And still be a full-time travel writer…
Blog after blog celebrates the bravado of smashing the shackles of the safety net to ‘live the dream’. Admire it or envy it…most people just keep wondering what it’s like to travel full-time. Calls for more than just an adrenaline-junkie spirit go all the way, few can actually take the leap of faith.
Reality interferes…family life, children, work or finances are always higher up in priority. If travel was your true calling, it would make the list no matter what, wouldn’t it? Isn’t there’s always a choice? Don’t we consciously pick what suits us, one way or the other. If something else is more important, that’s just what it is…something else IS more important! Simple.
For the more mainstream of us, travel is not a future ambition, but a parallel existence. High points of our lives are defined by the presence of long weekends in new year’s calendars. Trip planning is an endless agenda which fills our bookshelves, our weekends, our social media news feed, all the nooks and crannies of our cerebellum folds and nearly all our significant conversations with important people in our lives. Travel is a much-awaited escape ritual, a gateway to intensely enriching experiences, that defines the pinnacle, even the objective of our lives. Yet, I pass the opportunity to travel full-time? Why? Why? Why? And why? Four reasons. Good as gold.
1. I did not quit one rat race to join another
Running after targets, chasing deadlines, pursuing ambitions, tracking goals and shadowboxing competition. Been there, done that in the corporate world and in the media world. The problem is even if you win, you don’t really win. Right? Because you’re out of breath from all that puffing and panting. And wondering…was it worth all the heartache? What about all the ‘journey matters more than the destination’ jazz? That’s the station I’m tuned into right now. Living my dream, my way.
2. I’m selfish. I travel for ‘me’
They say travel is the only investment which makes you rich. By broadening your horizons, widening your perspectives and enriching you with varied experiences and sights. Hey, the key word is ‘you’, remember? Then why crowd your itinerary with museums even if you are more activity-driven? Why worry about not having visited the ‘most-recommended’ destinations of the year, even if they don’t whisper soft-nothings to your heart? Why not just go with the natural flow of what attracts you most? Not sure? Try this. If there was no one to see your pictures or hear your stories, what would you be happiest doing and where in the world? Bingo!
3) Math and I were ‘anti-buddies’ at school
Number of countries in the world could have been 150 yesterday and may be 240 tomorrow, but I’m not keeping count. At least not from the point of view of getting visas ticked off. I don’t want to pressure myself into counting destinations for the sake of making or breaking records. Math and I were ‘anti-buddies’ at school. We just didn’t see eye-to-eye. And never will. I would rather spend a few weeks delving into the soul of one amazing country / continent till I get goosebumps poring over its heritage monuments, restless feet watching its lively folk dances and a lump in my throat waving it goodbye.
4) I’m the worst multi-tasker ever born
Life is one big journey, granted. Not meant to be spent rooted to one place. Agreed. But, while some people prefer to keep moving. Home sweet home for some rest, reflection and reminiscence. Respite from travel, to travel again! I need to neutralise my senses to be ‘wow-ed’ again. Like smelling coffee beans between sniffs of ten different perfumes. To get over the travel fatigue caused by the unending whirlwind of images casting a greying cloud, dulling my senses, diminishing my capacity to appreciate and slowing my impulses to imbibe. What is it like to never go home? It wouldn’t be a trip anymore…just regular life, with the inevitable saturation. The charm lies in the unattained…something undone, something yet unachieved, to aspire for. Always a little untravelled?
As part-time travellers, our hands are in both pies, we have the best of both worlds. Revelling in the happiness of each trip while we’re on it, and revelling in the hangover of that happiness while waiting for the next trip…again and again and again. It’s a full circle! And if that doesn’t feel like heaven, tell me what does?
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I loved your article! I’m also a “part-time traveler”, as I work full-time and travel whenever I can – usually for 2-3 weeks at the time to once place to explore it slowly, hiking, seeing places, stopping to check a town for a day. I also don’t count countries, I find it silly. I loved your analogy to smelling coffee beans between perfumes! 🙂
Happy travels 🙂
Ioanna (A Woman Afoot)
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Thanks so much, Ioanaa 🙂 We all have our different travel styles and that’s acceptable.
