Round the World (RTW) trips, gap years, walkabouts, vagabonding, whatever you call them, the concept of extended travel has been around for ages. Maybe they are most popular with Europeans and Australians, but people from all walks of life often go on these trips. Many Americans take off the summer after college and backpack through Europe, some people quit their jobs for dream trips around the world before settling down, and some entire families live on the road for extended periods of time. With the internet and technology on the road it’s now very easy for travelers to blog on the road, sharing their experiences with the world. This affords us blog readers the opportunity to see what it’s really like on this kind of travel.
I read several blogs of people just like us who saved a bunch of money, spent months preparing, and quit their jobs to travel around the world for a year or two. Two of my favorites are Lives of Wander, who are “home” now, and Two Backpackers who are just beginning their journey. The website Briefcase to Backpack also did a round-up of “career breakers” with a list of RTW backpackers’ blogs here.
I love the concept of dropping everything to travel around the world. I think it would be a blast to visit all kinds of great places, meet interesting locals and fellow travelers, and not have to cram it into 15 days a year. I’m sure this is the kind of experience that changes people forever.
But, I have some reservations which prevent me from seriously considering doing the same. Maybe not the normal worries about getting sick, missing home, or giving up security and steady income, but other things bother me about considering a RTW trip. One big issue is that the trip is temporary. With rare exception, this type of lifestyle doesn’t seem to be sustainable. After dreaming, and planning, and executing, you have to come back to a “normal” life. Sure, you come back with amazing memories and I’m sure people that do this grow as individuals throughout their travels, and maybe can pursue new opportunities during their trips. But theoretically after your savings run out, you have to come back to the life you left.
That leads me to my second reservation. Unless you set yourself up with a really good system, you are taking a year out of your life away from pursuing other life dreams. I know my goals don’t culminate with a trip around the world, so it doesn’t seem very sensible to take a whole year or two away from pursuing and working towards those goals. Fulfilling the dream to be free and travel might come at the expense of realizing other, more important dreams.
Some say this type of travel is escapism. You’re not satisfied with your current life so you run away from everything, no clue what you want, just knowing it’s not this. RTW travelers get criticized for trying to escape from reality, but will surely argue that they are out there chasing their dreams and becoming better people because of it.
So what’s my conclusion? I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s healthy to think that everything will be better if only you can escape from the normal life and backpack around the world. This is just another symptom of living for the future – “once I get here/do this/experience that I’ll be happy.” To really be happy we have to work on a combination being happy with what we have and fulfilling our goals to build the lifestyle we want, don’t we?
It seems like some of the happiest people are those that not only took that initial “leap,” but also didn’t stop there. And that leap doesn’t have to be travel, but whatever they’ve always wanted to do. They continued to work on building their life their way so they could continue to reach their goals. And they have the courage to create the lifestyle that works best for them rather than what society thinks is supposed to work. I really admire that courage in people.
