I quit my desk job in my 30s to travel full time and I’ve never looked back. That was 2 years ago! If you’ve got the travel bug and want to leave the conventional 9-5 behind, then you’ve come to the right place. Read on to find out how!
Our 30s are a difficult time. It’s an age that often makes you wonder if you are doing the right thing in life. Especially if all your friends and siblings have their lives ‘figured out’. What does that even mean?… Something to do with marriage, mortgage and kids I think?? But you are trying to work out how to avoid another baby shower this weekend and plan your next Euro trip. Oh I hear ya!
There is no right or wrong way on how you should live your 30s. As long as you are doing what makes you happy. We often don’t realise how many options and opportunities we have in modern society. Or we do know we have choices but we don’t know where to start with them. Especially when they are outside of societies ‘norm’. You’re worried what people will think if you don’t want to invest your money in property but in travel instead.
So, you’re here because you’ve been thinking about quitting your job and travelling. Well here are 5 ways to enable your dream travel life whilst leaving your desk job behind!
1. Travel Full Time With No Income
If you can afford full time travel without requiring an income then why not! Your savings might allow you to quit your job so you can travel full time for an extended period. This option just requires more planning in advance to ensure you can afford the length of travel you want to do and have some extra for emergency funds.
If you are going back ‘home’ after travelling you will also need to have an idea of what that looks like; where will you live, how you will afford to live, what job will you do etc. Plans can change and you don’t need to have everything figured out from day 1, but when you aren’t making money for an extended period of time, my advice would be to have a plan A, B and even C. Oh and travel insurance is a must, you don’t want to risk forking out a tonne of money due to a travel accident and then have to end your trip early.
There is nothing wrong with being in your 30s and travelling whilst unemployed. The chances are you will love your life and never want to go back to a 9-5. Then you just need to figure out how to make an income. Which leads me on to number 2 of how to quit your desk job and travel full time.
2. Become A Digital Nomad & Travel Whilst You Work
A Digital Nomad is someone who travels whilst working online, which is ideal if you want to travel long term and need an income at the same time. I quit my 9-5 in my 30s and become a Digital Nomad. So if you want to learn about the ins and outs of a Digital Nomad life, check out my posts below or feel free to ask questions in the comments.
– 5 Reasons To Quit Your Office Job & Become A Digital Nomad.
– 5 Ways To Become A Digital Nomad.
– The Best Destination For A First Time, Female Digital Nomad.
– Tried & Tested Travel Essentials For A Digital Nomad.
– 7 Unglamorous Truths About Life As A Digital Nomad
Thanks to covid there are plenty of companies that offer fully remote working now. My advice would be to look for start up companies as these tend to be the most flexible in terms of location. Depending on your job you may still have to work a full 8 hours a day but if you get to choose your working hours then that is easier to swallow. 8 hours sat by the beach or in a co-working cafe is still better than your old desk job. And then you can travel as and when you please!
3. Take Up Seasonal Work & Travel Part Time
Your 30s doesn’t have to be about climbing the career ladder. If you want to travel instead then seasonal work allows you to quit your 9-5 job and generate income. Seasonal work generally lasts 3 – 6 months and enables you to save enough so you can travel for 3 – 6 months without working. Then start the process over again.
There’s a stigma attached to seasonal work. Like it’s only reserved for 18 year olds, but it’s perfectly okay for 30-somethings to work on a farm picking cherries for 3 months and spending their weekends kayaking in a beautiful lake. It beats sitting in an office. Work can cause us so much unneccessary stress, we would all be a lot happier if we quit our jobs and took a year out to travel and do some farm work!
The pay is often good because the farmers struggle to find local workers. It’s an outdoors lifestyle with good weather in a new country. And once the work is over you’ll have saved up enough money to travel. Are you ready to quit your job and travel yet?
4. Start A Business & Travel Anywhere
This is probably the hardest way to enable quitting your job and travelling, but not impossible. Working for yourself means you make the rules. If you have a business idea you are passionate about and allows you to be location independent then why not? Make sure you have enough funds to support the business and your lifestyle as it can be hard to get a new business off the ground.
One of the best parts of travelling is you can live a lot cheaper, which takes the pressure off when starting out. Do your research beforehand to find the cheapest places to live. This tends to be in the more remote locations like Moalboal in the Philippines or Sidemen in Bali.
5. Take Sabbatical Leave For Short Time Travel
Okay you don’t need to quit your job for this one. Which is great if you want to have a job secured for when you come back from travelling the world. Think of it as a mini retirement, and one well-earned once we’ve reached our 30s and have already been working for 10+ years!
You may think your company wouldn’t let you do this, but have you asked? I know 2 people that were given Sabbatical leave purely because they asked for it. No one else in their companies had done it and it wasn’t a benefit of working somewhere for 10+ years. My friend had worked at his company for 2 years and asked for 3 months off to go travelling and they allowed it! If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Obviously you don’t get paid during sabbatical leave, therefore you’ll need to make a plan on how to fund your travel life but otherwise, what’s stopping you? Go ask the question!
So there you have it. Whether you are in your 30s or not, it is totally possible to quit your job and travel! And I am living proof of that. If you have any questions or want to know more about travelling full time, please comment below, I’d be happy to help!
Amber
P.s If you need anymore travel inspiration, check out our post: My Mini Retirement To Vietnam