BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello, i am quickly approaching 40! ( almost 38 ) and i have finally decided to quit my job in the fall and travel around India and Nepal for six months.

When i told my friends and family about my plans to backpack to these places, they thought i had lost my mind.

They found it hard to understand why someone would give up a great job to travel. You won`t get a job like that when you get back, i was told by nearly everyone.

So be it, if that is the plan. I am tired of only having this viewpoint on how important Material possessions are.
I know there is so much more out there in this world. I hear and read stories about people ( Like from this wonderful forum ) who have so much happiness with so little possessions.

I am acting on Faith this fall when i board a plane in Toronto to fly half way around to the world to India. I am scared. I have many doubts. I have resistence...but i am boarding that plane!

My question is...how many people deal with following the heart vs following the dollars/job

i did.

make it a year. if you're going to cause all this ruckus, might as well do a good job.

you will only ever regret 'not' doing it.


www.2bits.ca

Good for you. As hard as this decision is when you're in your twenties (when the questions are should I put off grad school, the start of my career, and so on), the difficulty can inrease exponentially as you get older. You've got balls.

All I can say is that the most difficult decisions often turn out to be the most rewarding.

I agree with twobits: Make it a year if you can afford it.

Bravo Patrick.

You've just done what I did...twice. The first time was easy and liberating; they treated me like the floor they walked on. So I had a GIANT smile on my face with an 'I quit' letter in hand. When I returned from (ironically) Nepal, I was forced to deal with some family issues and in February, found an even better job than before. Quitting was the best decision for me at that time, which led me to spend a few months one-on-one with my mother before she passed away.

The second time just this past October was a lot tougher than I expected. People cried! While it was the greatest feeling knowing that my coworkers and my bosses cared so much about me (finally! I experience this at a job), what was even more defining and liberating was that I was once again taking my life into my own hands and shaping my destiny. My work offered to keep my chair warm for me until a year later when I expected to be finished with my book (ha!) and my journey.

Everything will eventually fall into place when you follow your heart and your instincts. While it sounds a bit corny, I truly believe that. Below is a quote which really hits home for me about the whole decision-making process:

So I had made a decision which carried with it things that I could not articulate at the time. I had made the choice instinctively, and only later had given it meaning. The trip had never been billed in my mind as an adventure in the sense of something to be proved. And it struck me then that the most difficult thing had been the decision to act, the rest had been merely tenacity-and the fears were paper tigers. One really could do anything one had decided to do whether it were changing a job, moving to a new place or whatever, one really could act to change and control one’s own life; and the procedure, the process, was its own reward.
Tracks, Robyn Davidson

If you have any questions on any of the above or Nepal, feel free to chat me up.

A woman at 50, I quit one of the best union jobs in America and moved half an earth away to a place where I did not speak one single word of the language. I was 12 years from retirement.

And here I am nearly 4 years later. I have joy and I have regrets. But there is no going back.

The second half of life is radically different than the first half. The choices are more permanent, the implications less reversible.

We get but one life on this earth. After you've fulfilled your obligations to yourself and your family and your society, the clock is running and it's time to follow your heart.

St. Peter isn't going to throw open the gates to heaven because you put in all that extra overtime. Live now or forever hold your peace.

Thank you Sophie9,JV,Twobits,and thank you Cristi Farrell, i will be in contact with you.

I know this trip will happen, and i know it will be in larg part to the like minded, and kind hearted members here.

Why do we seem to get so much resistance from those who love us the most. Why can`t they just be happy for us and encourage our desire to travel and discover..even if it is at a later time in our life.

I remember being in grade two on a field trip to the Toronto Zoo. I had a fasination with the monkeys and wondered off for 20 mins or so. I can remember exploring the woods nearby and climbing the trees and being like a monkey. I was so happy being by myself, and then when i got back to the qroup, my teacher who was worried, spanked me and told me never to go off by myself like that again. It`s not safe.

Whenever i think about traveling to far away places, i feel that excitement i once felt about exploring and discovering, and then those other feelings about not being safe come back.

But i continue to know all will work out if we keep moving forward in the direction of our dreams.

Patrick

Kudos to you, Patrick. These have got to be exciting days for you. I wouldn't be too hard on the seemingly pessimisitic friends, family, co-workers. It seems that the older we get, the more practical we get. Or, the more teathers we have to loosen or untie to do something like this. And, a trip like this often flies in the face of all things practical. Sure, when we were in our early twenties, our entire stock of posessions could fit in the hatchback of a Honda and we could drop everything & dive anywhere on a moment's notice with no strings attahced. With age, comes a few more teathers to loosen. Then, it could be as simple as "Okay, I'll do this when my lease is up." Now, it's a phone call to the bank to work out mortgage payments. These same associates can likely be counted on to help you make sure you've nailed down all the practical steps (even help you take care of a few of them for you) so that you can rise above them all to totally kick ass on the trip. You'd hate to be halfway around the world, six months into your trip, and only starting to realize you didn't put your mail on hold, or forgot to line up someone to cut the grass, etc.

Way to go Patrick!! I did what you're about to do last summer and it has been mostly excellent. After 7+ months on the vagabonding trail in Aus and NZ, life has a much different perspective. Doing things and following your dreams are much more important than having things and allowing everyone else to dictate what you should do according to their expectations. You will NEVER get to the end of your life, be lying on your deathbed, and think "I wish I had worked more". No way, never gonna happen. Jobless and homeless by choice is so liberating. From day to day I dont know who I'll meet, what I'll do, or where I'll sleep. But at the end of the day, my head hits the pillow somewhere, and the sun comes up the next morning.

