How to Escape your Job and Travel the World

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Passport
Backpack or Luggage
A genuine want for adventure

Step 1

The first step is to genuinely want to travel the world and escape the rat race. In order to do this you really have to think about what is holding you back from your traveling adventures. Do you fear losing your career and never getting back on track, or that you can't leave your dog, or what will you do with the kids? Whatever your fear is, that has to be dealt with before you can truely escape to new adventures. The best way to deal with this is to think to yourself, "What is the ABSOLUTE WORST thing that can happen?" If you think about that you will most often find that it is NEVER as bad as you think it could be.
Step 2

Cathedral in London

Now that you're determined to travel you need to get a passport. If you're from the United States you can get a passport with a couple months from the U.S. Department of State. http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html
If you are going to travel for an extensive period of time you will need to think about what you will do with your property. Your house can be rented out of sold for profit. (You can always buy a new one but you can never buy new memories) Car would have to be put in storage or sold. All your bills will need to be collected and terminated if you will no longer be using them. Just think about what you will do with these items.
Step 3

Big Ben (London)

Now, get a calendar and mark a future date that you plan on going on your world adventure. It helps to give yourself a little of prep time, say at least 3 months. Mark on the calendar the action items that need to be done before you leave. Again, house rental/swap/sale, car storage/sale, immunization, travel insurance, etc. At this time look into purchasing a RTW aka a round the world ticket. These tickets give you great flexability and let you travel around the globe with more time flexability and no additional fees. Check out websites like The One World Alliance http://www.oneworld.com/ow/flight-info/plan-and-book-your-itinerary or Sky Team http://www.skyteam.com/about/products/roundtheworld.html.
Step 4

Medevil Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia (2007)

So far so good, now for the challenging part. The part that everyone thinks about, "How will I make money while I'm gone?" That is where you will have to be a little creative however, you have more options than you think. First off, you need to read, "The 4-hour work week"http://fourhourworkweek.com/ by Timothy Ferriss. It goes into detail on how to make money while you travel. Also, since you are mobile you can find local jobs in the places you visit. Bartending, teaching English, or writing articles like this one about your experiences can make you money. You won't have very many bills if any since you should cancel your bills before you start traveling. Also, you will find that when you are in dire need that the kindness of people will somehow come through. Just think. Step out of your comfort zone. If you have a career and full time job you will be surprised that if you give your boss a long time notice of your plans to travel extensively they may give you a leave of absence. Don't be scared to ask, it can't hurt.
Step 5

Old Church in Serbia (2007)

Lastly, when you have it all planned out and you are beginning to take action. I recommend that you purchase your RTW ticket early, like 6 months to 1 year earlier than your planned travel date. That way you will feel "committed" to travel since you spent the money on the ticket. Most RTW tickets allow a customer 1 year purchase prior to starting to use the ticket and then another entire year to actually use it.