10 reasons you know it’s time to go traveling

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5, 6, and 8 made me laugh because it hit too close to home. I've been home six months and working the corporate job again for 5 months and I had a panic attack thinking this is the longest I've been in one place since I started traveling….great article! =)

Hear Hear for Number 1 .. don’t wait to get old to try & get it all in … we are never guaranteed tomorrow, gotta do it while you can!

Hahahahaha, 2 made me laugh. Yep, my first solo-travel adventure was definitely fueled a bit by spite. One of my high school teachers told me I’d probably never get a chance to travel, and although what she meant was “you won’t get to travel if you settle down in a job because you’ll be tied down to your life here, you should do it now while you still can” I heard “You’ll never get to travel so just give up now” and I got so angry I decided to move to Ireland. There were other motivators, of course, but spite was definitely one of them.

You know its time to travel when your life is like “Ground Hogs Day” the movie. Your conversations with your coworkers are predictable and it almost feels as if you are hearing lines from a script.

The issues you are dealing with at work seem insignificant. I work for a record company and you can’t imagine how many “emergencies” I have to deal with because some pampered artist needs to have blue flowers in their dressing room as opposed to the Fussia pink ones they asked for in the first place.

This was a great article. I’m planning to make the leap at the end of this year God willing. I’m done!

With 9 out of 10 points I agree.
First of all: The city skyline just isn´t doing right.
I´m sufficiently bored.Again. One can barely catch sight of your own hands with this driving snow – not to mention a city´s horizon!Where is sunshine anyway? They said spring is already knocking on the door but all I can hear ist that supremely bugging sound when the snow is scrunching under my boots!So KnockKnock springtide & make me at least catch a little glimpse at this dusty city skyline that is usually reminding me every day of my itchy feet.

Second: You can´t find authentic foreign foods at home.
What wouldn´t I give for one of those unbefuckinglievable take away sushi rolls like they sell it in Oz on every street corner for 2 bucks only!with tofu,sundried tomatoes,sweetcorn,veggies,eggs,etc…. Or that juicy taste of fresh fruits you just picked aka stole yourself on a wild tree or bush, spices from the far east,some fatty maltese pastizzi.It´s not only the lack of flavour but also improving your cooking styles, experiencing new dishes and the whole socializing part with people from different cultures is one of the things I miss when I´m home in my kitchen.

Third:You got dumped.
Well I haven´t been dumped but there is this certain emotional incident (involving a guy I used to date) that can´t be cured unless I (go and talk to him or ) leave the country for some exploration, inspiration, freedom & ease.

Fourth:Celebrity gossip ist he most interesting part of your day
Now this is embarrassing but I spend the whole day watching the second season of that dull TV series Gossip Girl which is not only boring, shallow,superficial, nothing about but teenagers having sex with their best friends girlfriend, boyfriend or both but most of all it is highly dangerous because it´s addictive!All this exaggerated teenage drama is distracting me from my own issues like dealing with my uni future plans, guys, travel intentions…
These 17year olds – of course played by actors 10 years older – are dealing with such batshit insane problems that make me completely forget about what I am supposed to do.There are hundreds of apllication forms I have to fill out.Before that´s not done I won´t go anywhere anyway.

Fith:You talk with more people abroad than you do at home.
Miss them.

Sixth: sick & tired of being ignorant of world affairs.
I don´t want to hear or learn out of any second hand experiences anymore – the most important things you can learn is life teaching itself when you´re out there exploring it -outside our comfort zone.

Seventh:You have too much money.
Not exactly but I saved up enough to start somewhere new.

Eighth:Spite
There is some pressure referring to certain society standards that need to be fulfilled in the eyes of others. But something deep in my guts tells me to prove them wrong.

Ninth: You don´t want to end up like those guys in „The Bucket List“.
Why would one possibly save best fort the end?I don´t ever want to have to say those words:“I wish I would have done this…or that…why didn´t I take that cance….“ – NEVER!

Tenth: Recycled coffee starts tasting good
And that ist he only point I can´t agree with because I don´t even have a profession where I can get that horribble caffeine baverage.Lucky me,so there´s actually nothing that keeps me here anymore

i just need to get away from this life and its comfort and security, in other words BORDEM!

Turner,

Classic list and oh so true for so so many!! … Loved the 64,000 sf house reference… Gotta just get out there and make it happen.

I’m with ya buddy!

Cheers!

Patrick Hitches

That picture of a cubicle-filled office gave me the shivers!

I knew that it was time for me to quit my job and go travel when I started having fantasies about getting fired from my job.