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I also agree with you. Whether fulltime or part time, what matters is the fulfilment YOU get. So copying others is like robbing yourself of the happiness that cokes with traveling. Your post is inspiring.
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Thank you Lydia 🙂 Not just how we travel but also how we live our lives needs to be governed by who we are inside.
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Loved the write-up! I so could relate to each and every word. Yes, we have the best of both worlds 🙂
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Thanks a ton, Anjali 🙂 Best of both worlds is not bad !
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Great article, I’m pretty sure most people would get sick of full time travel after a while. It’s good to have a balance.
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I don’t know about others, but I will surely get sick of travel if I have too much of it. 🙂
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i totally agree with all of these! no matter how much i hate 9-to-5 job or any other kind of job that i’ve had so far, i don’t think i’ll survive to transform myself into a full-time traveler. because no matter how much i travel, i still can’t consider myself to be in a ‘hate’ stage to my routine. 🙂
neither i count the number of countries that i’ve visited so far, and also yes… i can’t really imagine to still have to work in the middle of your trip. it feels uneasy for me even when i have to just think about it. 😛
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As they say, “routine is lethal” I would never let travel become a routine. 🙂
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Travel for me is also a parallel life. While it tends to consume all of my time outside of my career, I am not ready to live like a back backer as watch the pennies. 🙂 Appreciate the words and the refreshing perspective on it being ok not to be the full-time traveller.
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Thank you so much for your comment! Glad you enjoyed the read.
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I love this post. I too am a full time travel writer but part time traveller and I like the balance and having a home base for my family. It really is, as you say, a parallel existence, and its a great one
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Thanks a million 🙂 Nothing beats the parallel existence!
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I am with you on this one! Just because you aren’t traveling full time doesn’t mean you don’t find meaning in your job. I think it you can be completely content working as long as it gives you meaning. And traveling full time also seems like a rat race to me – you’re still trying to hustle the entire time on the side to make ends meet, so I wonder how free you can really be? And for me, one of the biggest reasons not to travel full time is to have a real home to come back to
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And my biggest fear that if I overdo travel, I may end up getting bored of it 🙂
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I am also quite like your Punita – a full time writer, but not a full time traveler and this life suits me rather well. I actually love my life as a designer way too much to consider not doing it, so travel is a parallel reality and both co-exist 🙂
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The cruz of the matter is that one should follow one’s heart and not just trends, Siddhartha 🙂
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Loved reading your views here. I would like to travel full time but I wouldnt want targets and deadlines. Now that would be pointless. I have to much of that in my ‘real’ job.
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Thank you Danik. The trouble with travel these days is, that whether people accept it or not, they do end up following trends.
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Very thoughtful article and I agree with you especially on point #3. It’s not about the number of countries you visit, but rather how you experience a place. I often spend weeks in one country so I truly learn its culture and way of life.
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Thanks Fairuz, for your comment. This is just how I see travel, and how I enjoy my travels.
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I so agree with your philosophy. I prefer to have a home base and savor travel is spurts, rather than tick through a bucket list of must see ‘goals’. Great read! 🙂
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Thank you Vanessa 🙂 And the problem with bucket lists is that they keep changing!
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I so agree with you.. I am Full time writer and but somehow never been convinced to be full time traveller. We all have different aspects to our travel style and i love the way you have put across your reasons so well. thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Krupa! The idea is to do what you think appeals to you, that’s all.
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Congrats on finding the type of travel you love, and not feeling the need to follow “the crowd” just for the sake of it. There’s no right or wrong way to travel, and yes, at the moment it feels like the internet is awash with those selling the “dream” of quitting everything to travel full time – which is awesome, if it’s a lifestyle YOU want. We travelled full time for a while, and it was great, but we’ve recently settled down, found a permanent base and bought a house. We got burnt out being constantly on the road and really enjoy taking time to plan a trip, enjoy it, come home, regenerate, and head out again in a couple of months time. There’s no right or wrong way to travel … all that matters is that you’re happy with how you do 🙂 Great post!
