BootsnAll Travel Community

So what's actually most important to me?

A few years back, one lucky day, I met three women who really made me think about what I was doing with my life. One was somewhere around 45, and had recently returned from traveling for I don't know how many years. She said she now had only a few years to pay off a mortgage and to save for retirement, but hd not a single regret about her choice to travel. Another had not travelled much, but wanted to. The third said that she had spent 20 years climbing the ladder of success and then figured out she had been climbing the wrong ladder.

Oh.

That last one hit me hard. That was not going to be me. I had visions of moving up in the agency I was working in, but those were all dashed by that one comment. What I realized was that I really didn't care about advancement. Rather, I wanted to see and exerience different cultures, and really get to know my world.

That same day, I went home and asked my partner if he wanted to move to another country. Within 2 months, we were on the other side of the world. No regrets.

I'm now back in my home country, in a job I love, but still feeling the travel itch. I know there are people who travel for years at a time, and manage to spend almost no money. A few things prevent me from doing that. One is that deeply ingrained value that I'm supposed to be "responsible" and not just take off (for the most part, I can work through that). Another is a complete bewilderment over how people actually manage to keep on travelling even though they have little money. One drawback of having this job I love is that it really doesn't allow me to save a great deal of money to go travelling around the world. Anyone done it?

The corporate ladder doesn't interest me, and I still want to see the world . . .

I'm 24, and 3 years out of Uni I have realised that there is no ladder that I want to climb. I'd rather take the hot air balloon through life instead.

I work in a job that isn't as bad as every other job I've had, and it's in the industry I did my degree in, but I don't like and it pays shit. That said, I'm sticking at it and saving as much as I can by making sacrifices - not going out much, biking it to work, taking sandwiches in for lunch, and selling a lot of my stuff. I have a motivation where before I lacked it - to travel (I haven't gone yet, but come early next year...).

I'm kinda happy that I've come to this realisation now rather than working up and up somewhere till I'm 40 or 50 and going "what exactly am I doing up here?", then not being able to find my way back down again.

It's drummed into from a young age to be 'responsible', but what fun is that? Take off I say. If you had no regrets the first time, you won't the second...

Lancashirehotpot, you and I seems like the same person on different sides of the Atlantic ha

I'm 24 as well, and 1 year out of college (I went for a Masters degree as well)... the only thing that I am pretty grateful for regarding my job is that the pay is pretty decent, to make a RTW for me a reality. I've made some pretty stupid choices like going through 2 new cars in two years as well as running up countless bar tabs on my credit cards during college.

This whole travel thing has given me a direction and a goal that I lacked before also. Before I found this whole travel thing, I felt like I was going into work aimless each day without a sense of purpose or direction. Now there is something for me to look forward to. Like you I've a lot of sacrifices including selling almost everything I own on eBay, brown bagging my lunches, going out at most once a week, etc. I'm looking at December 2006 tentatively for the beginning of the next phase in my life, when I finally become human again and not a wage slave of materialistic belongings.

Maybe our paths will meet on the road Best of luck to ya brotha

Hey Dave! Think you might be right - maybe your my double!

Just read yer profile - completely agree with the 'I honestly don't see myself doing the corporate business thing for the next 40 years' line. I bet your a fan of Fight Club too. If not, you should be!

We've only got one life mate, time to start living it. I'm still in 'saving' mode at the moment(although I have been out a little too much lately, gotta tighten that belt a bit more...). I sell advertising for a living (it honks big time) and by xmas I should have a nice fat cheque for all my hard work - well, for at least being in work. When I get, I'm headed straight for STA to get me an RTW ticket. Come June 2006 with any luck I'll be sat at a beach bar in Thailand supping a nice cold beer, with the waves lapping gently behind me and the sun glaring from above, whilst I watch on a big screen as England get knocked out of the Wolrd Cup (again). Can't wait.

As long as I'm not on the phone all day to frustrating morons, sat in a swivel chair, tapping keys, looking out the window at a cloudy grey sky - I'm sure I'll be happy.

Well, this board is called Corporate Wasteland...

J.

Hey J,

I hope that you keep a blog so that I can live vicariously through you when I'm still stuck at my job until Dec 2006 or so. I'm still at phase 1: pay off debt. Save mode begins for me around December...

Have fun watching the World Cup, just don't go riot now you hooligan! Go USA!

And yep, I'm a huge fan of Fight Club. It's actually the first DVD I've ever purchased. Thanks for making me think of the movie again. I've changed my signature below