As far as confined spaces go, give me an airplane cabin over an office cubicle any day!

100% percent agree with you. I always feel that when we are young its best to take advantage that we are strong and healthy. I say as soon as you hit the 100s its time to relax at home lol.

The too much money part…hilarious! I am convincing myself I’m saving up for retirement, rainy days, whatever. I know in the back of my head, in the depths of my soul…it’s for the road.

*sigh* Soon come…

Regarding Spite….
-I recently told my boss I was going to Turkey for 3 weeks assuming she’d just give me the vacation because that’s how it’s always worked in the past. Turns out she told me she didn’t accept my vacation request. I’m going anyway. Ha.
-Also, have you ever told anyone you were going backpacking in some randomly (as far as you don’t know anyone there) chosen foreign country to have them reply a truly confused “Why?”. That makes me want to leave even more! Just not to be like them.
Regarding Too Much Money…
-As a student…I WISH!

Great article! I think the main reason you know it’s time to go is either when you feel like a total outsider, or you suddenly realise you’re an ‘insider’ after discussing the pros and cons of differnet brands of washing machines with the guy at the next cublice……….Run run run!!!

Travel helps you shed your cultural skin and become a different person in an unfamiliar environment. After 2 months on the road, I’m happy to be in a city that feels like a cultural fit for the summer: lovely Amsterdam.

Another reason could be living in a small conservative community will drive anyone nuts eventually. Explore the world for different opinions.

Can relate to number 7 on a number of ocasions. There’s one more I can think of too and that is find out what other people are up to in the world and what’s really going on out there.

All are VERY good reasons to hit the road — And I definitely don’t want to end up like #1!

Haha, great article! It totally made me LMAO as I’m sitting here in my cubicle looking for something interesting to help me pass the time. I’m counting the days until I get to leave for vacation next month.

Just looking at that picture gave me the shivers. I always said I never wanted a job in a cubicle and that’s exactly what I’ve got.

The coffee thing, so true. I don’t even like coffee yet somehow I find myself drinking 3 cups a day at work.

Spite….well not really but when you leave the “travel world” and enter boring life I find it so strange that people around me don’t travel. And I work in the travel industry! So yeah, a part of me is happy that I’m doing the opposite of what everyone around me is doing.

I do keep in touch more with my friends abroad….

But I refuse to watch tv and to talk about celebs because I just don’t care.

If only I had the problem of too much money and then I’d be outta here!

Ahhh! I am leaving for home tomorrow after 15 months abroad – and I can already feel the boredom creeping in!

I was doing Tech Support for HP’s iPAQs/laptops/desktops and, out of the blue, I took a 1 week business trip to East Africa. Well, 1 week turned into 3 weeks turned into 2 months, then 1 year, etc.

Just recently, I went pass the 5 year mark and the experience has totally changed me spiritually, professionally and every way in between. I’ve made more connections over HERE in 5 years than I have in Canada over a god awful LONG time. I’ve house sat BEAUTIFUL homes for peeps while they travel. I know influential business and political personalities in these parts and I’m always getting invited to interesting functions.

Truth is, I don’t know if I could come back to Canada — for an indefinite period of time and (gasp!) WORK. I’d feel out of place…I like the bush, the diverse cultures & the beautiful weather…makes me feel alive.

Number 1 is a biggie……..but also a paradox since on the one had you dont want to end up like those from the bucket list but on the other hand you dont want to end up like those hippies you meet in india that still crush at their parents and sell stuff they get while traveling at local fairs back home in their mid 60s

Wow! I’m tech supp. for Xerox. Where do I sign up for that business trip?

My personal favorite is #7 “you’re about to get married”.

A year ago, I had my future life planned by my family after I supposedly finished my study abroad. I had a fiance and wedding party awaited me back home. Everything was set. Yet, I couldn’t deny my heart felt unease with all of those arrangements. Everyone said it was just a Wedding Jitters, but who knows the real answer?

Several months before I supposed to return to my home country, I worked out on an ambitious travel plan around the Europe. The mission was to visit ALL my close friends that scattered all over the continent during summertime. I expect them could help me with my so-called wedding jitters and we will a lot of fun to calm down my nerves (i.e. bachelorette party in each country I will visit…partaaayyy!) The probs, I didn’t have a lot of budget. The advantage of becoming a student in Europe is proven when it comes to travel. Discounts, student price, and other travel-wise goodies are flooding on the net if you spare a little time to do some research. And poof! I found myself backpacking in Greece then Germany and reached the finish line in UK.