Now that you made your decision, relax. Dont worry about the small stuff. A little preparation is all you relly need. Pretty soon all the doubters will be sending you email's telling you how they are living vicariously through you. PM me if you need more specifics. BTW, I hope to be in Nepal this october for hiking season and then India during the North American winter. And dont forget to get your BNA patch for your bag-I havn't met anyone else with one yet, but I will eventually.

Hello Flackattack.

When i am feeling down, and am having doubts about traveling, all i have to do is read the forum, and i feel alive and ready to kick up a storm.

I will be in In India in October and will let the wind take me where it will. I am excited once more.

I`m not sure what you meant by a BNA patch for my bag LOL

I will take you up on your offer for insight into traveling thru India and the like.

Take care

Patrick

quote:

I am tired of only having this viewpoint on how important Material possessions are. I know there is so much more out there in this world. I hear and read stories about people ( Like from this wonderful forum ) who have so much happiness with so little possessions.

Good luck to you - I envy you. If I didn't have $80k in student loan debt from law school, I'd be tempted to join you. There was an interesting article in this month's AARP magazine about material possessions - how possessions stress us out and how you can find peace with less.

quote:

Originally posted by patrick1:
I`m not sure what you meant by a BNA patch for my bag LOL

Patrick

There is a BnA Patch that you can sew onto your Backpack/Daypack...it's not at all expensive and can be a great way of starting conversation with other travellers...

Although I'm rubbish at finding past threads on this Forum, so maybe some kind soul can find the thread which has a link in it to buy the Patch...

And I just have to say Patrick, follow your dreams!! You have plenty of time to be boring when you're dead!! LoL.

EDIT, here is the thread to order a BnA Patch:

http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/62200433316/m/58300853316

My hat's off to you, Patrick, congratulations.

I'm in a similar boat, about the same age, good corporate job, lots of well intentioned friends and family providing advice that is not always consistent with my dreams.

I'm not ready to pull the trigger and go yet, but I know I will. I have a few loose end to tie up first, but I expect I'll be on the road in about a year's time.

I want to hear back from you on how you're doing, in order to keep the rest of us inspired!

quote:

I`m not sure what you meant by a BNA patch for my bag LOL

I'm sure if you email one of the staff members or mods they can tell you how to get the patch...it will be a good way to spot other boots.

Hello there. There was another person in a different board with the same concerns. I think his username was eclectic. Maybe you should talk to him, because he's about to do the same thing. But...I thought your question was great. Do you follow your heart or do you continue with the job/money dream (we are made to want, its what keeps this economy going, but we are all fooling ourselves. The really expensive material things don't matter if your heart is empty. So, in your case, go for it. Just like I told eclectic to do. I should be telling myself to go for it and just let go for of the doubts. Do it, you won't regret it.

quote:

But i continue to know all will work out if we keep moving forward in the direction of our dreams.

You're an inspiration, Patrick. You're following your travel dreams and that takes a lot of courage. One day I hope to follow in your footsteps.

I look forward to hearing about all of your wonderful adventures!!
Jen

I feel you completely... so to speak. I have decided to sell my companies, one back to the employees as a thank you, and set off on my adventure in 18 months! It is hard to give up the material aspects especially in America where we are constantly being brainwashed by our media on what is important... material possessions. All of the stories I have told and that I am most proud of are my stories from traveling. The people i have met, the adventures I have had, the good and bad all lend themselves to self discovery and that is priceless! Lets some it up another way... is there anything that you have purchased that costs a lot of money that you haven't eventually gotten tired of and thats lost its novelty?.... house? car? favorite designer shirt? Things wear out but memories last a lifetime! I don't mean to sound like a commercial but we always want the next best thing instead of being happy with who we are and what we do have.

I wish I could be like you and let go and travel.

Hi Patrick,
I really want to encourage you to go...
I have talked about, dreamed about,read about going around the world since I was a kid-and I'm finally doing it.
I'm a 39 year old woman going solo for 2-3 years, and I leve in 1 month.
The hardest things: Letting go of material possessions.Letting go a relationship that wasn't working.Letting go of knowing what is going to be next.Letting go of what others think of me.
I'm still working on all of the above.
Unlike some on this post, I'm not leaving a corporate job-I run a soup kitchen. It has been hard to leave the people I help evryday. I have worried what will happen to them and that the person who takes my place will not love them like I do.
Letting go of material possessions has been a crazy experience-it is amazing how much stuff I have accumulated!
However, I am only keeping 10 boxes of stuff-(and my car!)computer,books,sentimental things,some clothes. It has been a real joy to give the rest away.
Letting go of a relationship that wasn't working was difficult at first-but now he is the biggest cheerleader for my rtw! He did not follow his dreams when he was younger, and he really understands the importance of action.
Take heart,have courage,you will be blessed in a thousand ways for taking your journey. You have no idea what is in store for you-take the plunge anyway.
Sometimes I get fearful about all the what-ifs,but it passes. Then I'm back to being completely excited about my trip.You can contact me if you would like to talk more. Gigi

Patrick, have you left yet?

My wife son and I took a year off in 2000 to travel the world. We quit our jobs, rented our house and enjoyed our best year to date. We were 45,40 and 9 years old and can honestly say that there was nothing bad about it; it was all goooood. We can't wait to leave again when our now 16 year old moves on to college.

Oh, and somehow we ended up getting better jobs when we returned than when we left, and we had GREAT jobs when we left. We had no job prospects when we returned but somehow the universe came through for us.

Have a GREAT time.

www.wheresmax.us