I did my first solo journey in 1993 as a 18 year old. Since then I like travelling very much.
There are different models:
- backpacker travelling for months with low budget (eventually by taking a gap year when you are young)
- work and travel with maybe free accomodation and some payments
- in Germany we get 6 weeks of holiday e.g. enabling people to make a 4 week journey in the summer and a 2 week trip in winter plus shorter trips on days like Easter or Christmas while working as a full-time employee the rest of the year - this is what I did since graduating from university
- I heard about slow travelling - especially for Elders - by taking an apartment in a city, staying there a few months and moving on to a different city afterwards - maybe I do this after I retired
- then there is another option: consulting. I also do this since 2001 and would like to descibe it as an interesting option:
When you work in consulting there are two options: as an employee or (especially later with more experience) as a freelancer. With the 1st option you have a manager who influences your choice of clients and thereby destinations and means of travel. But normally the boss also pays for it, that is the reason why he can tell you what to do. I did this for around 14 years. The 2nd option is when you are an independent consultant looking for your own clients and deciding about and paying for your travelling by yourself. I did this for more than 7 years and still do it.
Second very important question is if you want to return every weekend or stay the weekends at your location. Of course this also depends on your family situation as a potential boss will normally not pay for your wife and children. For many years I went home every weekend and to a lesser extent I had project apartments. To end the rent of an apartment if your project finishes suddenly is also more difficult, Therefore many managers don't like it. But as a freelancer I prefer this option. This means I don't need to be at the station/airport/highway every monday at 6 a.m. and again on friday night maybe until nearly midnight.
In consulting there are different areas. Mostly a mixture of business and IT. If you have such a background this very interesting job is an option for you. The most important difference to backpacking, work & travel and normal holiday is that the job usually pays well, you will travel often (but not always internationally) and meet normal people at your destinations every day. For workers who don't like to travel this is not a good job, but I guess they will not use this site.
At the end I would like to tell you about my projects. Especially when I was younger and my IT skills more up-to-date (unfortunately this has changed a little bit) I even made trips from Europe to Asia. To be precise, I did projects in Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK, Spain, Italy, Poland, Finland, Russia, Malaysia and South Korea.
So in general I can recommend this type of work to all people who love to travel.
Reply to this 
