I’ve heard it a few times recently that my life sounds exciting, and it is, but I feel as if I should clarify a few things about long term travel. Whether you’ve followed my travels for a short time or a long time, since 2008 I’ve been working and travelling around the world. In this post I want to point out a few of the drawbacks of long term travel.
First, money is a challenge, but I realize this is my own doing. Do I find another job or do I take that trip? Is it possible to combine both at the same time? Up until the age of 26 I was gainfully employed in a number of jobs. I remember writing out my resume and my potential employer couldn’t believe what she saw. They still don’t.
Things changed in 2008 and that’s when I decided it was “now or never,” and thus began working and travelling around the world.
I was right to leave Canada and begin working around the world, both as an ESL teacher and a farm hand. What I would do differently, however, and what I would caution others is to do, is take care of my finances a little better. Either have a job or another source of income; potential jobs or incomes don’t count. Despite the oft repeated phrase “money isn’t everything,” it sure helps when you want to fly across the world. In that case, it might not be everything, but it really, really helps.
All of that being said and done, the main thing I would’ve done differently to prevent financial trouble is simply get a job to bring in a paycheque, even if the job isn’t something I’d really want to do.
And that leads me to a very interesting point: to date I’ve worked on four continents doing two different jobs. My first job was teaching ESL (South Korea, Ukraine, Cambodia), the second was working as a farm hand (Canada and Australia). I do not care to be a teacher and never even thought about becoming a farmer but those jobs have two things in common: they are plentiful and pay well. I’ve recently added a third and forth, that of stacking boxes/warehouse work (Canada) and writing (Canada, again). In any event, the one thing that I now find most challenging is going through yet another interview for yet another job in yet another country. Don’t be fooled that this gets any easier. Working “odd jobs” loses its lustre after the first few times. After that it becomes tedious and you begin to question your career choices.
So why do I do all of this? What motivates me?
There are several things that motivate me but I’ll have to elaborate on them in another post. For the time being I’ll refer to Paul Theroux who wrote that the best time to reflect on a trip is about three weeks after you’ve returned. Simply put, accomplishments motivate me. I’m happy to say I’ve successfully worked on four continents. I’ve recorded and released five albums with my Canadian music projects while recording and (hopefully soon) releasing my own jazz album that I made while in Malaysia. I’ve also kept a blog of my travels which helps remind me of what I’ve done and where I’ve been. I’ve noticed a lul in my writing as of late since my travel life has simply become my normal life. I almost feel it’s necessary to begin writing about things many people take for granted, such as careers, money, relationships.
Ah, relationships. That’s one of the other drawbacks of long-term travel. I recently asked a co-worker what would motivate him to move across the world if he was given the chance.
Money and family.
It’s true. I’ve returned to Canada a few times for no other time than to simply visit my family. During this time I’m often asked if I’m back to stay and have to smile my way through the “you have no direction in your life” conversation. I suppose it’s true, but I’ve always figured as long as I write I have some sort of career going on, regardless of how much it brings in.
I have noticed, however, that the decisions I made based on the potential profit I would earn have always ended somewhat dismally. Throughout most of my travels money has simply been a means to more travel, stories motivate me more than simply money. Although I will be the first to proclaim the benefits of having money versus not having money, I can’t help but find money kinda boring. It doesn’t do much on its own. But it does enable you to do other things, from opening a savings account to travelling across the world.
The last thing about relationships is, of course, about girlfriends. I don’t particularly care to discuss my private life very much but those who are interested in long-term travel should understand that it isn’t easy to keep a relationship going, especially when the urge to move hits you again. I think my longest relationship in the last five years was three months. Why didn’t they work out? Usually because one of us wanted to move on to another place while the either didn’t want to or couldn’t for some reason. As often as I’ve left someone, I’ve been left behind, too.
So if money, family and stories motivate you to move, what is the “bigger picture” you’re painting? In other words, what is your career?
I had an interesting conversation with my father the other day about how he never wanted to be a writer, he wanted to be a farmer. As things came to pass, his brother took over the farm and my Dad moved to the city to find employment as a writer about agriculture. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, not a teacher or a farmer, but those jobs offered a great opportunity to write about what went on. In other words, they offered a good story to write about. It became inevitable that I worked and travelled. Basically, one of the motivating factors in my search for employment, other than money, is a good story. I think this is where a lot of people think my life is exciting, and it is.
Like everything else, however, there are lulls, dips, ebbs and flows to long term travel. I do not want to travel the world forever. There are only so many temples, churches, mountains, trails, and languages you can care to see, hear, learn or experience before you simply want some sort of non-chaotic constant in your life. That is to say, some sort of settlement.
With that, I look at what a lot of my friends and family are doing (getting married, setting up careers, having babies, buying houses) and I don’t feel jealous one bit. I’m happy for them and even admire them. It’s amazing that they can do those things! Are those things for me right now? No, I don’t think so. With the money I would put towards those things, I could use to travel to the places I still want to see. In other words, I’m not ready to settle down but, I also know that I won’t always travel as I do now. When will it stop? Will it be because of money and/or family? I simply don’t know. Until I know, my journey continues.
So what would I tell anybody who wants to travel the world?
A few things:
- Go! You’ll be happier that you did it than wondering “coulda woulda shoulda”.
- Take care to generate cash flow through a job or an income. If there’s one thing I’ve found it’s that working in a different country offers a completely different experience from simply visiting it.
- Check your ego at the door, which means, be humble and be willing to “have a go” at just about anything.
- Keep a journal or blog.
- Take lots of pictures and videos.
I hope that’s clarified a little bit of the “excitement” and “mystery” of my life as a working traveller. Yes, it is a very exciting life, especially when I think back to all the places I’ve been and the stories I have. But there are moments when I, too, question what I’m doing. As far as I know, that’s a pretty normal thing to do, it means you don’t have all the answers and your journey continues. If you have any more questions or concerns, please get in touch with my through email at stevensirski [at] gmail [dot] com.