Anyone Can Travel The World And Blog Just Like Me!

Do you long to see the world, but are stuck in a job that’s sucking the life out of you? Do you vacillate between looking at pictures of Bali and praying for the sweet release of death? I was like you once. But now instead of working to travel, I travel to work. And today, from my yurt in some part of Mongolia that I’ve forgotten the name of, I’m telling you that anyone can have my incredible travel blogging lifestyle. All it takes is a simple change of attitude!

Oh, I know what your current attitude is. “I can’t quit my job to travel the world! What about my bills and responsibilities?” Listen to me. Your office is the world, and your job is to experience it. You’re working a job you hate to get rich in money, but you should be getting rich in experience. Don’t worry about money. I literally never have and, whether that meant staying in a hostel instead of a private room in Phnom Penh, or having my parents wire me money to get me out of a Bangkok jail after I accidentally “offended their culture” by writing “#livelearnlaugh” on a temple wall, I found a way to make it work. You will too. Do you want to grow old and only have a bunch of money to show for it? Or do you want to have stories? When in doubt, remember the advice my oil executive father gave me: “travel is the only thing that makes you richer.” Brilliant, right? So do what I did. March up to your stuffy manager and declare “I’m done wasting 20 precious hours of my week making coffee. Maybe that boring, unchallenging life is adequate for close-minded single moms like you, but I have a dream to follow.”

Your bills and responsibilities aren’t signs of mature adulthood, they’re anchors weighing you down. Do you think I got to where I am today — a steppe where some local I’m bravely communicating with even though his English is terrible and he can’t get my coffee right — by worrying about my phone bill or who’s going to feed my hamster? Absolutely not. Like someone who’s willing to embrace their passion instead of suppressing it, I went back on my family’s phone plan and gave my hamster away. That’s called sacrifice. Make no mistake, this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. But if you’re willing to make tough decisions like me, it can be for you.

Besides, it’s not like travel isn’t a job in its own right. I blog up to two hours a day. And I do it every day, sometimes even on the weekend! If that’s not responsibility then I don’t know what is. I also maintain my travel website and brand, Dirty Soles. Do you get it? Anyway, the site took a literal day to set up, and it’s hard work deciding whether I should use a picture of a waterfall or a picture of a beach for every post. And doing the research for some posts can be hard work! Whether it’s passing out drunk on a beach in Costa Rica, or not being allowed into Uzbekistan because the grumpy fascist at the checkpoint insists that you need to fill out some forms, earning your stories is half the challenge. But if you do it right, it will be work that you love.

So stop wondering about what your life could be, and start making it what it should be. As an inspirational Facebook meme I shared once said, “I would gladly live out of a backpack if it meant I could see the world.” If you agree, then the travel blogger lifestyle is right for you. Also, you have a stock portfolio right? I don’t know the details of mine because my dad set it up for me, but I know it’s helpful to have some portfolios. Now get out there!