I know I do all the time.
Here’s what people said.
“My wife and I have been on the road for seven months.
We quit our jobs last June, sold everything, and packed our stuff into two big backpacks.
“In short, it is heaven, and it’s also hell.
I never thought traveling the world would be as hard as it was.
Quitting my job, giving up on my career, and facing uncertainties was way easier than expected.
Back then I was so frustrated that I wanted to know what life has to offer.
I had a good job and a very decent salary.
It didn’t make me happy.
But it helped me to save enough money to make a dream come true.
The journey itself was heaven.
I lived in a flow-like state for a year.
Coming back home was quite the opposite.
I was an alien in my own country.
This was not the end of it.
Things became even more challenging.
From an outsider’s standpoint, I explored some countries and cultures.
But for me, it turned out to be a journey to find myself.
It took me years to integrate this lesson.”
Tim W.
3.
‘Alex, someone has taken a shit on the floor.
Can you go clean it up hey.
Sure, bartending was fun.
And the odd phone number on a coaster was always appreciated.
I still remember my six-year-old self under pressure to be at the top of the class.
And it never stopped.
So, I decided not to apply for any job.
I knew if I got a job, it would be immensely difficult to quit.
I immerse myself in its culture and local life when I spend 2060 days at a place.
I rent a room, get a scooter, and make local friends.
I feel a part of the community.
I feel I’m no longer being seen as an outsider.
This would have never been possible with a regular job.
I’m never in a hurry to return home.
Living this lifestyle, I feel every place I visit is a home…
I never run out of exciting places to see.
People say travel broadens your outlook towards the world and people.
And it isn’t easy to know until you see the world from a different perspective.
For me, traveling is always more about the experiences than the destination.
Despite being an unmatched brilliance, the Taj Mahal doesn’t evoke any emotion in me.
Finally, traveling is all about the people.
‘Happiness is only real when shared.
‘A good company can lighten up even a wrong place.
I’ve met people from around the world and made many friends.
I made a friend in Chiang Mai, and I met her again in Kuala Lumpur.
I have friends all over the world.
Ultimately, ‘I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.'”
Aman M.
5.
“The night before my 24th birthday, I decided to do something I always wanted to do.
I hated my corporate job.
It used to be my only source of entertainment amidst the mind-numbing, monotonous routine.
Three days after my birthday, I put in my papers.
My boss was more confused than angry.
Those few days, while I served my notice period, were awesome.
Surprisingly, my body aches vanished.
I got my voracious appetite back.
My parents came to terms with the idea of metraveling alone.
And then I left Mumbai…”
6.
“In 2017, I was 21 and working for a very informal company in San Diego.
I wouldnt say I liked it, but I needed the money.
I saved for a while.
We went to Iceland, which was not a common destination for vacations then.
After that, we flew to Switzerland and visited the most popular cities.
It is beautiful, peaceful, and well-organized…:
“…After that, we went to Paris.
It was like a dream.
Our last city was Amsterdam, a very chill place.
I bonded a lot with my friends in there.
We had a lot of fun in Dam Square at night.
A very pretty downtown!
After that trip, I returned to Mexico with not too much money but many memories.
Changing money for memories is the best investment, and now I understand it.
If I have the money again, I will do it one more time.
Traveling while young with your friends is the best experience you could ever have.”
That said, I did learn a few things…”
8.
“I was 28, single, had a high-paying job and a new mortgage.
I was also running out of time.
Then, the guilt kicked in.
I had a well-paying, respectable job that didn’t light me up.
I had a mortgage.
And I felt trapped.
I realized that staying in my comfort zone was not comfortable at all.
So I asked myself, ‘How might I make this work?'”…
“…First, I researched where I might move and got excited at the possibilities.
Then I nervously asked my company for a transfer overseas, and surprisingly, I got it.
Don’t have regrets like I have now when you’re my age.’
With his encouragement, I booked a one-way ticket to Toronto.
I felt liberated by deciding to chase my dreams and listen to what ‘I’ wanted.
Ten months later, I was on a flight to Toronto.
If yes, how does that sit with you?”
Anfernee C
9.
You will see things in a new light.
When you return, things that were ‘big problems’ before you left will seem petty and insignificant.
You will have to confront your preconceived notions about people and places.
You will learn a lot about other cultures and yourself.
It’s one of the best things you’ve got the option to do.
I wish more people would do it.
Then the world wouldn’t be so full of hate and bigotry."
Christer N.
10.
“I just resigned for the third time in the last ten years to travel.
I’m going to rewind to 2012 when I’d visited around four countries.
I know in my family it’s almost unheard of…”
11.
My friend and I had arrived on one-way tickets to London the night before.
And not just what to do that day but what to do in the coming weeks and months.
Could we take the Trans-Siberian railroad?
And each time I felt it, I knew it was time to go home.
It is the flip side of the freedom coin.
The first time I was in Shanghaiseven months into my tripwalking to the train station.
They were going to work.
To see the doctor.
I could not wait to get back to work, relationships, family, and permanence.
The scariest part of it all was realizing and deciding that this was what I needed to do.
“I quit my job to travel, and it was the most rewarding experience ever.
It sounds like a cliche, but it’s the truth.
I can’t recommend it enough.
“It was fun but stupid.
The ‘rents did have to bail me out financially a few times.
I don’t know what I would have done without the family money.
Melissa M.
15.
“I quit Microsoft, got an around-the-world ticket, and went on a solo nine-month, 13-country trip.
It was the best thing I’ve done.