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Thanks Meg, for a wonderful comment. I couldn’t agree more…there is no right or wrong way to travel, but some of us still end up following a ‘prescribed path’ 🙂
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I totally agree!
I’m a great supporter of combining a love of travel and living your life the way you want to. I love my job and I love travel. I see no reason why I can’t combine them both! My motto: You don’t have to do anything drastic if you want to afford a life of travel. You don’t have to choose between having it all and having nothing at all, and you definitely don’t have to quit your lifestyle!
‘Love your article.
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Thanks so much! Its true…mid path is sometimes the best.
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We are lucky enough at the moment to travel when we want and mostly, where we want. If you aren’t so lucky there is so much to discover on your own doorstep. What can be mundane to you can be fascinating to someone visiting from another coiuntry.
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Options galore..
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I’m exactly like you. I could never travel full time, maybe because I’m Italian and our roots are very important, no idea. Only I need to get back home, I have to know there’s a home waiting for me where I can catch my breath. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so much fun! Also… ew. I SO don’t like this practice of keeping count of the places visited and to flaunt about numbers. That’s not what travel should be about!
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You may be right. Italians and Indians have a lot in common…roots and family are so important to us. We may fly high, but we have to come home.
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I enjoyed reading an article that actually pinpoints most peoples experience. Full time traveling is extremely hard even for people that do it as a living, and it is not for everyone. I would never want to lose the joy I get from traveling.
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Thank you! i wish everyone should just do what they felt like instead of having the compulsion to follow trends and impress others.
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I could not agree more! I love to travel and sometimes I fantasize about doing it full time, but then I start to think about the logistics and the commitment required and realized that it’s not worth it. I might not always love the idea of having a 9-5 job but I appreciate the financial stability it gives me to be able to take a nice vacation and know that I’m not committed to getting anything out of it buy my own enjoyment. Anything beyond that for my blog is a bonus.
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Absolutely agree! More than anything, I think too much of travel can really take away from its essential joy.
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Hehehe love your reasons, and how you don’t count countries. Experiences matter, not numbers. 🙂
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🙂 If experiences are spaced out, they matter more.
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Hi .Nice one. Completely relate to your article. I am also a full time professional working in a bank and travel is my passsion. So great
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Thanks so much! As long as travel remains a passion, its great. But when it becomes a job…
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Really nice read, I can relate to a lot of it. However, I feel like I would side towards travelling full-time and writing part-time! It would be a dream to be able to do the two in perfect equilibrium!
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Thank you Joshua. That does sound like a dream 🙂
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All good points that show your own personal attitude to travelling. I like that you’ve written it in a way that says this is your style and not necessarily saying that’s what others should do. I’m a huge advocate of travel how and when you want to, and not wanting everyone to be in the same mould. Happy travels in 2018.
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Thank you Kerri. The essence is exactly that. When our motive becomes outward rather than inward, the fun melts away.
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Nice photos 🙂 I didn’t have opportunity to be full time traveler so im not sure what i want. I love to travel, but because i do have regular full time job, currently i’m traveling when i have free time 😀
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Thanks, Samir. I think we seek out opportunities that suit us…and therein lies the secret of happiness.
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How true, that reality inhibits the ability to travel full-time, there’s always a reason. The daily grind of 9-5 can be a downer sometimes. It’s nice to come home to sleep in your own bed, with your own things, where only you have been, last night, tonight and if you’re not traveling tomorrow night too! Great story! I always enjoy your writing style.
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I agree with you completely, Angelina. Travel is, and should be a break from the daily grind, not become the daily grind itself 🙂
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stunning your all pictures really nice thanks for sharing n keep it up….!
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I don’t think the digital nomad life is for everybody. I think it’s great that people are doing it, but I know it’s not for me. To each his own. 🙂
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Agree fully!
