“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” —Mark Twain.
I sat in the office cubicle and counting the days. I sold my things and finally decided to quit my job and travel.
That was the start of the rest of my life.
While all the young people from all over the world, mostly from Europe were taking their gap year, backpacking around South East Asia, partying and shagging in the most fun places of the world, I was trying to find my place in the corporate world. A corporate slave for years I was, but hey don’t get me wrong, I really liked my job. You know - data, reports, computer stuff and all, it was just that I felt like there was something more outside the 9-5 grind.
I couldn't relate to anyone. Friends were getting married, having kids, buying their own houses or driving their own cars, co-workers talking about promotion. I didn’t fit in. Actually, I was already growing up and not belonging. I was the outsider. I didn’t see the point of why most people like the same things and how the life pattern was just the same.
I was that kid who didn’t like other kids. I still don’t like them when they become adults. To each his own, yes. Perhaps I have another calling, perhaps I really have to find “it” out. Whatever it is. But how?
The next thing I knew, I was hitchhiking in Indonesia, getting my PADI license in Vietnam, drinking Vodka in Russia, buying my ukulele in Kuala Lumpur, almost getting killed by a Brazilian truck driver, watching the whales in Argentina, playing electric guitar in a bar in Peru, making friends with the sea lions in The Galapagos, you name it.
4 years later, I was traveling and living from one country to another. Working a bit here and there, doing some freelancing work online or just wandering aimlessly. I didn't want to make traveling lose its charm, so I was thinking why did I embark on this journey of a lifetime in the first place? I couldn’t continue going on like this. Is this what I have wished years ago, to live a nomadic lifestyle and to find out what I really want in life along the way.
Did you know that to do what you really want in life is the hardest thing in the world, like what you really want. But first, you have to find out what that is, identify exactly what can make you go on living and strive for that kind of life you really deserve. It is possible.
So I started traveling with that in mind, to find out my purpose. I didn’t really know what to do in the beginning, it was like diving into the unknown and just see what happens. I didn’t stop traveling until that purpose slowly unraveled itself. You just have to be alert, because once you realize what it is, that will be the epic aha moment.
Long-travel is not a bed of roses, it is full of ups and downs, opportunities on the road, last-minute decisions, the best and the worst people, hardships and excitement. In short, it is life at its finest. If you are still unsure of what you want to do in life, then perhaps long-term travel can help you arrive at it, through opportunities, people you meet on the road and rediscovering your passion.
It is an infinite possibility, treat long-term travel as an investment. Take a big leap of faith, and don’t stop traveling until you find out what your purpose is. However, long-term travel, especially that kind of travel that I did is not for the faint-hearted. It requires courage, deep inner strength, and independence. You must be able to survive the constant changes and the instability. You must be able to brave the dangers and make your way out of it. Most of the time you will be alone, but you have to learn how to enjoy your own company.
Perhaps you found out that you like to volunteer to help the animals, or you found the love of your life in another country and decided to live happily ever after, or you like to pursue your passion in music after jamming with the locals, or perhaps long-term travel gave you that perfect start-up idea. I am not going to tell you. Because whatever it is, it is for you to find it out.
Don’t be discouraged with the temporary defeats, people you meet, negativity and other difficulties you might encounter while traveling. Because if you just come back to your home country and not knowing the purpose, guess what? You might go back to the same job you don’t like anymore, plan another long escape or do the usual routine. However, it is good if you are able to find the perfect balance. But if long-term travel already showed you your purpose, then it will be easier for you to look forward to the future, work on the plan and use everything you have learned during your travel.
“What am I doing here?” – Arthur Rimbaud
