I don’t want to quit my job to travel. There are so many travel bloggers out there advertising for you to quit your job, sell all of your things and to travel the world. There’s nothing wrong with that and if that’s what you want to do then go for it! It takes a certain amount of bravery and courage to be able to pick up all of your belongings, to sell them or put them away and go off on an adventure. Perhaps one day I’ll do that but not right now.
Midway through last year I made another career jump. I used to get a lot of slack for changing jobs so often but the thing is, in this day and age you have to if you want to advance and make more money. After all, it’s the reason I was able to increase my salary by $20,000 in three years.
Not too long ago I was one of those people, desperate to get out. I wanted to quit my job, sell all of my things and go away. What kept me here? I was working towards building my career. As a young woman professional it’s often harder to build yourself up and build a career than it is for your male counterparts. Not because we are incapable (far from it) but because there seems to be this weird stigma where women have to choose between having a family or a career. We have come a long way in the last several decades but even now I find this prevalent in the workplace. I was happy with what I had accomplished and my fear was that if I left, my career would take a standstill.
I’ve always been raised to hold a certain level of responsibility. Like many of you, the path laid out for me was go to school, get a job, get a house, get married and live happily ever after. To be fair, I haven’t wavered too far from that plan right now. The difference is, I quite obviously have an obsession to travel.
I don’t want to quit my job to travel. I want to find a happy medium to both having a career and exploring new destinations as often as possible. So far, I’ve been somewhat able to do that.
Having a home base
One of the reasons I won’t quit my job to travel is that I love having a home base. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely LOVE experiencing new places, especially new boutique hotels but I also love that feeling of coming home to our apartment. That feeling of getting into your own familiar bed after some time away is the best feeling in the world.
It’s also nice being able to have a place where you can leave all of your belongings. I’m not generally a materialistic person but I do love the things I have. I have been working on my personal library for the majority of my life and getting rid of that would be so hard!
Having a schedule
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to wake up and have the same day every day but having some sort of schedule keeps me sane. I’m one of those people that loves being busy. I wake up, work out, go to work, come home and blog / freelance until my eyes are almost falling out of my head. It’s a rare day when I’m not putting in 12-14 hours of solid work. Call me crazy but I love what I do. I’m passionate about it, both in my day job and my free time. For this reason I don’t think I could quit my job and travel the world.
It would be hard to be constantly on the move, not having obligations or responsibilities to be in any particular place at any time. I’m sure it would be freeing for the first little while but after that? I’m not so sure, I just don’t think it’s in my DNA.
I actually like my job
Call my crazy but I wouldn’t want to quit my job to travel the world because well, I actually like what I do. Every day is different for me when I go into work. Not only that, I get to do exactly what I’ve wanted to do for the past 5 years. Ever since I knew it was an actual job!
I’m sure in some time I’ll be ready to move on and work towards a new challenge but right now I’m so happy in my position that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Unless of course I started my own consulting business doing just that, but that’s another thing all together.
I love my city
I know I’m going to get flack for this because I beg Ben like every other day to move to London but I really do love Toronto. It’s been listed as one of the best cities in the world to live and for good reason. Living is relatively affordable (for now although the cost of living is getting quite crazy), we are right along the waterfront, there are so many amazing restaurants, there is so much diversity and we are a short drive away from northern Ontario.
I think the only way I would quit my job and go right now is if we were moving to London. At least in London we would be able to travel so much easier than we do right now.
I like having money
Seriously who doesn’t? Having a steady paycheck is really important to me right now. I’m a pretty stressful person and I think the anxiety of not knowing when the next time I was going to be paid would just be too much for me. Working full-time means I know exactly what I have coming in. I’m able to save for retirement, I’m able to afford that nicer hotel when we travel, I’m able to pay for my wedding and save for buying a house.
Um, plus being able to submit massages through benefits is amazing!
Friends are only a drive away
As you get older it gets harder and harder to make new friends. Plus it gets harder to see them because everyone is just so damn busy. However, I know if I needed to I would be able to call up any one of my friends and I’d be able to see them no problem. Ben and I are so lucky to have such a good group of friends in Toronto and it would be hard to be away from them. Who else would be there to take you for a beer when a loved one passes away? Who else would come over and just drink wine and order food when you don’t feel like getting all dressed up and going out?
I love hanging with my family
Seriously, I have the best family. Everyone says that but mine really is amazing. I think too, the older you get the more you really do appreciate family. You start to learn that there is no one else who will be there for you like them. If I quit my job to travel I wouldn’t be able to hop on a bus to go see them when I just need some motherly, fatherly or sisterly-love.
