Striking a balance between work and travel is a very important thing, which costed me a lot of regrets learning this painful lesson as I realized in my late twenties.
Travel in the ’20s is important because it expands experiences, it literally broadens horizons! However, I realized this thing very late in my life when I was stuck in a rut.
Every new person I met, new food I try, new smell, new customs & culture & kindness from random strangers Made me a different person today
“Travel now, travel later, travel always” (travel will remain my utmost priority in life)
Taking frequent trips has helped me to get perspective on things that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. I remember taking a trip to Rajasthan in November 2021.
So there is this incident that happened while I was returning from Rajasthan I had to miss my flight (Resaon for missing flights – got confused with morning 3 AM to evening 3PM) Oh Yes, Sometimes I’m that dumb.
So anyway, I had to spend 1 night in the airport (the next flight was the next day morning) thinking about my life decisions as I had too much time for my next flight, I was crying inside on missing my flight (no refund from the previous flight + addition 10k on next flight ticket) Seeing people busy people walk around is the best thing to experience (with different emotions) but all I was thinking about was the job made me realize, “I guess it’s time to move on.
Calling quits
Now thinking back it’s a pure gut decision I took, I remember taking advice from a few of my close friends who said “This is Suicidal” to quit a job.
I went ahead and called it quits, the most important thing which I realized in my job is not my identity anymore (there is much more thing to life now) I have a family and close friends who back me up on my stupid decision, I remember my dad offering me money (which obviously I had to reject). I always wanted to see my job as an end to meaning, a way to fund my own creative passions.
But I feel like most of society places their assumptions on us the moment we tell them about our job/career. Maybe I’m just stuck in the me versus them mindset? It’s not even like I have a job with a “bad stereotype” or anything, but I just want my actions to define who I am, not a job description.
one reason for that is that organizations expect not just our skills, but personality to match the job. They want your work to become ‘You’ basically, as a means of increasing productivity on your end, and at times, people actually do happily identify their work as who they are essential. That’s just one reason, coming from the field I’m in currently.