Many travel blogs talk about the full time travel lifestyle. It might seem that leaving a regular job to travel the world forever is the key to happiness. But is it so? For everybody? These are my personal reflections.
It’s a common story among travel blogs: “I quit my 9-to-5 job and now I travel the world forever”.
It might seem that leaving a regular job to travel full time is the key to happiness. So many people have already done it and now they’re happy, right?
Right?
Of course… NOT!
***
About a month ago I read a blog post that left me thinking.
Frank from The Travels of BBQboy and Spanky wrote about recent media articles featuring the misfortunes of full time travelers. Or rather, the misfortunes of those who followed the dream and didn’t make it.
Many bloggers talk about the dream of full time travel lifestyle. Many people believe it blindly. For some of them, it doesn’t work. Life of travel is not a vacation and is not what they expected it to be.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this subject. Traveling is my dream, and I believe in following your dreams. However, I think that this “quit your job to travel” stories can be misleading. These are my personal reflections.
1. Full time travel is not the dream of everyone
The main reason why full time travel is not the key for happiness is that happiness is a subjective term.
What does happiness mean?
- For one person, it could mean stability. Having a stable job, an apartment in a city that s/he knows well, having family and friends around.
- For another person, it could mean the opposite. Experiencing new things every day, meeting new people, having adventures, facing challenges and growing.
- And so on.
Happiness is not the same for everybody. We could probably find as many definitions as persons are on the planet.
So, as appealing as long term travel might sound, it’s important to remember that this is not the dream of everyone. It might not be yours. And that’s perfectly ok!
I encourage you – I truly do – to define what happiness means for you, to imagine your life in a perfect word, how it would be if you wouldn’t have to worry about money.
Then, work in that direction. It’s possible that the ideal world is impossible to reach, but try to get as close as possible.
2. Go step by step and have a back up plan
I’ll tell you my personal experience.
Travel has always been my dream. I started thinking of long term travel more than 10 years ago, before I ever read a travel blog. Actually, I didn’t even know what a blog was, nor a digital nomad.
I wanted to travel because I love it. When I travel I’m more relaxed, energetic, dynamic and positive. When I travel I feel like walking and discovering and learning and taking photos and talking and laughing and sharing.
Whenever I’m not traveling I’m thinking about future trips, and the more I travel the longer is my bucket list.
I’m sure that this is my dream.
Still, I didn’t quit my job to travel the world.
First I traveled the world, and then I quit my job.
That is, I applied for a sabbatical leave at work and traveled for one year. I experienced long term travel with its ups and downs, and at the end of the trip I decided to quit my job.
But, if I hadn’t liked it, if I had wanted to go back to my stable life, I could have done it.
I’m aware that sabbatical leaves are not possible in all countries, or in all companies. What I’m trying to say is that I recommend to go step by step and having a back up plan, or at least savings to go on for a while.
Now… is full time travel your dream?
3. Full time travel is not a permanent holiday
Full time travel has been idealized, but it has its ups and downs as well.
Being constantly on the move, packing and unpacking, thinking where to go next and how, sleeping in different beds and being in new destinations all the time can be exhausting. Not to mention not having family and friends around.
In my last post I discussed the challenges and rewards of long term travel, so I won’t go further into it now.
For me it is worth and the rewards bypass by large the challenges. And I’ve found a way of traveling that fits me: I travel slow and visit friends who live abroad, so I have time to adapt to new places and I meet old friends on the way.
As I said, when I finished my round the world trip I quit my previous job. But hey, this doesn’t mean I’m not working anymore. I’m still working, but on a different job.
4. Full time travelers also work (a lot of hours!)
If full time travel is your dream, here is another truth: full time travelers also work. And most of them work many hours a week, just like everybody else.
Including travel bloggers.
“I quit my 9-to-5 job to travel the world” actually means “I quit my 9-to-5 job to travel the world while I work”.
Travel blogging is far more difficult than what it seems. The blog, actually, is only the tip of the iceberg. Behind the scenes there is a lot of invisible work. Travel blogging is not only about writing and taking beautiful photos. It’s about learning how to create a website and maintain it. It’s about plugins and SEO and many things you never heard about. It’s about social media. It’s about networking.
A blog can be created in a few days. Having a successful blog can take months. Or years.
Having a blog is not the only way to work and travel at the same time though. There are many options and you should find the one that fits you. Aileen from I am Aileen has a very complete post about 5 job types that allow to work and travel, and another which discusses the things to know before quitting a job to travel the world. Must reads.
5. Find your own path
I’ve been blogging for one year and a half now. The first year I did it as a hobby, to share my round the world trip with family and friends. Six months ago I changed the platform, name and design and started working full time on this. And I’m still far from the day when I’ll be able to monetize it.
I’m not living from my blog and I’m not even sure one day I will.
But I don’t give up. I work hard, I have hope, and I have a plan B. I’ve recently started working on another online project.
My dream is to have a location independent job and I’ll find the way. Maybe being a professional travel blogger is not the right job for me. Maybe it is. We’ll see. In any case I’m working a lot, and I’m working towards my dreams.
In summary, full time travel is not the key to happiness, the key to happiness is to align your dreams and your life.
Define happiness. Follow your dream. Work hard. Be resourceful. And live to the fullest.
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For me happinness is peace, rest and love. To be surrounded of love.
This is my main desire!
I think the best for me is to take a trip for a short time, knowing the beautiful places, amazing people and interesting cultures and then return to my home in peace.
You are right! many blogs sell the idea of full time travel as real happiness and I don´t believe that, because not all the persons are prepared to confront this experience. At least I dont….
