How to Quit Your Job & Travel the World in 2020 – Part 1

By: Naomi Matlow

You are absolutely sure that you need to close the book on your current job, but what’s the next book you are picking up off the shelf? Not all of us make plans on top of plans (or maybe you used to but the universe had other plans in mind). Nevertheless, even if you quit your job plan-less, it is helpful to know what you are looking for. When you have a clear sense of the direction you want to be headed in, your true north is always within reach. 

2020 is right around the corner (what?!) and if you’re feeling new beginnings, here are a few things you may be looking for and what we believe may help you get there, Unsettled-style…

Of even more importance than quitting your job and deciding how you’re going to pay for your travel is figuring out what it is you want out of these choices. You don’t have to know for certain where you want to end up, but why it is that you are embarking on this new chapter, will help you get there. 

I Want To Challenge Myself and Grow 

If we don’t give ourselves opportunities to be challenged, stretch ourselves, and become more resilient, how will we ever know what we are capable of? Cliché are clichés for a reason, right? Progress rarely happens when we consistently immerse ourselves in the same routine day after day.

A surefire way to challenge yourself is it to change your surroundings amidst a new community. Actively putting ourselves in new situations, throwing in a little bit of disorder into our routines, opens unknown doors and newfound discoveries about ourselves and our life paths. Author Brad Stuhlberg refers to the biological state of “allostasis”, where an organism adapts to newness in order to prevent breaking down due to stagnation. If you know you need to be challenged and grow, shaking up your routine with travel will point you in the right direction, even if you don’t know where that direction will lead. 

I Want to be Awed and See the World’s Most Beautiful Places

Are you quitting your job in order to hop aboard the #YOLO train? We totally get it. You want to feel human again and not just a cog in the corporate machine. You need to feel connected to nature again, to be completely awed by the universe, to connect with your childlike sense of wonderment that still lives inside each and every one of us. Our Unsettled 2020 Calendar is full of awe-inducing mountains, oceans, vistas, rivers, sunsets, villas, boulevards, traditions, you name it. For one week, two weeks, or one month, give yourself permission to be completely awe-inspired. You may surprise yourself when you open yourself up to surprises. 

I Want to Relax and Recharge 

It is widely known that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared lack of sleep a ‘public health problem’ in the United States. Did you recently quit your job to break out of the hustle and get some f*cking sleep? All over the world, people are not getting enough sleep and time to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate has become less and less of a personal priority for many. If you are quitting your job in order to take a sabbatical, not just a vacation, know that you are joining an increasing number of adventurers who are doing the same thing. Your passion project has been on the backburner for far too long. 

I Need to Escape the Rat Race and Rethink My Life 

Are you quitting your job because the unhealthy standards of today’s work culture are getting you down? Maybe you are completely hustled out and you need to recalibrate. When your body, mind, and spirit are invested in someone else’s bottom line, it is easy to forget your own. As Stephan Aarstol writes in Inc., “you got yourself onto the wheel, which means you can get yourself off of it.” Now is the time to invest in you, and if you are looking for a community of diverse people on a similar quest for meaning and adventure, we know where to find them. 

Before you quit and buy that one-way ticket, define for yourself what it is that you want out of your travels. The why may be just as important as the where.