Lifestyle

6 Reasons Why Not Quitting Your Job To Travel Is A Waste Of Your Life

by Gigi Engle

Getting a job is a part of life. It is a part of the journey we are so acquainted with. We’re always told that that’s how it goes: you go to school, go to college, get a J-O-B, get married and then you have kids.

We are a generation who is attempting to systematically break free of this mold. We’re dreaming bigger, seeing further and making it to the height of our dreams.

We’re even traveling more than any other generation ever has before us. And we should! Traveling is chicken soup for the spirit.

It soothes our thirst for excitement, it allows us to branch out and expand our knowledge of the world around us.

Travel helps us become citizens of the world so that we can make the world a better place.

All of this is easier said than done.

Yet, it’s easy to fall into a routine. It’s simple to take that healthy paycheck and give up on your wanderlust.

So many of us trade in our passports for full-time employment. We find ourselves wrapped up in the cozy arms of our security blankets and 401ks.

Before we know it, we’re 65 and far past the opportunity to live out the dreams we once had to meditate in Thailand, to mountain climb in Switzerland and to swim in the Dead Sea. Suddenly, all of those dreams we had are just distant memories.

Don’t let that be your life. Don’t let opportunity pass you by. Don’t stay in one place because you’re afraid there will be no place for you if you dare to leave it.

If you aren’t traveling while you can, you’re not living life to the fullest.

Here are 6 reasons why not quitting your job to travel is a waste of your life.

1. You have to test your limits to know your limits.

If you don’t drop the lame job to travel, how will you ever truly test yourself? The best way to learn what you’re capable of is by throwing yourself into the deep end.

Travel is the perfect way to push boundaries. You’re in an unknown land, dealing with the unfamiliar.

You had better toughen up fast and figure out how to get by. If you stay chained to your desk, you’ll never really be aware of how strong you actually are.

2. A full life is one that is packed with memories.

A robust, wonderful life is the life that is stacked to the top with worthwhile memories. A rich life is one that is patched together with endless photographs and stamps in your passport.

Your life will wind up empty and dry if you don't allow yourself to be quenched by the thrill of adventure. If you stay in your cubicle, you’ll be missing out on every experience you could have had.

You’ll be missing out on every wonderful moment. A life without colorful memories to get you by is a life that is completely squandered.

3. You’ll never have the experience if you don’t take the chance.

You’re limiting yourself by never taking chances. It may seem like the easier to do, since staying home can offer a life of comfort and ease.  That life will be astoundingly boring.

Taking risks is terrifying, but without them you’re simply cutting off your wings. You can’t grow as an individual without acquiring the values that you can only gather while abroad.

Experience can only be attainted by taking the most intense chances. Even if things go wrong, you will still be wiser for having attempted and failed.

4. This is the only time in your life when you CAN travel.

This is the only time in your entire life when this opportunity will be possible. You’re young and only responsible for supporting yourself. Why not go out and experience what the world has to offer before it’s too late?

In a few years, you’ll have a spouse and kids. You’ll have responsibilities that will tie you to your job and to your home.

Before you’re suffocated by the grasp of the real world, you should satiate yourself on the glories of the world beyond your horizons.

5. The greatest lessons you’ll learn are from people who aren't like you.

If you stay in one place, surrounded by like-minded people, you can never really learn anything. You need to surround yourself with people who challenge you, people who have a different way of life and understanding.

The greatest lessons you will ever learn will be from someone who has a completely alternative worldview.

If you don’t get the chance to experience the ways other people live, you’ll never truly appreciate everything you have. It’s hard to feel lucky when you don’t know anything else.

6. Your comfort zone will be the death of you.

If you never experience anything new, you’re going to waste away. If you never break down the barriers, you can never truly know yourself. Excitement is what keeps the mind alert and young.

If you stay cooped upside inside a cage of your own making, you’ll never know the beauty this world has to offer.