Quit your Job. Travel the World. Then What?
05. Jan, 2009 
31 Comments
New Year’s always makes me a little reflective, if not for the obligatory consumption of mass quantities of alcohol, then for the milestone of the date. I always remember where I was on each New Year’s. Last year, I was in Boston and I was telling my friends that I wasn’t really loving my job. I was soft peddling it to be sure. It wasn’t until 2 months later that my husband and I came up with the plan to completely blow up our lives, forsaking convention and launching ourselves into an adventure of which we couldn’t possible predict the outcome.
This year, I was drinking Cuba Libres in a bar in Guatemala with some other expats. Someone had the idea to share our goals for 2009. I don’t do resolutions, but the first thing I thought was. “Wow, I bet my goals for 2009 are more different than at any other time in my life”.
And it’s true. 6 months post-leap, I’ve started making the switch. At first travel was the goal. But lately I’ve been thinking more long term. What exactly comes next?
And before you answer, “Whatever you want!” That’s not true at all. While I was strapped to my cubicle I could dream of doing Whatever I Want, but until you wake up one morning, hop out of bed, and do it, then it’s not whatever you want, but the Thing You Choose for that day. I am limited by time and space. I do have to pick a spot in the world to be in. I have to decide each day what to do, and suddenly your choices become much smaller.
This is a good thing.
Actually having to pick what you want to do, seems to change everything. Yes, you’d like to learn french, but do you actually want to fly to France, take a class and get up each morning with a Bonjour! No? Then it’s off the list. Moving on.
It’s been interesting seeing things drop off my “someday” list, because it was more of something I thought would be fun, but just doesn’t rank high enough against everything else.
I thought about this as everyone shared their goals, and there was a clear line formed. Those returning to their lives in the States in a week or two, had ambitious goals that were all about what they should do (Excerise More! Read More! Eat Less!). The group of us with long term travel plans had lists of soft goals that often were nothing more than stuff we’d like to check out (travel this country, learn this language, check out this thing).
The former was how I managed myself for years, pushing myself to accomplish things that I should be doing, not even allowing myself the goal of doing something because I just like it (I’ll get to that once I finish this chore list!)
This year, my list made me very happy (not full of dread, as in “how the heck am I going to pull this off”). Some things included: gain a basic fluency in Spanish, travel around Central and South America, check out Thailand and surrounding countries, learn how to surf (yay!), take some salsa classes and write the novel I have bouncing around in my head.
If the list wasn’t called “goals” my former self might have mistaken that for someone’s really kick ass vacation plans.
So as the New Year unfolds and you’re tempting to create your own 2009 list, be gentle with yourself. Don’t give in to creating a new set of harsh rules. Try to think of things that would make you giddy and happy and you couldn’t believe it was possible. On Jan 1, 2008, I had no idea what my life would look like only a year later.
For anyone, it’s all entirely possible.
Sounds like a big change for you Christine; and a very good one. We’ve been challenged by this “alternative” goal-setting for the last few years. This year I actually have some hard numbers in place but I’m not sure if they’re things I really want or just a direction to head in.
Craig´s last blog post..085 – Internet telephone for travellers
Very well put! And a good point to make that it isn’t all freedom and play time. I’ve always thought that things were easier when dealing with the most restrictions. It is very inspiring to see you take this on!
Your alive! we need to talk!!! There is much to catch up on!!!
Nomadic Matt´s last blog post..The Weekly Photo: Birds
Wow, gave me goosebumps as I read this post. Last year I was looking for excuses to get out of a neighborhood new years party, and this year I attended a chanting and meditation in a small town in the Andes.
Last year I expected that I would “grind” through another year…and hopefully get a week’s vacation in Mexico. One year later we have COMPLETELY changed our lifestyle, sold all of our stuff and are traveling through Latin America with our school aged kids. Amazing what you can accomplish in a year
My list has not gotten smaller…although it has changed, and I have crossed off quite a few in the past few months.
Reading the (Excerise More! Read More! Eat Less!) goals made me a little depressed. I have thought to myself if/when we return to the states will we be sucked right back into the belly of the beast (rhetorical question), and that saddens me. I have walked more in the past 5 months than I have in the past 20 years, I can eat all I want because we are eating raw, unprocessed foods that would be slapped with an Organic label back home, when I finished reading the entire collection of Mark Twains work I thought to myself…this is pretty cool!
Our “goals” for 2009 are simple. Keep having fun. Keep enjoying this time we are spending as a family. Keep meeting lots of interesting people.
Great post. Thanks for sharing. Safe travels.
