BootsnAll Travel Community

Not a 100% sure this is the correct forum... but here goes:

I am currently in college and I am in the middle of trying to determine my direction. The common idea is to do something that interests you - something you love. Well, one of my greatest interests would be travel... Sooo... what careers are there that would let me travel the world? Does anyone have any great ideas? anything they perhaps have done or know someone who has done it... I am planning on teaching english in korea after getting my bachelors but that is a way off for now and I need something to work towards...any suggestions would be awesome!

Hi Asheai.
You might want to check out the Corporate Wasteland forum. There are several threads in there that discuss travel & job, and help define jobs that are travel-based (i.e. travel agent, etc.) and those that have travel as a component (consultant, marketing, events).

people often suggest things in IT and the tech industry...There is being a travel writer...Working for a travel guide maybe, gaining information...Also working for like an STA travel, there are huge travel benefits, and there are many locations worldwide...

if you have any inclination towards the sciences, you should consider looking into biomedical research. some of my labmates in the past have gone to visit labs in tanzania, attend six month long training sessions in australia, conferences in cameroon and india, not to mention all over north america.. etc etc. not all require advanced degrees either. with a grad degree in that field though, it also makes employment in other countries really easy and very common.

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. I had no idea there was a whole forum dedicated to this . I will search through the threads... I have considered travel writing which sounds pretty good. I am an alright writer though not the best. I can't say that biomedical is really my area... I hated biology. I am more inclined towards chemistry or physics but neither would probably involve much travel. Thanks again for the replies

ya know, ya dont have to be in the travel industry to get to travel. you can find jobs/careers which are not 12 month gigs. for example, the nurses at a university i know of all have 9 or 10 month contracts and they live it up during the summer doing whatever.

do what you love and the money will follow. i dont know where that saying comes from, but i think it is sound advice.

Although IT has surely a fair amount of traveling, I wouldn't go that pass, if *traveling* is what you are looking for.

It's basically travel to get to/from HQ to customers. You sit mainly in the offices or in the hotels. I would say, that there isn't enough time to enjoy traveling in IT.

Having done that for 14 years, sometimes I didn't know what city I was in. Had to check my calendar for it.

Never again! ;-)

Maybe better try some job in the travel industry???

You could try publishing Internet sites and affiliate marketing on the web. You could then travel easily enough where you could access the web (pretty much anywhere these days)

I have been doing this a year now and certainly dont miss the corporate wasteland!

quote:

Originally posted by Zopa:
ya know, ya dont have to be in the travel industry to get to travel. you can find jobs/careers which are not 12 month gigs. for example, the nurses at a university i know of all have 9 or 10 month contracts and they live it up during the summer doing whatever.

do what you love and the money will follow. i dont know where that saying comes from, but i think it is sound advice.

I think this is a bullseye. I majored in hospitality. I thought you can pick up a hotel job anywhere in the world and transfer. Apparently they're all franchised, except for Hyatt. But I don't know how their international transfers would work. Then I found Conventions/tradeshows. Not many jobs there, harder to get into.

Then I learned, yep, there are other ways that let you travel around. As far as living abroad for a while, it sounds like Accounting is in demand. Didn't think of that.

Unfortunately, in my personal experience, the cubicle farms pay more, and I get way more vacation time, so it's a werid toss up. Though, hospitality can be lucrative after you finally move up, but not all of it is traveling technically.

I guess my question after a while really is, and I'm getting philosphical and pragmatic(and a real question I've been fighting with), do you take a job that pays a little crappy, but let's you travel around, even if it's just in the surrounding states which is still cool to me, or do I take the job you're not really sure about long term, but pays so you can live, afford to travel, and has decent vacation time?
Neither is ideal, but what trade up would you do, if that perfect job didn't exist? I'd hate to keep going around broke. But with money and 4 weeks, I could go somewhere for a week every quarter or so.

As someone who spent 230 nights in a hotel for work in 2006. make sure you love travel. And let me tell you traveling for work is work and anyone who says differently is lying. 96k miles flown last year you would be amazed how fast the fun factor of it wears off.

Personally I look at the travel for work as a way to pay for the travel for fun. And the travel for fun is so much better when you don't have to unpack and go to work when you get there.

quote:

Originally posted by blue27:
As someone who spent 230 nights in a hotel for work in 2006. make sure you love travel. And let me tell you traveling for work is work and anyone who says differently is lying. 96k miles flown last year you would be amazed how fast the fun factor of it wears off.

Personally I look at the travel for work as a way to pay for the travel for fun. And the travel for fun is so much better when you don't have to unpack and go to work when you get there.

