I want to hear from you… yes you! What inspires YOU to travel? I began travel FOUNDations as a way to inspire people to travel through my own travel stories and adventures. Through my stories, guides and tips I’m hopeful that you will find the inspiration to go out and discover your own travel stories.
With this first “What Inspires You to Travel?” guest post I’m beginning a series of stories from my readers and other bloggers that I will be sharing with you every few weeks or so. If you would like to share your travel inspiration and be featured on the blog please email me for details. I really do want to hear from all of you!
Starting of the series is an inspirational traveler and amazing writer. Stephanie Perry is a blogger at Vaycarious.com where she is the Unofficial Ambassador for the Grown Up Gap Year and advocates carpe-ing the diem from a hammock by the beach. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
The Question That Inspired My Career Break
I'm 42 years old, and I just took a gap year. I left the United States and traveled to 12 countries in Asia, Europe and Australia. This was never a part of my plan. I'd always thought this kind of travel would have to wait until retirement. But I'm so glad I changed my tune.
Actually, it was a stranger’s question in Salvador, Brazil that struck a new chord in me.
I took my standard week-long vacation in July 2014 to Brazil to celebrate my 40th birthday and tap into some of the World Cup excitement. During my trip, strangers would ask how long I was staying in Brazil. Then they'd ask me to repeat my answer like they never heard of a person traveling only for one week at a time. So I'd ask them the same question. The teachers were in South America for the whole summer. Understandable. And Awesome. But so were the heating and air conditioning repair guy and the waiter and the graphic designer. Finally Stephen from San Diego, 24 and blonder than anybody else in all of Bahia, let me in on the secret. "I work, save money, quit, travel, then go back to work." He'd already been in South America since February.
I felt shocked. Literally. Like when you walk on carpet in the winter time then touch a doorknob. And that shock gave me a new melody. I didn’t have to wait for retirement to see the world. I could do it while my knees still bent and my back didn’t.
I got home from Brazil, re-worked my budget and started planning this trip of a lifetime. I found out that I could travel comfortably through Southeast Asia for around $1000 a month. Now I had a plan: live on a tight budget for 15 months, quit my job, travel for one year. I was working as a hospital pharmacy technician, so my job was easy to replace. I picked up some overtime, cut the cable cord and kept my paid-for car instead of saddling myself to a new set of payments. On September 21, 2015 I boarded my flight to Malaysia.
In those twelve months of travel I bathed with an elephant in Thailand, hiked an active volcano in the Philippines and rode a motorbike through Vietnam’s rice fields. I also did some volunteer work in exchange for room and board when the Cambodian heat spurred me to cool off in high-priced Australia for a while.
My grown up gap year was worth the sacrifice. I returned to Delaware in September 2016 with some amazing pictures, a ton of stories to tell, and a deadline to do it all again.
Safe Travels!
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