Embraced by the local hospitality, impressive scenics, and most importantly, genuine friendships, I was overwhelmed. My friends, old and new, in every places I went were welcomed me to their home and their heart. I met interesting and warm people everywhere I went. They challenged and debated the future I shall underwent after I return home (a.k.a. the wedding). They made me think hard to acknowledge what I really want in this life. They helped me to find the answer I was looking for.

Now half a year has passed and I has firmly called the wedding off (yep, it’s confirmed..it was not a wedding jitter). I’m grateful to say, the eurotrip experience has broaden my mind and made me brave enough to take control of my life. The greatest lesson I gained from that trip was it made me to be a better person after that trip is over. Travelling is not just to fulfil our wanderlust instinct, it also a great feast for the soul and mind.

Bon Voyage, everyone!

I cried when I read #6. Relating 100% to every detail of that one. Devastatingly combined with a real stinger from the headline of #7. Hence, heading for Seoul to lick some wounds for a year or two in a instead of returning to Berlin to marry the man who once occupied every cell in my body and now won’t even do me the grace of a 1 line reply. Still, nothing some fermented pickled cabbage and Neo-Confucianism can’t sort, I reckon. Happy trails!

The Cubicle thing, been there done that….I agree with Number 7 — had just gotten married, two weeks later dumped, got on train going no where, ended in NY, took class to be a flight attendant…thought would travel world so to speak, “fly away from everything and everyone” no cubicle in the air right? …the job was not what it was “flowered to be” but I was not in a cubicle, only on plane after plane after plane after plane…shut in sometimes hours at a time with disgruntled passengers, broken down planes, stuck at airports due to weather all the time carrying luggage through customs and airports having to be in constant heals and makeup throughout….didn’t get to see much of anything in the many places went having to wait for transportation and hotels and in need of much sleep, so it was not really getting away, just adding more to the plate. Now need vacation from running away and to another job situation that did not end up to be a vacation but working and running….so my added # to the top ten would be, “You got home from a vacation but it did not turn out as a vacation so now you need a REAL vacation,” but now don’t have funds to go on vacation….

I know its time to travel when all I dream about is the place. The food, the different things to do.

KitKat,
Perhaps you took the wrong avenue to ‘get away’ from it all. I think you probably would’ve been better acquiring your TESOL certificate and teaching English, etc. Very rewarding — based on what I hear from those who actually teach.
Which airlines did you work for? A few good friends of mine just got into Emirates. I hope their experience will be a little more rewarding than yours. lol.

But don’t give on your wish to escape…try again. This time, choose wisely.

No Doubt! Definitely hope to make better choices…been four years now since and not running to anything or anyone LOL…vacation will come when can afford one but for now it’s better then it was …so no complaints….It probably was not so much the airline I worked for in itself though it was rough, a Charter Company, then my own emotional state at the time. I love traveling and loved the traveling field work, loved meeting new people and speaking different languages and seeing places (rare) when had opportunity in between working. Two other airlines were willing to hire me but I was already burned out at that time. Glad to have my feet on the ground in more ways then one and looking forward to when I can go on a “real vacation” one day no longer looking to Escape from anything. Thanks for your comment…I hope your friends enjoy their jobs too…It is not a bad field of work just depends on situations surrounding the job at the time.

7 is my reason for wanting to leave. HAHAHA.

Hahaha, nice article!

In my case, I physically feel the itch to travel (and that’s pretty often, I might add…). Plus during my commute, when I start playing songs that remind me of the places I want to be, it’s a pretty clear indicator to me.

After another 10 long cold months of winter…and another crappy summer – you know it’s time to GET OUT!!

It’s your birthday and you don’t want to go drink at the same place you did last Saturday!

It’s your birthday and you don’t want to go drink at the same place you did last Saturday!

Need new subjects for your amateur photography!!!

Need new subjects for your amateur photography!!!

Nice blog post since travel is always exciting. Anywho, if any of you make it this side of East Africa, join us for a ‘wild’ run.

BTW, I left Canada 5 1/2 years ago on a 1 WEEK vacation…haven’t been back yet. Why? Because travel is addictive.

You just can’t concentrate on your work anymore. Instead, you procrastinate surfing the web reading websites about travel and remembering how good it felt to step out of the train for the first time on that particular city…
Sound like someone I know.

You just can’t concentrate on your work anymore. Instead, you procrastinate surfing the web reading websites about travel and remembering how good it felt to step out of the train for the first time on that particular city…
Sound like someone I know.