I am the only person I know at my age who has all four grandparents still alive, still mentally all there and not dependent on other people. They are all between the ages or 84-88. That’s incredible. I’m also not ignorant in the fact that one day they will not be here. While I don’t see them as often as I would like, I see them often enough and that in itself is worth not me quitting my job to travel around the world. I have spent so many amazing times with my family over the past couple of years.
What about you? Would you or have you quit your job to travel?
*Featured image taken by The Love Studio
Great post! I definitely identify with, oh… every item on this list. I think that travel bloggers have kind of created this stigma around working a stable job – which is so crazy! Everyone should live the life that’s right for them. I’m glad to read that you’re happy and enjoying your life and job in Toronto. That’s a wonderful thing! 🙂
Quick question/side-note on this line: “As a young woman professional it’s often harder to build yourself up and build a career than it is for your male counterparts.” Yes, true! I’m assuming here that you’re critiquing fixed gender roles/cultural conditioning/pressure put on women/girls to start a family, get married, etc as opposed to working on their careers, correct? Maybe you just want to clarify here, in case this gets construed as something like “harder for women, because they’re less capable” – which is not the message that I think you’re going for here 🙂
Awesome! I feel the same way about a lot of these. I feel like the newer travel mindset of our generation is somewhat shifting from “I sold all my stuff and traveled the world!” to what you’re talking about, some mixture of having a job and life and traveling anyway. I think that’s much harder, in some ways, so well done!!
Most of what you have mention resonates with me, as I have exact same reasons for not leaving to travel on forever. I like the stability of paycheck and safety net of getting support from the taxes I have paid, if something is to happen to me (and once it did – and it would have been a total crap situation to be sick for 6 months, not able to travel and afford it). And some about career – I enjoy my job, it makes me feel valued and I do feel I add something to the society, and to leave that would be a step down at this stage. Perhaps, some day when I get tired of it, it will be a different discussion, but not at this stage. I enjoy my vacations as they are 🙂
AMEN TO THIS! I was actually tempted to do the whole travel the world thing five years ago. I did an experiment and I realized when I was in Thailand-Cambodia that I couldn’t do it. I mean I just need to be back in the Philippines with my grandparents or with my mum and brother in the UK and I can only last 3 weeks away from any of my ‘home bases’. Even if I love to travel a lot, I am also interested in a lot of things like writing novels/screenplays, which requires time in front of the computer. I like to keep balance. I might write a similar post in the future as I have realized how different my mindset was from 5 years ago. Nice reflective post 😀 – Mica of http://www.senyorita.net
Right there with ya, girl! I have a FT job too and balance travel (and blogging!) along with it. It works for me….although I also share your dream of living in London, lol – so I’d make an exception for that. Good for you for pursuing your career as well as your passions!
Good take on a common topic with the opposite approach. It just goes to show that there is room for everyone to do whatever they like. I actually quit my job 2 years ago to travel and I haven’t regretted a day of it. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. @rovingjay
I definitely identify with this post! I don’t think I could ever quit my job to travel full time, at least for the long term. I love working 9-5 and am the kind of person who needs that structure in my life. I also really enjoy living in NYC and having a base here (with all my belongings).
I could not agree more!!!! I work full time too and all day people ask when I’m gonna quit and travel full time and I’m like hmmm hopefully never? Haha ☺️
I agree with all of this! I admire the people who leave everything behind to travel, but it seems like ultimately they all stop, settle down, and have the desire to lead the ‘normal life’ that was left behind. Like you, I love my job (it’s my own business, so that helps), I love my house, my family & friends, and the stability for my kids. We still spend 10-12 weeks traveling a year, and are going on a year-long trip this July, but we’ll have our house, my business, our friends, and the kid’s school to come home to. We’ve been incredibly lucky to find a balance that works for us, and it sounds like you have too! It’s not about ‘leaving it all behind’, it’s about finding the best of both worlds!!
I agree with a lot of the points you’ve made. A part of me really does want to sell everything and just travel full time, but there is another part of me that likes my home. I like the area I live in, and I don’t want to leave my friends and family either. People really do matter most in this world, and I want to be there for them when they need me and vise versa. Also..coming home to your own comfy bed like you said, yep..there’s nothing quite like it! 🙂
This is an interesting perspective to read as we struggle with exactly that question. However, we’re at least a few years older than you and deeper into our jobs/careers (I’ve worked at the same firm for a decade!). Our feeling is to stick with what you’re doing for as long as it’s working, and you’ll know when it’s time to move on. For a long time we’ve had largely the same feelings as you: we mostly like where we live, we appreciate the stability and financial comfort of our very good jobs, and we are blessed to live near family and friends. All the same, we feel deep in our guts that the time has come to move on!