Regards !!!
I hope that you can undestand my strange english free of traslator 😉
Yes, peace, rest and love are very important for my happiness too 🙂
It’s important to know what makes us happy, it’s great that you know how it is for you. You can really enjoy short trips and then have a life full of peace and love at home.
Regards!!
In addition to the issue you mentioned that bloggers sell a happy life when you travel, it is the interpretation that people do about what you read and find on the internet.
It is true that people tend to exaggerate when they write an experience, always making you see the “easy” things but few talk about the ordeals you lived to be where they are, because the bad is forgotten and the nice thing is what remains.
You ask a mother, who after spending 30 hours of painful birth, 3 years later does not remember and is trying to get pregnant with another lol 🙂
I think like you, but I am also aware that you have to know how to receive what you find on the internet, if you believe everything you see on the internet end up sick in the head.
Not forget, we are all different and happiness is subjective.
PD: Google translate (sorry) Muy largo jajajjaa .)
That’s a very good point Diana. It’s not only about what we find in internet, it’s how we interpret this information and what we do about it.
Nowadays internet is so full of information that we should learn to filter what is really useful for us, and what is not.
You made me smile with the example of the mother, haha! It’s a good comparison 🙂
Un abrazo!
Interesting article. It reminds me that when I first traveled to study abroad for a long time, people at home would always think that I was on a holiday, but a very long one 🙂 But imagine how it felt to be in a lovely place bent over the books and the computer instead. What I like is to have a base and make medium to longer term travels from that base. Maybe that is a more gradual approach that may work better before starting a long-time travel abroad.
Haha Diana, you reminded me of my time studying abroad… my friends thinking I was partying every day when in reality I was studying as much as them.
That’s a good point, living abroad is a gradual approach to traveling long term. When you live abroad you already face many challenges, get used to being far from family, adapt to new places and cultures, without being constantly on the move.
Hi there, I spotted this on Pinterest. We’ve been travelling full time 3 years now and for me, yes it is the key to happiness…SOMETIMES! Sometimes I need to sit still for a couple of months and recover, as I’m doing right now. After 2 years we discovered that we needed a home base to stash the stuff and return to any time, without stress or drama. We’ve found that in Romania. The other key for me is that I LOVE being a travel blogger and photographer, it gets me out of bed enthusiastically every morning, I love what I do and it pays the bills now. I also HATED working for somebody else. I was in pathology for 20 years, managerial level, HATED having to be there every morning at 9am, HATED having my wings clipped. Sure, I enjoyed the pay packet and we spent every cent, and I can’t say hand on heart that I prefer to live on less cash, but I certainly enjoy my freedom. THat’s what it’s about for me, freedom.
Hi Alyson! So happy to hear that you found a job and lifestyle that makes you happy 🙂
Yes, freedom… this word resonates a lot. I also need to feel freedom, and to feel happy every morning when I wake up. I also enjoy travel blogging even though it doesn’t pay the bills. But I keep working and hoping.
It’s a good idea to stay still for a couple of months to take rest and recover… before going on with the trip 🙂
Thanks for passing by, and happy travels!
Thanks for the link Laia! I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Full-time travel is definitely not a holiday and if done wrong, or with illusions in mind, it can easy destroy your love of travel. Vacation-mode can’t be sustained as as you know, a lifestyle has to be built around it. I’ve seen too many stories of young people leaving everything behind and then feeling the stress of no income, no possibilities. I know a few bloggers living in currugated metal shacks in Thailand, most likely poorer than the locals! It’s not the way to go.
You’ve been smart about it and if you have income possibilities and/or savings you can enjoy a life of travel.
I think another thing that people neglect is that we evolve and that what interests you today most likely won’t be at the top of your agenda in 10 years. A younger person may want to travel now but maybe in 10 years the’ll want to settle down, own a house or have kids. Do the have a career? Have the burned all their bridges by having travelled during those years when most people concentrate on education and careers?
We love our lives of travel and hope to do it as long as possible. But it requires a lot of planning to do it right and to be happy.
Frank (bbqboy)
Hi Frank! Welcome, your post made me think a lot.
That’s an interesting point. It’s true that people evolve and while thinking about travel, we don’t consider the long term implications.
I’m happy I didn’t do it when I was 20. I think it was necessary for me to finish my studies and have a regular job for some years. I learnt and grow a lot during that time. When I was 20, I wasn’t ready for this. And, as you say, I don’t know how I’ll evolve, which is the reason why I’m trying to create a job that allows me to keep traveling or settle down, as I wish.
I’m very happy that you love your life of travels and found a way to do it 🙂
A great article.
I’ve been permanently homeless and travelling with my son for the past 5 years and to 68 countries so far. I can say I’d HATE to go back to a ‘normal’ job and a ‘ normal’ life.
I love the way you are honest about the hours it takes and the fact that it is presented as a perfect life by some.
When I get tired, we rest up a bit, but I have a constant passion to ‘discover the world’, and it just won’t quit.
I love to wake at 5 am for a sunrise photo, or even to capture a gorgeous hotel breakfast spread, or the stillness of the water.
I hate the tough times, but they make us appreciate the good.
I love our life.
Well done!
Thanks a lot Ruth for your comment!
I’m always inspired by those who like you have been traveling for several years already! I also have this passion to discover the world and after one year of full time travel, I can only think about more travels 🙂
That’s true, tough times help us appreciate the good 🙂
So happy to hear you found the life you love. Well done!
Happy travels! 🙂