By KAREEN LUCERO

The idea of quitting your job to travel the world is romantic. If you have a passion for adventure and exploration, backpacking is often at the top of your bucket list. While it’s common for Westerners to take a sabbatical, career break, or travel the world at some point in their lives, Filipinos may face more challenges in pursuing this dream. 

How can we quit our job when we have endless responsibilities at work, bills to pay, siblings to help send to school, and a meager salary? Also, having a weak passport means that every time we apply for a visa, we must pay and submit voluminous documents to prove we plan to return. As a result, world travel often remains an elusive dream.

Never stop dreaming
Since childhood, images of the world from glossy photos in my father’s monthly magazine subscriptions captivated me. Although I had no idea how, I knew I wanted to explore the world. My parents were not rich, and I grew up in the countryside where traveling by plane is a luxury. My career choices involve going out of the country one day, like being a flight attendant or wanting to pursue a career in the medical field to be able to work overseas. At one point, I even wanted to be a missionary not because I was religious but because I met nuns traveling the world to do missions.

After I started earning money, I began crossing one bucket list after another—the Eiffel Tower, Mt. Fuji, the Great Wall of China, and the majestic Taj Mahal, among others. I got bitten by the travel bug big time. I noticed the paradox. The more I see places, the more I feel like I haven’t seen enough. Travel has become a drug, and I’m left always chasing dopamine hits. When taking a week’s vacation to explore other countries, or even a three-month solo backpacking across Indochina was not enough to satisfy my wanderlust, I knew I needed to take a year off to scratch the travel itch.

Thus, “Project Around the World in 365 Days” was born. It’s a personal project I conceived to finally fulfill my dream of seeing more of the world. I would quit my job, book a one-way ticket out of the Philippines, and return after a year.

Three hundred sixty-five days plus a 30-day extension after, I had travelled non-stop solo across Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa, slept in countless beds in 34 countries, 117 cities, and accumulated travel stories and adventures to last a lifetime. I did it with a Filipino passport, without winning a lottery or receiving an inheritance from rich relatives. No one sponsored my trip. I finished my project using deep desire and sheer determination.

How did I do it? Let me show you how.

Find your purpose for traveling the world. 

The biggest obstacle to making bold decisions is fear. What if I run out of money? What if I won’t be able to get a job when I return? I postponed my trip several times because I was scared to step into the unknown.

But I had a clear purpose for why I wanted to travel long-term. I knew that if I didn’t pursue this dream, I would have regrets one day. Life is fleeting and we only have a small window to do all the things we want to do in this lifetime before our light finally flickers off.  

Finding your purpose is essential as it will carry you through during times when you want to give up and shelve your plan.  

Build your travel fund. 

Sure, it’s easy to travel if you have tons of money. But if you are struggling financially, it’s going to be difficult to build a travel fund. I knew it because I was this struggling person. From experience, however, it is not impossible. For some it may take a year, for others, it will take some time.

To fund my travel, these are what I did.
• Set a figure of how much I needed to save before I could confidently quit my job.
• Opened a separate bank account dedicated to travel funds.
• Evaluated my current expenses and buying habits and got rid of the unnecessary—new bags, new shoes, eating out in restaurants, and daily expensive coffee. I downgraded my mobile plan and got rid of needless monthly subscriptions.
• Automatically channeled a percentage of my monthly salary to my travel fund.

You might assume that life would be lonely without all the things you used to enjoy, but that’s not the case for me. I have taught myself how to find joy in minimalism and simple living, by appreciating what I already have instead of always craving for more. Letting go of unnecessary material things has allowed me to live lighter and focus on what’s more important—experiences and memories.

Prepare for the big departure. 

Preparing for a world trip can be overwhelming. I took a radical approach. Not only did I quit my job, but I also gave up my apartment and gave away most of my stuff. Everyone’s circumstances, however, are different so it’s essential to determine what works best for you.
 

 As for me, this is what I did.

• Picked a date on when I would start my trip.
• Posted a calendar on my wall six months before my planned departure. I marked important milestones such as the date I would tender my resignation, close the lease, bid goodbyes to friends, and buy important travel items.
• Created an Excel file to list the things that would be included in my 40-liter backpack.
• Kept a daily journal to track my emotions and the progress of my plans. 
These activities helped me visualize the plan. It was no longer just an idea. I saw and felt it happening, which in turn made everything less daunting.

Plan your route, countries to visit, and visas needed. 

Your planning will depend upon the specific places you want to cover. Do you have a theme—like covering Asia or South America only? Is it a dream Euro trip?

You can then plan around your theme. My main goal was to experience backpacking in itself, traveling as cheaply as possible on at least four continents. I started in Australia and worked my way to Asia, Europe, and Africa. When I left the country, I only obtained an Australian visa and a Schengen visa to cover Europe. I got the rest online, free, or on arrival.

Enjoy experiencing the world! You’ve boarded the plane. Now you’re on your own to experience all that the world has to offer. The feeling of freedom is exhilarating. Take in as much as you can because you are not going to replicate the experience.

Deciding to take a year off from work to travel was one of the most rewarding decisions I ever made. After all, no one regrets traveling. If you do it, you will accumulate countless stories to tell, see breathtaking places, meet amazing people, encounter misadventures, and even fall in love along the way—but these are stories for another time.