you see, the people you connect with, the pace of life and the many experiences you gain while travelling helps you discover yourself from far within.
Travelling can teach you important life-lessons and can greatly improve your non-travel life. You become less afraid, less stressed out, less hung up, more open to possibilities, better at meeting people, more interested in cultural differences, socially more graceful… and so on and so forth!
You May Not Find What You’re Looking For, But You Might Just Find Yourself
Many people who leave their corporate job to travel, do so seeking clarity. They feel as if they were missing a purpose in life, given they were not happy despite their well-paying job and happening social life.
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore” Andre Gide
When I quit my corporate career and booked a one-way ticket to Bhutan, I was in no different situation either. I was discontent, unhappy and all wired-up in life. Though I am not stating that I didn’t like my life or my profession (of writing), I just wasn’t happy with the way how things were going. It seemed I was just accepting things as they came because everyone around me told me “this is life and you got to learn to deal with it.”
So I finally quit that career behind and left. Though I had no clue what this new life (of being a digital influencer) will bring to me, I knew that after being on the road for some time, and while having no one to watch my back, I will at least find out my weaknesses and where I need improvement.
Don’t Take Everyone’s Suggestion On Travelling
One of the greatest miseries of the human condition is that we always need assurance. When I was struggling with the idea of quitting my job and travel I asked a few considerable intellectuals about my decision, and they only discouraged me.
Making a leap like this is outside the realms of some people’s reality. They can’t understand you. So don’t even bother asking. Focus your energy on yourself. Realize what you want. If you want to break free and find out what is best for you, then there’s no harm taking some time off.
There’s an old saying in Dutch which says “He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him”. Life on the road is a lot easier. It’s only the decision, and all those small preparations you do in the process, that is the hardest part. So stop worrying about the potholes in the road, and go enjoy the journey!
And you still can’t find enough motivation, read some of these popular travel quotes for more travel inspiration.