Best of luck to you and Ben as you travel your own path 😊
Thank you for your perspective Melissa! It’s always nice to hear others who have gone / are going through the same thing. I can’t believe you’ve been at the same firm for a decade, I’m glad it’s worked for you as long as it has. You’re right though, when it’s time to move on you know it. Wishing you luck in your next adventure 🙂
I’m glad what I said resonated well with you! It’s so hard sometimes to think about giving up and moving away from the friendships and bonds you’ve developed with people over the years. You’ll always make new friends but sometimes you just need the comfort of an old friend or family member you can call up out of the blue and do nothing with.
I’m glad you agree! It’s true, I hear all the time about travel burnout which, of course people experience that, having to be on the move all of the time and never really having a ground base or a solid group of friends always around. I’m so jealous you own your own business and can take so much time off in a year, I think you have the best of both worlds! Hopefully one day I’ll increase my vacation amount to a decent number of weeks and truly find the equal balance!
Haha! I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets that question. I agree though as long as I can help it I love finding the balance between travel and a fulfilling career!
I think it helps you live in one of the coolest cities in the world as well! 🙂 But yes, structure is important to me and while I can find that in other ways if I was to travel full-time (I’m sure most do) it’s not the same without a steady (and good) paycheck coming in!
Thanks for adding your input! I would love to know if you ever experienced burnout or how you found the balance between traveling all the time versus finding a home base every once in a while!
Twins! I love when I find other bloggers who are trying to travel and hold down a full-time job as well. I know how tough it is so I admire others who do it too. Love the look of your blog as well you’re doing a great job 🙂
I’m so glad you liked this post! And thank you for sharing your experience I’m always interested in people who’ve tried to make it work and found it just wasn’t for them. It’s so hard to be so far away from family and friends when, if you find the right balance you can travel around and experience things more fully because you won’t have to worry about money all the time!
Thank you for your insight and I’m glad the post resonated with you well. I couldn’t agree more, having a safety net is incredibly important to me. Knowing that I have some money saved up if a worst case scenario happened is so important, or knowing that I’d be covered through EI. Traveling is fulfilling for sure but I would worry that doing it full-time would mean a constant worry for me over money and missing out on things because I was afraid of spending too much money.
Exactly, there are so many people I know doing just that. To idealize travel and the lifestyle that it comes with of f**king off to do what you want is great but not a lot of people talk about the dark sides of it as well. The constant worry about money, the constant moving from place to place, the loneliness and the homesickness. No situation in life is ever going to be totally perfect but trying to find whatever balance works for you is ideal.
Alissa – thank you for your feedback and yes with regards to your note I was referring to the fixed gender roles and conditioning I should probably change the language around that. As a young professional reaching that age where many take time off for maternity I’ve seen that stigma behind them leaving and coming back. While the workforce is massively progressed in the past couple of years there’s still a long way to go. Thank you commenting on that.
I LOVE this, Madi. And agree with every last reason. I own a home (and a couple vacation rentals) and still travel 6 months out of the year for work and occasional vacation while also enjoying financial stability (and an annual increase in salary), a husband and pup, my family nearby and lots of time with friends. Thanks for writing the other side of the equation, as I’m also one who has never wanted to give everything up to travel full time =)
I definitely relate to this. I enjoy having a home base, coming home to my dogs, antique collection, and books (lots of books). Thanks for sharing!
loved this post for reminding me that we have choices for our own lives – it doesn’t need to be black/white we can enjoy the colors in between
i had a different experience when my job was eliminated after 20 yrs – I didn’t the satisfaction of quitting to travel but I did have the opportunity to try it. I jumped on a cruise ship two weeks later sailed to Europe and traveled for three months with an award tix home.
I failed miserably at nomadic blogger as I’d rather be out to enjoy Italy than be at the flat writing about Italy. the freedom and being away from the home stress was nice but I did miss my home routine – gym with friends, dinners out, my couch to Netflix.
as an American I had to think about health insurance and also visa issues traveling.
I love being home with new job and traveling again but like you if I could find a job in London I would move
How inspiring thank you for sharing your story Suzanne. It must have taken a lot of courage to up and make a change that quickly after having a job eliminated, good on you. Having to worry about travel insurance and visas are a necessary evil when it comes to traveling as well. I’m glad you’ve been able to find your own balance!
Oh! Antiques collection, what do you collect Emily? I’m always so enthralled with the concept of antiquing.
Looks like you’ve been able to find it all Kristin! What an inspirational story thank you so much for sharing. I’ll have to pick your brain for tips on day as owning vacation homes and real estate is something of great interest to Ben and I. Not to mention owning a home but that’s a whole other story up here in Toronto at the moment lol. Thanks for popping by!