I've heard that before. But what if you're the type that can't sit still. Who likes to take a different path home once in a while. Or who has worked in conventions and tradeshows because everyday was a change of pace, and every assignment was at a different building, even in the same city. that way the office doesn't feel like it's a home I got stuck into.

Even if I don't get to go to the musuem when I get to another city, doesn't it have it's upside if you're that type of person who likes the feeling of a "new job" and life/routine frequently? I think I would.

If you think you would like it, Jeff, try it.

But I agree with blue27...it can be a bit burdensome after a while.

Easier said than done! You have to find it first. Besides, my attention span doesn't really last longer than 4 years, the amount of time one would spend in High School, with summers and new years off.

I just read this on a local news site.

quote:

According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, 84 percent of the more than 6,000 people polled are not in their dream job.
.....
Across all professions, police and firefighters reported the highest incidence of feeling they have their dream jobs (35 percent). They are followed closely by teachers (32 percent), real estate professionals (28 percent) and engineers (25 percent).

Those in travel and nurses also ranked near the top at 22 percent and 18 percent respectively.

Those professions with the least amount of workers feeling they have their dream jobs include accommodations/food services (9 percent), manufacturing (9 percent) and retail (10 percent).

That's odd, since most people who did the career path in college for accodations or food..or maybe around half of those people, wanted to deal with Travel. Interesting.

Actually, most of those jobs looks like they're people who go outside at times or all the time, and are control of their destiny. With the execption of Teachers, but I can see how people would like that too, unless you're in my area judging from what's written in the local paper.

Please don't get me wrong I love to travel if I didn't there is no way that I would keep the job I currently have. I simply wanted to point out that many people see those of us who travel regularly for work and think it is a Rock Star lifestyle. Different cities every week new places etc. It takes a special mind set to live this life.

I completely agree with blue27. After 5 years of traveling 50 weeks a year (4-5 days away from home each week), I decided I had to stop. Got a job with much less travel. As blue27 said though, the work travel can definitely help pay for the personal travel. Back when I did travel for work I could take weekend trips and not pay a penny (alternate fly back policy was my best friend)...not to mention the bazillion points/miles I've racked up over the years. I'm finally getting to benefit from those now. But during the time I was earning them it didn't seem so great - the lure of the travel for work wore off after a few months. Just remember if you are traveling for work - you will have to work while you are at the destination. You may have time in the evenings to explore, but by no means is it a leisure trip. Good luck in your job search!

I guess the key here would be moderation.
Some jobs have you travel, but not 50 weeks of the year. I can see how that can get tiring. I'd like to be home sometimes. Once every month or two would be great in my book, then I'd extend the weekend, I hope.
But I'd rather do that than have the commute, or live paycheck to paycheck and never even get to see one block of somewhere new!

I heard of a guy once...actually saw him give a lecture...who used to set up concerts all over. He travelled pretty much that much, but he was also Bahamas based for tax purposes.

You stand a great chance of travelling for work if you are in engineering , esp oil & gas ( upstream division).

This is my line of work at the moment & am enjoying the travels ( you get to go to places no tourist would dream of going).

Find a job that you can telecommute! I took a job a year ago in the digital photography field because I enjoy that line of work. After learning the ropes and gaining the confidence of my boss, I'm getting things arranged so I can work from anywhere that has a highspeed internet connection. Home, Starbucks, or a beach hut in Thailand.. it won't matter.

The only part I'm unclear on is how I'd be taxed. An american citizen working for an american company on an extended vacation abroad. Will have to start another thread for that one..

quote:

Originally posted by Asheai:
Not a 100% sure this is the correct forum... but here goes:

I am currently in college and I am in the middle of trying to determine my direction. The common idea is to do something that interests you - something you love. Well, one of my greatest interests would be travel... Sooo... what careers are there that would let me travel the world? Does anyone have any great ideas? anything they perhaps have done or know someone who has done it... I am planning on teaching english in korea after getting my bachelors but that is a way off for now and I need something to work towards...any suggestions would be awesome!

Clandestine officer for CIA https://www.cia.gov/careers/index.html and the State department http://www.state.gov/careers/. They are looking for smart college graduates like you.

The CIA and State do both allow for substantial travel. However, it may not necessarily be the sort of travel you're looking for. I head out for my first assignment in a few months and I'll spend the next two years in Ukraine. Then I'll spend 2-3 years someplace else, and so on. If you want to be constantly on the move, keep in mind that you won't be.

Also, if you apply for the CIA or State (or another government agency) don't tell them you want the job because you want to travel because that won't cut it.

Still, it is certainly and option to look into. The CIA is tough to get in these days though unless you have needed language skills or are an excellent student from a good school studying a hard science.