We are Cristian and Emmelie a couple from Colombia and Sweden. We decided to quit our jobs in Dubai and travel the world. This our story of how you can quit your job to travel the world!
Are you feeling burnt out from your job and looking for a change? It’s time to break out of your comfort zone!
Traveling the world is just one of the many ways you can step out of your comfort zone and experience new things. It doesn’t necessarily mean quitting your job, but it does mean breaking away from the familiar and embracing the unknown. Whether it’s trying a new hobby, exploring a new place, or meeting new people, stepping out of your comfort zone can be incredibly rewarding and can help you discover new passions and purpose in life.
Our Story
After years of working 9-6 jobs, we realised that we were no longer accomplished or passionate about what we were doing. We felt like we were living life on autopilot and knew that something needed to change. We decided to quit our jobs and travel the world. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we looking for a change.
We spent years saving money, planning, and getting ready for our journey. We quit our jobs, sold and donate most of our belongings, and set off on a journey that would take us to different parts of the world. Along the way, we will face many challenges, but we also we will have some of the most incredible experiences of our lives.
Tips to Quit Your Job to Travel
If you’re considering quitting your job and traveling, it’s not so easy to just walk into your work place, say “I quit” and then depart tomorrow. Unless you have a large amount of money, this takes a lot more time and dedication. We have compiled a few tips that can help make the transition easier.
Start saving money
It’s important to make sacrifices if you want to have a long-term holiday, you need to change your lifestyle, wasn’t an easy decision for us living in an expensive city like Dubai, we decided to cook more meals in the home and stop going out for dinners and drinks, we believed that as a couple we are also a team so calculated our combined income, minus the debt and fixed expenses, to determine how much we could save every month. We went through all our expenses in detail and set a budget for each category such as groceries, eating out, and entertainment. It is about changing your mindset and your habits.
Plan your trip
Research your destinations, check how much average daily spent, how long you are planning to stay, and try to organise your itinerary. We do recommend you book flights as far in advance as possible to get good deals. You can also book some of the first accommodations in advance, but make sure their cancellation policy is flexible because sometimes you will stay in some places longer than you were thinking.
Now that you have a route and an understanding of how much it cost to visit each country, you can make a total budget of your trip, and from step 1, you also know how much you can save each month. So now you will be able to calculate when you will be able to depart. For us, it took 18 months, and we already had some savings before we decided to quit our jobs to travel the world, so don’t expect to be able to leave tomorrow, this will take time and dedication.
Deal with the logistics
Make sure before leaving the country where you reside, to cancel all unnecessary credit cards if they don’t give you travel benefits and potentially look for ones that do give you those benefits, we also recommend that if you have a rent apartment terminate your rental contract and if you have some stuff try to ask your buddies if they can take care of them while you are away.
Before going to any country make sure you research if you need a visa or not some countries will give you Visa on arrival, but you might need to check how to apply online or at respective embassies. We do recommend you apply well in advance if you need to do all the embassy paperwork the longest we had to wait was Cristian’s Canadian Visa which took around 3.5 months. Also try to avoid third-party agencies that promise you will get your visa, better try yourself online do your research and you will see is not that hard.
Embrace the unknown
Traveling is all about experiences and surprises, so don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. It’s normal to feel a bit nervous or unsure, but believe us that’s part of the excitement! You might even discover a new passion. By taking a chance and facing your fears, you’ll create memories and experiences that you’ll remember forever. So why not give it a try? You never know what kind of adventure is waiting for you!
Stay connected
Keep in touch with family and friends back home, and use social media to document your journey and connect with other travellers. Our idea of creating a blog, Instagram, or Youtube channel is to document our journey so that when we have kids, they can get inspired by us. Also, nowadays you can get paid from social media, although it might not be that much, you can get a few bucks that can save some buses or train tickets on the way.
How to Budget Your Trip
Firstly, don’t loosely think that you will spend $1,000 per month or something like that, this method does not work. Why? Because all countries cost of living and traveling is different. You will need to budget accordingly to the destinations that you are going to visit. That is why the ‘Plan Your Trip’ is so crucial.
We use the website Budget Your Trip to know how much it cost to travel per day per person in each country. There is Budget, Mid-Range, and Luxury options. We use mid-range and since we are two people we take that number times two, and then multiply that by how many days we are going to stay in that country.
Don’t forget to factor in flights or other modes of transportation within or between countries as this is not included in the Budget Your Trip number. We also recommend to add another 20% buffer for emergencies.
Get a Travel Insurance
We did a lot of research on travel insurance before leaving and we decided to go with Genki. They provide world-wide health insurance for people that are traveling to multiple destinations for a longer period time. Learn more about Genki here.
Conclusion
Quitting your job to travel the world is a big decision, but it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. By saving money, planning your trip, and embracing the unknown, you can embark on a journey that will change your life forever. So, leap and start living the life you’ve always dreamed of!
Where do we go from here?
We start our journey in Cambodia. Why not check out our Cambodia Travel Guides.
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