The around-the-world trip I have been doing for 10 months now, which will last at least until December 2015, I dreamed of it more than 1000 times, I even changed my life according to this project. In this article, I will describe how I experienced it.
Why did I go on a round-the-world trip?
In May 2011, I had finished my first “big trip” of 20 months with one month in the USA, 15 months in Australia, and 4 months in Asia. Although this first long trip resembled a round-the-world trip, for me, it was not; it was a round-the-world trip with limited means.
I had this feeling of incompleteness, as if I had tasted it without really having done it.
Most of my relatives and friends told me that I was already lucky to have made such a long trip, to have seen so many things and visited many countries, but that was not my opinion. At that time, I had only one idea: to leave again for a long period but not just anywhere and anyhow.
So I told myself that I was going to leave for a “real round-the-world trip for my 30th birthday”. A decision that would shake up my life for the next 5 years.
From May to December 2011, the first 6 months after my return passed quite quickly, I had found a new job, resumed my Parisian habits, seen my friends again, etc. I had recreated this comfort of life that a traveler does not have but I still had this idea in mind, to realize my dream of a round-the-world trip.
Coming from the “working class,” my parents could never offer me vacations or other material things but they gave me a rich and multicultural education. So I have always been curious and determined.
If I wanted to go on a round-the-world trip, I could only count on myself. So I decided to create this travel blog which then opened many doors for me but I will only tell that in another more detailed article.
The blog was launched in February 2012
The purpose of this travel blog was to tell about my past experiences in Australia and Asia to possibly appeal to sponsors before leaving in 2014. So I gave myself this idea at the beginning of 2012.
This blog occupied all my free time for the first 6 months after its creation (30 hours per week after work), I learned to create a travel blog, to improve my writing (which even today is not perfect), and I learned a lot about the world of blogging and internet marketing.
This blog allowed me to travel through my writings without leaving France.
I was already traveling before leaving, as they say.
May 2011 – April 2012: During this first year, I had planned several trips that did not materialize because the return was financially difficult but that was not the main reason. I was procrastinating, you know, the act of putting everything off until tomorrow.
I looked at plane tickets at the last minute to travel in Europe but the prices were already much too expensive compared to what I could afford.
August 2012: At the end of this first year, I was able to go to China (only 4 days in Beijing) and Japan with my brother for three weeks. Since childhood, I have always been fascinated by this country because of cartoons. I was able to visit these two countries thanks to the stopover trick without paying extra fees.
One of the reasons I chose Japan was to do some scouting because at the time I wanted to work and travel at the same time and go on a round-the-world trip with little savings. Even if “traveling” is always a good experience, it is better to know where you want to go by doing some scouting.
Leaving directly on a round-the-world trip without ever having been outside Europe is, for me, unreasonable. This lack of experience can put you in danger, you are more likely to be scammed, to make wrong choices, to enrich yourself less culturally, etc.
May 2012 – April 2013: The second year went by quickly with some solo stays in Europe and long trips in Asia alone or accompanied. My online activities were then at their peak, it lasted for a year, I could afford to leave from time to time and save a lot of money.
PS: I earned part of my income from my blog but most of my income came from my other sites.
How did I become addicted to travel?
I savored each of these trips, whether they were trips of a few days or a few weeks in Europe or Asia.
Each time, I told myself, this is not yet the “real” trip.
I returned to Paris with even more energy to plan my next trip to change my mind and not think that I had returned to square one.
So I was caught in this travel spiral:
- Trips lasting several days to several weeks every 3 months.
- Return to Paris and planning my next trip to leave in 3 months.
- I worked on my online activities to finance these trips (20 hours per week in 2013) outside of my engineering job. It was actually much easier to leave my engineering responsibilities because I was earning money on the side.
May 2013 – April 2014: During the third year after my return and the year before my current round-the-world trip, it was a key moment. Traveling in Europe no longer suited me. I saw bigger, I wanted to be as far away as possible. I asked my job for unpaid leave (3 to 4 weeks unpaid per year). I could afford it because I was earning money on the side at that time.
So I went to Bali and Dubai (May 2013), China (August 2013), Brazil (November 2013), Myanmar and Thailand (end of December 2013 – beginning of January 2014), Bolivia and Peru (June 2014). I traveled the world without being on a round-the-world trip while working as an engineer.
Each of these trips allowed me to know what I really wanted for my future trip.
It’s strange but the decrease in my additional income coincided with the time I started traveling a lot (summer 2013 until now). These incomes disappeared as quickly as they came but for a year and a half I enjoyed a lot and saved a lot. Today I only earn a few hundred euros per month. (That’s already good, you might say).
At work, they already felt I was gone and at the beginning of 2014, I was asked if a departure by mutual agreement was possible. I postponed it until mid-2014, the moment I wanted to leave, pretending to take time to think.
Actually, inside me, I was happy and worried. I told myself that I did not need to resign and lose all my rights.
I partly made people believe that I was being pushed out but actually it was a choice I had implicitly forced!! Because I would have asked for it if it had not been offered to me and the closer I got to 30, the less motivated I seemed in my job.
In the end, I was lucky and got three months’ salary for leaving my company on 07/10/2014, just under a year before the publication of this article.
That was going to give me a good base for this round-the-world trip and finance the first 6 months of the trip.
Deep down, I told myself “here the moment has finally arrived”!
I waited 3 years to realize this dream of a round-the-world trip, 3 years during which I suffered silently because no one around me understood my approach. “You are always on vacation,” you will just have to work hard too :D. WORK HARD = ENJOY HARD = TRAVEL HARD!!
September 15, 2014: The day of departure was the hardest departure I have had of all my trips, I had a pang in my heart when I left my sister at the airport whereas before, it was just a “see you later”.
I was going to miss part of the lives of my loved ones and friends again. It was the only moment when I asked myself “Did I make the right choice?”.
YOLO: You Only Live Once.
There you go, I had left on a round-the-world trip for at least 1 year!!
Tips to realize your dream of a round-the-world trip
- Take your time to realize your project, it took me 3 years even though I already had a long trip under my belt.
- Create your own opportunities, this blog created opportunities for me and I worked hard to get these opportunities. I also converted these opportunities which allowed me to finance my trip afterwards. I hope this blog will open other opportunities for me.
- Make sacrifices, I worked hard to get where I am now, “luck did not come by chance.” I sacrificed my free time to learn some internet tricks. This sacrificed time does not always pay off but one day it will.
- Live your trip before leaving, go learn a foreign language, meet new people, do things you don’t usually do.
- Step out of your comfort zone. I am a Mechanical Engineer, I know nothing about creating websites but with time and willpower I learned part of the internet trades which allowed me to earn several tens of thousands of Euros.
- Self-train and seek information. It is easy to have a travel guide, to ask others but if you really want your project to succeed, find the information yourself. It is often said that the school of life is the most enriching. That is why I take my plane tickets as I go along my round-the-world trip because I accumulate information as I go. It worked well for me since I was able to do 10 destinations across 4 parts of the world for less than 1500 euros.
Here is my story, why and how I left on a round-the-world trip!! And you? Would you like to tell me yours?
