Working While Traveling

Posted on September 3, 2015 Updated on December 23, 2015

There’s a couple that left their high paying careers to travel the vast expanses of the world. Sort of what I want to do.

They have a blog that depicts all the adventures they’ve had. Although they experience a ton of great stuff, they do so by completing a lot of tasks for other people. From your average Joe’s perspective, it’s not so hot scrubbing toilets, but here’s what the couple says,

“…even though we probably have more greys than when we started, dirt under our nails despite long showers, and cheap snack food as a main form of nutrition, this crazy lifestyle allows us to enjoy the freedom of exploring rich Swedish forests, never-ending Nordic fjords, Italian cobbled alleyways, and cosmopolitan cities. We have time to brainstorm our own ideas, and push our own creative experiments. It’s like heaven for us. Sure, wood needs to be stacked, and garbage needs to be taken out (it’s our version of a shit sandwich, as Mark Manson put it), but once that’s done, we’re free to explore, wander and be one with our meandering thoughts. You work under your own schedule, using (a lot of) spare time to jog around mirrored lakes, craft inspired creations and breathe the Arctic air. There’s nothing quite like swopping million rand advertising budgets for toilet scrubbing to teach you about humility, life and the importance of living each day as if it were your last.”

This may indeed put off a lot of would-be travelers who dream of the luxurious life of adventure. For anyone who has traveled, you know that if you really want to learn and grow, your journey will be anything but comfortable and luxurious. But as tedious as hiking every day is and as sweaty as you’ll be while working on a WWOOF farm, you feel a satisfaction that comes from within yourself. Pride flows through you, and the sites you witness are unlike any thing else you will ever see.

I’ve learned about the site that this couple used to work while traveling: Workaway. I think that it might be a good idea to get connected to some of these places. Just because we will have a lot of money saved up doesn’t mean that we will need to spend it.

What do you think about this couple? Are they fools for being proud of their scrubbing toilets, or are they wise for doing what they can to explore the unknown? Would you follow suit?