Sean Lannin´s last blog post..Contrasts between the U.S. and Ecuador Holidays
Happy New Year Christine, and thanks for a very thought-provoking post. I’ve made the same decision in 2008, to quit my job (and my comfort zone) to travel. My biggest challenge for 2009 is to make sure the trip isn’t *just* a holiday, otherwise I’d end up back in my old life in 2010, which is not what I want; instead I want to find a way of using my experiences to build a different and better life when (if) I get back. How exactly I’ll do that is something to think about, but thinking in terms of things that’d make me giddy is a great way to start.
Geoff´s last blog post..2008 Travel Round-up Part 2: Summary
Sounds like you’re on the right track. I mean, learn some languages and finish a novel? You’re doing better than 90% of the population, I think. Kudos
Andy Hayes´s last blog post..See Them Before They’re Gone
What a great perspective. My ‘goals’ this year are pre-freedom but have a deadline against them – accordingly my goal is to quit work on 30th June 2009. Plan beyond that are sketchy.
All the best for the New Year!
Chris (from Lifestyle Project)´s last blog post..2 Steps to Simple New Years Resolutions
Christine, thank you for such valuable advice for me in this moment.
I have about a week left in Paris, and I’m still learning to be gentle with myself about what I want to accomplish while I am here. And you’re right. It’s all about choices, as much about choosing what to leave behind as about activities and goals to pursue.
You are an inspiration!
Lanora @writingtravel´s last blog post..Rare sight in Paris: snow!
I found myself in the strange position of explaining the resolving tradition to my kids this year…they were a bit mystified. On the plus side, I think I’ve finally hit on a really good all-inclusive resolution for myself this year: Have more fun.
I’m off to a good start.
jamie´s last blog post..Sidetracked! Ed Debevic’s
“I have to decide each day what to do, and suddenly your choices become much smaller.
This is a good thing.”
This is my favorite part of your post, because it is so true. This year is the year I am finally in that same place where I am going to make the leap into really doing what makes me happy and it does mean have slightly fewer options – the difference is that all of them are good and exciting.
Thanks for another wonderful post. I think your writing is actually getting better all the time. Might be a good idea to start that novel now. I’m planning to do the same.
Mara´s last blog post..Why travel? Ask Matt
I can’t dis resolutions too much as it was my NYE 2008 resolution that found me researching moving away and evolved into our current RTW 2009 plan. I made no resolutions this year however, other than to just watch the year unfold. I, like others, do have some anxiety over what will happen once the travel is done – my dream is to not come back, to find a different life – my fear is that I won’t.
Gillian´s last blog post..Start the Countdown!!
i actually spent both years with friends, watching the first sunrise of the year on oahu’s east shore. on jan 1, 2008 i was eight days away from taking that leap on my first RTW adventure.
every year, my friends and i pick a word to sum up what we hope for the year ahead, write it in the sand, and let the ocean sweep it away. last year, my word was “explore” and i ended up spending 9 months of 2008 abroad, and got to explore 17 new countries, plus tons of getting to explore what makes me passionate about life.
this year my word for 2009 is “freedom.” freedom from debt (i went slightly over budget in my RTW last year!), freedom from judging myself (or the judgments of society), freedom to live the life that i want to live.
happy new year, christine! you’ve been a great inspiration to me. =)
malia´s last blog post..tradition
Well said, Christine. Happy New Year and I hope you’ll realize the goals you’ve set out to accomplish in 2009. I agree about the importance of listing goals that make you happy. If something doesn’t motivate and inspire me, it’s off the list!
Erica´s last blog post..Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
Nothing more to say other than the fact that you’re right on…and I totally agree!
Julie´s last blog post..How to Use an ATM in Chile
Nothing more to say other than the fact that you’re right on…and I totally agree!
Julie´s last blog post..How to Use an ATM in Chile
Thanks Christine, this is just what I needed. I’ve been avoiding all the resoulution hoopla pressure but now I see I can just change my perspective. A gentle approach to what I really want to do sounds really appealing to me.
Fly Girl´s last blog post..Snow on the Mountain and the Christmas Candle
I am allowed to be gentle with myself and make having fun a goal? Wow, now I’m going to have to rethink things!
Am curious though. How did you decide where to go to to start your travels? Sometimes I am tempted to just goooooooooo, but I know I have to have a better plan than that.
Thank you for this inspiring post.
Great piece, Christine. Small, obtainable, open-ended goals (not resolutions) are the way to go. I kept two of the three I set for 2008. I should make a few for 2009 so I don’t wander aimlessly through the next 12 months.
