Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[zxo9]

I am 30 years old, have a decent career with pretty good future prospects and make a good deal of money too. My job allows me to travel as well (mostly in Southern Africa) which is great. For the past 4 or 5 years I did well to excel and earn promotions. I deal directly with Government Ministers and have contacts with some pretty high ranking figures. Many folks would love to have my job, the perks it offers, the possibilities that comes with it. I have no place of my own as I mostly travel for work living out of a suitcase. My possession list is very short by today's standards. I am single as well and I have some admirable savings. In the past 4 or 5 years I really worked hard and prospered.

BUT. . .

I find it very hard to mention anything of note that happened in my life other than work, no romance, no exciting trip somewhere, no memorable event, just work and an empty void otherwise. It saddens me to think that this is what I will do for the rest of my life...work myself to a pulp without really getting somewhere. Yes I'll have the nice pick-up or car and the cool goodies and gadgets in the house and then some, but maybe also some stress induced disease that kills me before 'my time' as a price for my efforts.
With this comes also the feeling of just packing up...getting rid of everything, getting a backpack and travelling the world to suck the life out of any new experience that comes my way. I want to wake up not having any clue as to what the day will bring, who I will meet, what language they will speak or what I will learn from them. I want to see what other countries are about, what their people are like, I want to learn about their cultures...how they go about their days. I want to witness a thousand sunsets from a thousand locations.

The world is changing at a massive pace. . .and before it all becomes sucked into this life we live . . .I want to explore a piece of it.This thought gets me very excited, leaving everything behind to experience whatever comes my way.
However, I think the human in me makes me a bit of a hypocrite as well. . .I'm already thinking "Dude you are 30 years old, what will you do after you saw the world, how will you make a living and survive after your journey" is this a case of better late than never or is it just to late, period?! Will I get another job? Will I be able to get on my own two feet soon enough?
Well. . .Hey hypocrite. . .welcome back to the rat race isn't it. . .!!

On the other hand a little voice inside me keep saying "You'll be fine, you have to go, nobody knows the future but you'll be alright in the end. If you are open to it, opportunities will come your way"

I guess in the end I kind of figure if I ultimately have no choice but to be in this race. . .I wish to take some time to make my life worthwhile. . .to go out there and make the most of it.

So with this I beg the question;

To Travel or not to Travel. . .

[travelmonster]

Absolutely travel, travel, travel DO IT!!!!!!

These few sentences alone:

"With this comes also the feeling of just packing up...getting rid of everything, getting a backpack and travelling the world to suck the life out of any new experience that comes my way. I want to wake up not having any clue as to what the day will bring, who I will meet, what language they will speak or what I will learn from them. I want to see what other countries are about, what their people are like, I want to learn about their cultures...how they go about their days. I want to witness a thousand sunsets from a thousand locations. "

is every reason to go.

You clearly want to go and are highly motivated to go, and FEAR seems to be the only thing making you hesitant.

Will you find a job when you get back? Yes ....... if you even want to come back after a couple of years!!! It may not be the kind of work you are doing now, but I believe you will get a job doing something, even if it's a stopgap to get by until you find something you want to do. At that point, you will also have two glorious years of travel to reflect upon. I think it will change you so much that you probably won't want to return to the kind of job you had before anyway.

In reference to "is it too late" NO, it's never too late.

You are in the right place here, many, many people on here have been and are in a similar position to you. Many of them are travelling around now, so you may not get answers immediately, but there are plenty of inspiring blogs to read meantime.

Go and do it, I'm soooo excited for you!!!

[travelfreaks]

go for it!

we've sold the cars quit jobs renting out the house so a trickle of income for us + some savings.

Im 42 so its never too late and ya know what....I dont care if theres no job. Resourceful people will find their way.......good luck!

[jeroenandlinda]

Ask yourself one simple question..

can you afford not to ?