When I returned home from living in the States, I reached a massive career road block: the education system denied my right to teach in Australia.
The rules had changed. Because I had a 3 year University degree instead of a 4 year, and had been out of the country for 5 years, I was not allowed to teach, unless I went back to Uni to do my fourth year.
I was MAD.
They did not care about my 10 years teaching experience in 5 different countries across different grades and different positions that involved special education, global education, and leadership.
Apparently I would have been more qualified had I stayed at Uni and did my 4th year as a 22 year old. Or stayed teaching the one grade at the same school in Australia for 10 years. My years of travelling and teaching in five different systems, in many grade levels, had hurt my career.
But had it really?
Was teaching what I really wanted to do with my life? Was that educational shut down worth 15 years of travel around the world? Knowing the outcome now, would I have made a different choice and not travelled?
HELL NO!
The education department refused to see it, but my experiences travelling and teaching around the world made me a better teacher and person.
Plus, my travel experiences opened up a new world for me where I believed I was the creator of my life. It didn’t matter about my qualifications and experiences, ultimately I could create a life that I really wanted.
What lies in your heart?
Travel does not lead you down one path, there are twists and turns and tributaries on this grand adventure that lead you to the right place.
You can’t make a decision now based on what you think will happen in the future.
- How do you really know what you want to be doing in 10 years time?
- How do you know what new skills and interests you’ll embrace and the path you will eventually want to go on?
- Why would you risk losing those opportunities because at this moment you think you won’t get ahead in life if you don’t keep climbing the corporate ladder?
Is this what you really want, with all your heart? I honestly don’t think you’d be reading our blog if you did.
Let me be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with climbing the career ladder if this is clearly what you want to do for ever. But, if you really want to travel and you are letting your fears speaking the form of, I can’t because I’ll lose job opportunities, you need to listen up.
I know society expects you to go to college, get a good job, work hard and reward yourself for 2-4 weeks a year. There is nothing wrong with this, but it doesn’t mean this is the right path for everyone.
Life is so wide and free flowing that anything can happen and opportunities are endless. Allow yourself the time and freedom to figure it out.
I’m 38 and have only just figured it out.
Thank goodness I didn’t make that permanent decision straight from University. I have never been out of a job, I made good money in whatever country I worked in and had the most incredible learning and fun years of my twenties travelling the world.
I feel as if my life has been so fulfilling and rich and it’s purely because of my experiences travelling (and working abroad).
Why do you want a career?
- What value and purpose is a career going to bring into your life?
- Is your life set on only one track?
- Or can you open it up a little to include a whole field of different choices?
How do you know you won’t find a career somewhere else in the world?
How do you know new and exciting opportunities won’t arrive?
Fear comes disguised in many forms, one of these is controlled by the limiting conditions of your upbringing that tells you to have a fulfilling life you need to get a degree and a good paying job and then you might just have enough to be “happy.”
More and more people are discovering this is a lie. You can create the life you truly want. It’s just a matter of being clear on what that is and then taking steps to claim it.
How can travel prepare you for the most fulfilling job?
Travel will expand your horizons. It will teach you many skills that will benefit you more in your return home to get that high paying job, or create your own high paying business based on your passion.
Travel makes it easier to develop the following higher order skills that will make you a valuable asset for any job or enterprise you start working in: adaptability, problem solving, decision making, negotiation, networking, confidence, cultural sensitivity, people skills, open-mindedness, and global awareness.
Wouldn’t that sound attractive to a future employer, especially in this shrinking world of globalization?
It could be very possible that all your new experiences may inspire you to be your own boss, and attain the time and financial freedom to travel whenever and wherever you want.
Before I started travelling I had little skills or experience, I was very insecure, shy and afraid of everything and everyone.
The skills I learned as a result of my travel experiences, have enabled me to own my own business. Despite having no business skills, I dove in with the confidence that I could learn and make it work. This is an empowering benefit of travel.
You might decide after your travels you still want to pursue that career you were interested in. I bet you will have quick success because of all you have learned travelling. You will be able to offer so much more wisdom, strength, courage and confidence.
Travel is the biggest and best internship program ever created.
I’ve rarely met a long term traveller who has not returned home and made a big success of their lives – great job, great money. It’s because they become more in tune with who they are and what they want, and they develop skills in so many different areas.
And they are not afraid to try new things.
Think of your travels around the world as an education in itself.
What’s your career back up plan?
How can you improve your career prospects by travelling?
Investigate those who are where you want to be on the career ladder. What did they do to get there? What skills do they have? Craft your travel experiences around improving on these.
What are your weaknesses? How can travel support you in strengthening these? Plan your experiences around that.
Make your travels a working holiday experience. I didn’t lose any teaching skills when I travelled, I improved upon them by teaching around the world. Even though the Australian government refused to acknowledge this, it definitely helped me to become a better teacher.
Create the life you really want around your work
We interview people on our podcast monthly who have created a lifestyle of travel for themselves. Each left with no set plan, only a burning desire to travel.
They were all afraid and wondered what it would mean for their jobs. They all thought they’d return to study or work, but every one ended up, through the pursuit of their heart’s happiness, discovering a new world that was made just for them.
Now they live each day how they truly want while having oodles of success and happiness.
Ask yourself:
What do you want your life to look like in twenty years time?
What do you want to see when you look back on your life?
Because nobody on their death bed ever said:
“If only I spent more time at the office.”
How has travel affected your career?
What worries you the most about travel and career?
Read more reasons why you won’t travel and what to do
- I can’t leave my family and friends
- I have too many responsibilities
- It’s not safe and I’ll be alone
- I don’t have any money