Stevo´s last blog post..Renewed Purpose: A Christmas Gift
Happy new year! Definitely right on. Wishing you the best in 2009.
Lola´s last blog post..Mission for 2009
I was so excited to see your post in my gmail! And as usual, it didn’t disappoint. Happy New Year.
Tanya´s last blog post..Le Shopping
Live life to the fullest, well, at least before you have kids. Someday, you will look back and say, been there, done that.
Look forward to new experiences.
mich´s last blog post..Planning for Cancun
So life DOES finish when you have kids. I’ve been wondering
Ha ha, absolutely not Craig & Mich, life does NOT finish when you have kids, nor does traveling or freedom. Or for that matter, reflecting on life on New Year’s or other milestone.
In many ways, life BEGINS when you add a child to the mix and having experienced travel and life for many years as a single & a couple, I find family travel the richest of all. Each phase has it’s own pros and cons.
As we settle into our 3rd year of our open ended tour as a family, we had a divine sweet New Year- quiet, peaceful and totally family oriented this third celebration in our 15th century winter home.
Goals change as life changes. I am in my 50′s, so have gone through the whole gamut. We are in a very different place than we were six months into our journey and you will be too as yours unfolds. Every place and age brings new surprises if we allow it.
Happy New Year Christine & all!
Great post, and exactly what I have been thinking about. New year, goals etc. A year ago I was in such a different place – hating my law firm job and dreaming of getting out. A year later I’m in the Caribbean and traveling, and pursuing my writing/photography dream (actually photography just kind of happened). No clue what’s coming next but one thing for sure, I’m enjoying my life more than I have in the last 7 years. That’s pretty telling to me. Happy new year to all!
Lily´s last blog post..The Amazing Tarrus Riley…
When you’re traveling long-term, it’s no longer a trip, it’s just life; and that simple difference changes your entire approach and frame.
Actually deciding what you want to do every day and doing it has an enormous impact on forcing you to determine priorities and figure out if those wishes are really nothing but wishes; it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Love it.
I reached a crunch point a while back. Couldn’t face continuing in the world of finance. I dumped the lot: job, car, belongings etc and went to teach English in Japan. A year later I was in Poland, then Italy for a brief period and then back to Poland. Right now I’m packing up to move home to England. Retraining and a uni course call and my girlfriend’s joining me in the Summer. It’s great how things turn out if only you try and live a little!
Good luck this year with your…um, desires!
Tom
Tom´s last blog post..Is everything OK?
It was reading a handful of different blogs at the beginning of last year that booted me out of a post-exciting-challenge (cycling Borneo/climbing Kinabalu).
I realised that there wasn’t much point in getting more and more miserable in a marketing job in a financial services company. I quit, and went travelling for about 5 months – Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, California, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico (again), Connecticut and New York.
I arrived home riding high on the wave of confidence that travelling, independence and time alone with your thoughts and creativity gives you, and confident that with a very decent CV/experience/qualifications that I’d easily find a way of bringing the money in, yet avoiding the 9-5 drudgery I had escaped and so dreaded. Not so. In fact, with the economic climate being the way it is, I’ve not found ANYTHING.
So it’s back to some serious creative thinking, and also, interestingly enough, learning an awful lot about what actually does make me happy (time with friends, family, getting arty, getting crafty, cooking, and enjoying life). But still no money to live on. That’s the hard part.
Having said that – the point you make about ‘what you can do in a day’ limiting you is absolutely true. It’s all about little steps, every day.
Life doesn’t quite end up how you imagined it when you’re off across the world, but it also throws up a huge amount of interesting things when you get back as well. The unexpected is often quite interesting.
Alexia´s last blog post..Ice Queen: the UK in its frostiest finest
I did it once. Quit and traveled the world…that was 2005 and then I returned to a similar job – a management consultant – but I was never the same. The great thing is I can never imagine my life with out that journey….once you are on the road and taste the fruit of travel….it is so delicious
Best of luck in 2009. I am loving this site and your posts…it is making me believe my decision to follow my passion and become a travel writer is correct….my journey continues in 2009. My words in the sand are “the way forward” stay adventurous.
Christine – I admire your courage tremendously. I am still shackled to my 9-5 desk job, wondering everyday when I’ll actually have the guts to hand in my resignation and follow my dreams.
jen laceda´s last blog post..Florence: A Walk On The Feminine and Masculine Side
I enjoy my “soft” goals much more than I ever enjoyed those that I made in my pre-expat days. As a long time expat my goals have no resemblance to what they were in Canada. That makes me happy.
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