Why we quit our jobs to travel the world

If we have one thing in common – it’s travel

Mike and I met on Bumble (an online dating site, but classier than tinder) and one thing that we bonded over was our love for travel. It was really important to me that my future beau be excited to travel, because I am most happiest when globe-trotting. The thought of not having my partner join me in gallivanting the globe wasn’t something I wanted to entertain, and so I was really relieved to hear that Mike was a truly global guy and not one to stay in the same place for too long. Fun fact: We actually spent our fourth date in France together. Ce La Vie!

We are not getting any younger

At an age when most of our friends are getting married and starting families, we realised that we were definitely not ready to settle down just yet. Our thirst for adventure is satisfied through exploring new places and meeting new people and if we are totally honest, we were not ready to give up being selfish. Having limited responsibility and not much tying us down, we knew we had to embrace this once in a lifetime opportunity – it was a now or never situation. Disclaimer – I’m not saying you have to be young and childless to travel, but it certainly is much easier when you just have yourselves to look after. Shoutout to all the family nomads doing the global thing – we take our hats off to you!

Our jobs were not fulfilling us, so we decided to quit

We both worked in the corporate sector in London, which can be gruelling and stressful. (I was fortunate to have a great, flexible job where I could work remotely, however, if I was honest with myself, I knew I was not fulfilling my true potential) Mike has a passion for politics, and I’m a creative, so working  in roles outside of this, was not what we had in mind, long term. I also had to take a huge decision on whether I wanted to extend my working visa (which would lead to my British Passport). I had to do a lot of soul searching and admit to myself that I had been living in my comfort zone for too long and I knew I could never forgive myself if I turned down the opportunity to travel the world, and so timing was massively on our side. Booking that one way ticket was the best thing we could have done!

We wanted to make time for our family scattered around the globe

Family is so important to me and spending time with them is uber special. My parents are in South Africa, but I also have family who recently moved to Texas. Living abroad for the past 6 years has made me eager to spend more time with my loved ones, and so making time for them on our travels and bonding with them really appealed to me. Mike’s from a truly global family as they are spread all over the globe, from Hong Kong to New York. We knew we wanted to make the time to visit them all along the way, and so we made sure we could schedule them into our travel itinerary, bonding with them and sharing what life is really about.

We were tired of playing it safe

Our weekends were staring to look really same-sy. More often than not, we would be in the pub, or watching Netflix on the couch. I started to gain some weight and wasn’t feeling my absolute best. We started to resent not being able to surf, hike or get as active as we wanted, which is what our holidays usually looked like in warmer climates. London’s weather was not playing ball, and living in a basement flat in the winter months was starting to take it’s toll. We both craved something more exciting and we both knew travel was the answer to filling that gap.

We wanted to plant some roots

The world is our oyster and we wanted to make sure that whatever country we eventually call “home” is a place we both really love and could see ourselves living permanently. As much as London gets my heart racing, it doesn’t do the same for Mike and so we needed to look for new options, because relationships are all about compromise. California has been on the cards for quite some time, so we saw this trip as a bit of a recce to see if we could see ourselves settling in the golden state. I have a feeling it’s going to be great and will suit us both so well. Watch this space!

There you have it – a few of our reasons for taking the leap and saying goodbye to our predictable lifestyle for one that is more sporadic and adventure filled. Yes we quit our job to travel the world! We couldn’t have done this without being set up and this was not a light, overnight decision. The past year has been spent sacrificing a lot in order to save enough money to make the trip last, as well as giving up a cushy lifestyle. Only a few weeks in to our travels, we already know these are the best days of our lives.

Have you ever quit any jobs to travel the world? If so, let us know in the comments below.