How To Quit Your Job and Travel The World?
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If you’re anything like Ashley and me, you spend hours reading blogs and articles. I’m a believer that to become better in your craft you must study that craft. I think most people would agree with that statement. For a travel blogger that is of course, reading other blogs. While reading theses endless travel articles you may have run across an article about the traveler who quits their job and starts circumventing the globe. During their travels they start writing a blog and become a successful travel blogger with a loyal and growing fan base. We read about and follow these travelers and admire them because they are very inspirational, especially if you are a passionate traveler like Ash and I. A couple of questions I start asking when I read these articles are, “how the hell are they able to do this? What have they figured out that we have not?” and “What are we doing wrong?”
Ashley and I have now been working on our travel blog for over two years with what seems to be little success. Our readership comes and goes in waves (For those of you that come back time and time again thank you!!) as we continue to plug away trying to find our voice. We want to show people the wonders of this world and we want to show it through our eyes. Travel has changed our lives dramatically and we want to share that, we want to share how important travel is for this world. Yet, we constantly sit back and ask each other how do these other bloggers get people to read their stuff and then come back?
Our dream over the last couple of years has been to pack up our bags, travel the world, and make some kind of living out of it. Well, as many of you know, Ash and I are in the process of trying to make this dream come true. At this moment we are 32 days out from our trip and it’s all becoming very real. Yet, I still feel like I’ve no idea how we’re going to do it. Ash and I are both walking into this kind of blind. There is no real guide on how to quit your job to travel, although there are a LOT of blog posts on it like Matt from Nomadic Matt and Liz from Young Adventuress, and to be honest it is pretty nerve wracking.
We’ve been able to put some money away, but will it be enough? Will we be able to find odd jobs along the way? Will we be able to turn our blog into a business that we can be proud of? Does anybody actually care about what we write or why we write? Can we get a loyal following who also believe that we, as travelers, can change the world? Will our dream to become citizens of this world and live as nomads sputter out and die just as quickly as it started? These questions and many more keep running through my head. This idea of going out into the world and not looking back is a very scary thing.
Both Ashley and I have moved to different countries before, but we were moving into a new home and creating for ourselves a central base for our travels. This time we won’t have that home station and the only thing we can do is keep moving forward. This is all very new for Ashley and I and it’s all happening very fast. I’m truly not even sure if we’re ready for it or if we can even do it. How do you make the world your home?
I guess that is part of the journey and the adventure of this trip. The only thing I can do is just step forward and keep rambling on and deal with the obstacles when they present themselves. That first step always seems to be scariest one. All we can do is look over the edge and jump and confront the unknown head on together. Ashley has already told her work that she is leaving and it has gotten very real for her and I will be letting my work know today and I will probably have quit by the time you have read this. Right now though I still have that weight sitting on my shoulders; I’m still standing on that ledge. Being on that ledge makes the trip seem so far away, like a dream that is never going to arrive.
So as we’re just over a month away I’m still asking myself how did those other bloggers do it? One thing I do not have to guess is that they put in a lot of work and effort to be where they are. I’m sure none of them had it handed to them. They were driven with a goal in their mind and stopped at nothing to complete it. I have nothing but respect for them and look up to them as I start my journey. I guess all Ash and I can do is keep writing and moving forward, one step at a time.
So, how do you quit your job and travel around the world? I have absolutely no idea. I guess I will find out in 33 more days. We will keep you all in the loop because if I find the answer I’ll let you know. I hope you follow us along our journey and maybe even meet up with us to swap stories. My only advice I have is to keep on traveling and change the world.
Are you one of those who have quit their jobs to travel the world? We would love to hear about your experience in the comments! We can all learn from each other 🙂
Alex
Alex is a passionate traveler and writer that enjoys experiencing different cultures through their food and drinking customs. Travel is what fuels him and as long as there is food out there to eat he will never stop exploring and sharing it with you.
24 thoughts on “How To Quit Your Job and Travel The World?”
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We are Ashley and Alex and we're foodies and boozies who eat, drink and live local. Our goal is to scour the globe looking for inside local tips, the best places to eat and the best places to drink with the locals.
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This seems to be the ideal scenario, when I work only for myself (because I need money), and I feel so free that I can go everywhere I want, anytime.
I started to work online in 2005, so I am my own boss, but the current income is not high enough to let me travel everywhere at anytime, so I try to work harder to increase my monthly income.
However, working on my projects is an easy task if I have a laptop and a good internet connection.
Thanks for commenting on our video Jess. Ash I agree that working for ourselves would be the ideal scenario. We have never worked for ourself and I know that it’s going to take a lot of discipline. May I ask what you do online? Again thank you for following and commenting on our blog. Please come back and commenting. Thank you for the support and like always, keep traveling and change the world.
Good Luck! I can’t wait to see what you two get up to!
Thanks for the comment and the words of support. Please keep following and we would love to here your advice on the places we go. Keep on commenting and like always, keep traveling, and change the world.
I love this article- it’s so honest and relatable, especially being a (very new) aspiring travel blogger myself! It’s very scary to pick up and move to a far away place, let a lone CONSTANTLY moving to a far away place without a base. I have faith that you girls will be successful! You know why? Because you are DOING IT! I think that that is the difference between these really successful traveler bloggers and the “just cruising by with a few solid readers” bloggers. The ones who make it, make it their life. Not their second job. So, I think you ladies might be on to something 😉 Keep it up! And one day, I hope to do the same-and hopefully I can look to your blog for reference!