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I really liked the points raised. It all depends on individual preferences.. Some are fast movers and some soak in and enjoy….. You belong to the second category… Quality over quantity…
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Thanks! You hit the nail on the head..
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I got a full time job too and I travel as much as i can during my off work holidays. I agree with not giving up the job and just enjoy both world! Its nice to come home after an long trip and sleep on your own bed not just hotel bed to another.
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The essence of travel is the difference it brings to life….and spacing it out enhances it.
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Love this post! I am a part time traveller/writer and I hold down a full time job and honestly travelling full time has never appealed. I love my day job and I am soon to start a family and I definitely do not wan to turn my passion into another rat race!
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Thanks a million, Sam! That’s my point exactly…the worst would be for a passion to turn into a rat race.
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These reasons were so enlightening and a great thing to read! Keep doing an awesome job and being a full-time writer! 😉
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Thanks you!!! Glad my thoughts struck a chord with you somewhere.
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Very good topic! I almost feel a little burned out by so many bloggers claiming to be nomads. There is nothing bad on that, it just almost feels like everyone should aim to that. I always liked having a home base where I come back to, and a stability brought by a job. Now i also have a family so time of being a nomad has flown by for me 🙂 But if we all would do that, our blogs would be too similar.
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You have aptly summarised the post. My only problem is with the pressure of trends…why should we feel the need to conform in life…and especially in travel?
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You make some really interesting points. I’m not a full time traveller and people can be different! I’m quite comfortable working and travelling at the moment but you gave me food for thought!
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Thanks, David. Glad you enjoyed the read 🙂
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This is one of the best posts I’ve recently read! It’s very mature and realistic and considers ‘the big picture’.
I’m mostly very disappointed by blogposts from ‘professionel’ travel bloggers: sloppy texts, bad pictures, hardly any useful info – not journalist quality whatsoever, so I have the impression some are just rushing over the planet try to get some ‘meat’ around their affiliated links; this can be it – as you point out in your first reason. That’s from a professional level. Now your 4th point is more than relevant from a personal level: I don’t want to travel for others, but for myself. Eventually I generously share my experience and the information I gathered on the road or online (why don’t most blogger quote addresses of e.g. museums or supply their readers with other valueable information?!). But still, I do it for me in the first place and I do need some time to let what I’ve seen and experienced sink in.
I also have a stready job which I like (in journalism) and hence I’m a professional blogger – but a passionate traveller!
Happy travels to you and thanx for this great post!
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Thank you so much for such a detailed comment. I must say, I am quite taken aback by all the lovely comments on this post of mine. To be truthful, I was expecting a lot of criticism too 🙂
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That is always the dream to travel full time, for me personally anyway, so this makes this article very interesting about your personal points why you won’t like to travel full-time and I love it. Your reasons are sound and while to this day I am the type who loves to travel and return to my home and family, I would love to know what it’s like to be on the road for twelve months or more and be a blogger, not while my kids are young though. Great read.
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Thanks a bunch, Anthony. It would interesting to know your preference, after you turn into a full-time traveller. Till then…enjoy the balance 🙂
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The post is i can relate too.
I love travel as well as my job.I am getting bored from doing one task so easily and so travel.Happy to hear your thoughts
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So we are on the same page! 🙂
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You rightly said that a brief break in between continuous travel is necessary to get charged for another excursion. Even though I love traveling and collecting real-life experiences for full time, I have to pull the reins of my ambitions and pacify my liking because of personal and professional commitments. That’s why I take up part-time traveling and try to replenish everything I would’ve possibly collected by full-time traveling.
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I love this post! I am a full-time traveler and I love it, but I think I would prefer to have the “parallel experience” that you wrote about. I keep needing to stop myself from doing something “for the likes”. This trip should be about me and my growth, not about the number of hits I get. Thank you for the continued reminder and inspiration!
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Thanks so much for such a wonderful comment. It can be quite a challenge to stay internally focussed.
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