One of the main reactions people have when hearing about our trip is, “I would love to do something like that”. For a long time we were in this category…we dreamed about traveling and all of the places we wanted to go. When we would read about people leaving on trips of 6 months to a year, we would put them in a different category and remark on how awesome their lives must be to be able to do it. How could we leave our friends and family for that long, or maintain our careers after being gone for so long? How could we possibly afford an entire year of travel?! We had the same reactions and figured a round-the-world trip was nothing more than a nice dream.
So what finally pushed us over the edge? What made us believe that we could make this trip happen and actually go through with the plans? (we leave in 2 months!). Below are some links to bloggers that have inspired and convinced us that if traveling is your passion you can make it happen! We hope you will be inspired as we were to fulfill your own dreams.
The Meet Plan Go Chicago event was an incredible meeting for us to attend and connect with other people who had actually done what we have been planning for so long. We were able to get a lot of our questions answered and our passion was ignited with the stories and places that the group had to offer. They each had their own reason for leaving the traditional 9 to 5 job to write a better story for their life.
Other bloggers were a huge inspiration
A must read book if you are considering your own RTW trip is Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Chris Guillebeau’s book, The Art of Non-Conformity and this specific post on why you should quit and travel!
BootsnAll has a great forum to read through on a variety of tips, budgets and personal stories
The US lifestyle doesn’t encourage career breaks, but once you begin to travel you realize how many people actually do take them. Begin now by reading the 100s of blogs out there.
Other bloggers RTW budgets
Trusting the business side of things
Why travel supports your resume, and other personal stories about taking a career break.
Nomadic Matt helps out with relating the trip to your career
Unconventional Guides, Empire Building Kit (affiliate links)
Travel Hacking
How to travel the world for $418
Finally, how can you not be motivated by videos like these:
Move
Learn
Eat
Where the Hell is Matt?
What pushed you over the edge to pursue a life of travel or, what’s holding you back?
Yup. Yes. To all of this. We’re in the place now of starting the saving and the planning and preparation for our own travels. Right now, they’re shaping up to be more North American/vehicle based than a RTW trip but we feel that they’re super important just the same.
Anyhow, I’ve taken great interest as we make this step to learn more about what pushed people to make sweeping changes in their life that are more along the path to happiness. I’m adding you to my reader and am really excited to follow your travels!
Bon Voyage!!
We’re thinking of potential North American/vehicle based trips for when we return so maybe we’ll be asking you for some advice!
Glad we can help inspire you, even in a small way.
Just came across your blog, and I love all of your articles and writing style!
My fiancé, Stevo, and I left our lives in America 8 months ago and are living in China teaching English. We didn’t save a ton of money before we left, but are instead working abroad and saving now so we can travel. With the cost of living so cheap here, we’re actually saving more while living abroad than we were able to while in America! We’ve taken many smaller trips during our time here so far, but our big adventures will begin in October when we’ll travel to the south of China and into South East Asia.
Keep inspiring others to know that their travel dreams are possible!
Thanks Jen. I love hearing about the different ways people get out and afford to travel. Good luck in your Southeast Asian travels in October!