Is it a good idea to jeapordize a stable lifestyle to have a year-long (or more) adventure?
My husband and I went on an around the world trip in 2005, and I think somewhere along the way, we became addicted to traveling. We are both teachers, and you would think that we would both have enough time to travel, but unless we are going on short trips that are somewhat close to home, we really aren't able to do any hardcore backpacking. Our summers for the past few years have been taken up by weddings, domestic travel, and master's degrees. As a result, we are trying to save A LOT of money this year so that we can travel around the world again starting in June.
We will be flying to Salamanca, Spain for the first part of our trip because my husband needs to finish his master's degree there. As we continue to save and plan for the trip, we keep running into bits of pessimism. Quite a few people are worried that we won't have jobs to come back to. The school district that we work for is under tremendous financial stress, and we have seen people lose their jobs first hand. At first, I thought it wouldn't be a big deal if we couldn't get our jobs back. It seems like we would be able to drive a little further to a different county, or even move to a different state if we had to.
I suppose I had a better attitude about the situation before I found out that we will not qualify for a one year leave of absence.
Blake and I still want to travel. Now, it just seems a little more scary. So, I'm asking the rest of you who are either planning to travel, or are travelling at the moment...is it a good idea to jeapordize a stable and secure lifestyle in order to have a year-long (or more) adventure? If you plan to travel anyway, (like we are,) what do you intend to do when you settle somewhere?
Reply to this Hi
I guess it depends on what happens with the economic climate in the next year or so while you are travelling. It all could change again. It's quite difficult to predict what the job situation will be anywhere and whenever.
If you really want to do it, then you will regret it if you don't. Personally I think it's best to listen to yourself rather than listen to others. Whenever you make a decision to change your life in any way, there are always people who worry about you (because they care about you of course), and mention all the problems that you might come across. People who see you stable and settled often think that you are throwing everything away on a silly wim. But it is a silly wim for you? Or something you really want to do in your life? Because it is your life and you are the ones who have to look back on it in 20 or 50 years and do you want to be saying "I wish I'd done that trip....".
We gave up full time jobs, a house, a car and our comfortable lives to travel. And then we became English teachers and are still abroad. We go back to visit but we don't intend to go back to settle any time soon. We earn good money, have a good life and a lot of fun. It wasn't something we foresaw when we first went travelling. But these things happen don't they? As I said, you can't predict the future....
There's another idea. Since you are both teachers, you could get teaching work in many other countries. Not necessarily as part of your trip, if you want to travel, but after you finish when you find somewhere you want to live.....
Just a suggestion.
Hope this helps.
Reply to this Hi, my wife and I just returned from a year long trip around the world. When we left, the economy was fine and we were working a lot. It collapsed while we were on the road and we have both had troubles finding work again. Money is kind of a problem now whereas it wasn't before.
However, we will work again, and the memories we made traveling for so long are priceless. It was easily worth it.
Reply to this Hello Lindsey 😊
I was always a risk taker where the job or travel question came in. I generally chose travel over financial security. Then after a while, I started feeling like I wanted some of what the settled folk have and decided to balance my life to get it.
If you still feel that travel is what you want most, then maybe you should take the risk and go. Things will work out one way or another. They did for me. I was 26 before I made any serious efforts to get qualifications, and I was 28 before I made any serious efforts to get a job which required qualifications. But, I did get the qualifications and the job and the travelling I had done did not seem to affect that.
As well as that, your life may become more complicated in the future, so maybe you should get in some more travelling before kids and mortgage have to be put in the equation as well as jobs.
Mel
Reply to this Maybe the best time to travel long term is while the economy sucks. Then hopefully things will be picking up again, by the time you get home and job hunting.
Reply to this We were both given a year's leave without pay from our respective jobs in Sydney (something we did to satisfy the Mums!) but decided to resign completely and work in London just as the recession hit. We struggled but managed to find jobs and although they weren't the most brillant jobs ever it didn't matter. We wouldn't trade our travels for all the stable jobs and houses they could buy!
Reply to this Yes, you should still travel even if you've got no job to return to afterwards. You can always get a job somewhere else in the world as Kris and Kate have already mentioned. There is a huge demand for native English speaking teachers in many countries of the world.
I gave up everything in 2004 to travel around the world and I'm now teaching English in Indonesia.
Reply to this Since leaving university, I have taken on jobs I am not interested in and then quit them to travel. On return, get a new job, quit, travel and repeat!
This means my C.V. looks pants :-S But on the up, I have some brilliant travel experiences under my belt!!
Reply to this I don't think this is a black and white answer - is it possible to take an extended time off work (without pay) and then travel for longer?
I am a public servant in Australia and it is possible to take my 4 weeks annual leave at half pay - coupled with public holidays, weekends, and accrued hours, one can easily build to 9 weeks per annum. I also qualify for Long Service Leave next year, which would further increase my annual leave to 10-11 weeks if I so wished; though I am going to settle for 8-9 weeks per year. So all of this can be achieved without sacrificing a good and stable job.
I met someone from Scandinavia who was offered 6 months leave (not all fully paid) in order to implement a scheme to give a longer term unemployed person the opportunity to gain full-time work experience. She took it of course, travelled for 6 months and then returned to the same job.
Of course, if I was in a job where I was dissatisfied, I'd pack up and head on a one-way trip overseas and see what transpires.
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