Casie,
Thank you very much for your comment! Your words are very uplifting and we appreciate the support. Yea I think that is the scariest part about this trip is not having a home base, but to constantly be moving forward. Even though it’s nerve wracking it’s also very exciting. You are also right I believe, we can’t have our blog as a second job if we want to succeed.
Also good luck on your blog I will be sure to read it and follow. Maybe we will even run into each other on the road and we can collaborate together on a post. Again thank you very much for the encouragement and the support. Keep on commenting and following our journey around the world. Good luck with all your adventures as well and I hope you come back again. Like always keep on traveling and change the world.
Good ideas,, am agree u .. amazing
I empathize with you guys. There was a time I couldn’t stop comparing myself to others and thought the only way I could properly travel was to quit my job and leave everything behind. I’ve come to realize that I absolutely do not need to do that and have accepted the way I travel now. I hope you guys find a good balance, and know that you really don’t have to be a renowned travel blogging superstar to travel and to blog. You guys already are superstars for having accomplished what you have! Don’t forget that!
Thank you Alli for the comment. Ash I really appreciate the support and the advice. Balance is one of the things that we will be working on in our trip. I am glad you have been able to find a balance with the way you travel. Also thanks for the complements, it is really encouraging! I hope everything goes well with your travels and your blog. Maybe we will see each other out on the road.
Again thank you for your comment we really appreciate it. Hope you keep coming back and like always go travel and change the world.
From many of those blogs that I read who left their jobs – they did struggle but started early to catch the wave of blogging. Many have jobs that can be done remotely (IT, Graphic Design, etc), others are living in Thailand for $300 a month and still others like The Travel Camel, left everything behind and didn’t have a house or anything else. Deb and Dave of Planet D just posted how they would travel long term and make money. I admire your upcoming trip and look forward to reading about your adventures. As for me, my job quit me so while I’m tempted to flee, I haven’t quite found the passive income needed to travel full time
PhilaTravelGirl, thanks you so much for commenting. Yea, I figured that many bloggers faced hardships to be able to do what they are doing. I really appreciate the advice. Ash and I will be looking into how to work on the road. We met a few travelers who live in Thailand and that seems like a lot of fun. I will have to also check out Deb and Dave of Planet D and The Travel Camel for some more advice. It was kind of freeing though when we quit our jobs and now we are just in preparation mode. Yea I would be tempted to flee as will if my job quit me. I’m sure you will get a job soon and then find the means to keep traveling and who knows we might cross each others paths.
Again I want to thank you for the support and the advice! Hope you Keep coming back, commenting, and like always keep traveling and change the world.
This is a fantastic post! I like that you’re honest about your worries – I find sometimes that other travel blogs can be kind of snobby! The real way to travel the world is just to DO IT, however you can. Build your own reality. I’m trying to balance building a career with seeing the world and I’ve come to realise that you just have to do it your way. Good luck 🙂
Dannielle Lilly Thank you so much for the comment. I apologies by this late response. Thank you though for the support, and I am glad that you enjoyed the post. My goal is to share our hardships and our worries because it is these kind of worries that prevent people from ever leaving. I want show that we have the same worries. Let people know you can not let those worries stop you from doing what you love. I also agree with you that the best way to travel is just going out there and doing it! Again thank you for your comment we hope you keep coming back and reading our post. And like always go out, travel and change the world.
Great post, I would love to travel the world, making lots of photos and write about what I see and also make a humouristic video travle blog, hope it’ll happen in near future 🙂
Pawel thanks for the comment! Your photos of Indonesia are quite beautiful. I hope that you can start traveling the world in the near future. Let us know when you do let us meet up and grab a beer or a bite to eat. We will be out there wandering somewhere. Please keep on reading and following we appreciate the support. Like always go out, travel and change the world.
Having a side income to lengthen your runway is a good start … try writing, coding, or a variety of other tasks that can be done via the web.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice Katie! I really appreciate it! I’ll look into it.
thanks for the article, very helpful at all of the above reviews and the reviews above I can find out more in the outside world
Thank you for the support and the comment.
This is a fantastic post! I like that you’re honest about your worries – I find sometimes that other travel blogs can be kind of snobby! The real way to travel the world is just to DO IT, however you can. Build your own reality
Thank you so much for your comment. Yea, you know we want to encourage people to travel and I feel like we have an obligation to show people that we have fears that we are overcoming. I have always liked the just do it attitude because otherwise you just make excuses and never get anything done. Thank you for your support.
I empathize with you guys. There was a time I couldn’t stop comparing myself to others and thought the only way I could properly travel was to quit my job and leave everything behind.
Thanks for your comment! It has been an interesting ride from quitting our jobs and traveling to having to come back. I am glad though that we dropped everything and left to see what we can do. Even though we had to come back after a year we learned a lot and now feel like we have a better handle on what we need to do better next time. Thank you for your support!
Thanks for commenting on our video Jess. Ash I agree that working for ourselves would be the ideal scenario.