I save more money than you.

I went to college to become a writer. As if “being a writer” was a job you could apply for. Then I found the golden opportunity, teaching English abroad. So I focused my life on that goal. I changed my circumstances. I teach in Korea. I make $30,000 a year. I bank around $1000 a month. My living expenses are low. I pay less than 10% tax. I don’t pay rent. Accounting for a yearly pension and severance, I save $20,000 annually. I don’t tell people this. I’ve lost friends over this. I could quit today, travel, and get a job tomorrow. There is always a demand for English teachers.

The risk paid off, and all it cost me was my homeland. If you’re willing to commit to a similar career, then traveling the world is within your grasp.

I compromise more than you’re willing to.

I spent a week in Rome on $30 a day. I flew there from Kathmandu on less than $500. How? You won’t like the answer. I compromise, a lot more than you do. My Airbnb was technically in Rome, but it required a 45-minute train ride to reach the inner-city. Not for you? For food, I spent $10 a day on only one meal. Do you like being semi-hungry all day? That’s what it takes. It’s not a vacation. It’s world travel. When I wanted to see a landmark, I looked at it. I didn’t go inside, that’s too expensive. I only spent money for the Vatican Museum. And I spent 9 hours there to get my money’s worth. The flight from Nepal was 10 hours long. Well, not mine. Mine was 23 hours. With two layovers.

If you’re prepared to spend hours looking for shitholes, begging for discounts, and choosing 20 hour-long bus rides over two-hour flights. Then world travel is the thing for you. If you compromise, you can leave today. If you want more luxury, you have to save more, wait more, and probably won’t even go.

I’m risking it all without a safety net.

Do you want a career? A savings? A pension? Yeah, not if you’re going to travel the world! No company is going to let you leave for a year. I’d quit today to travel the world again tomorrow. Is that the right decision? Heck no! But that’s what it takes to travel longterm. It’s reckless. It’s stupid. It’s also the best time of your life. Don’t save money. Go broke! See the world! Just don’t forget that when shit hits the fan, you don’t have a safety net.

If you’re the type of person with a ten-year plan for your career, travel is not for you. Do you know what hurts more than being unemployed? Regret. Think you’re going to be regretting that missed job opportunity on your death bed? Not likely! You’re going to regret having not seen the world. If you’re nodding your head, you might be ready to ruin your life and travel the globe.

Family is not a priority.

Homesick. I don’t get it. Traveling takes you thousands of miles away from your family. If that makes you uncomfortable, turn back now. My family is a call once-a-month kind of people. I’m busy. They’re busy. When I travel the world, they worry, they call, they wonder. But my life is my own. Someone gets sick? There’s a death in the family? Why does that require me to sprint home to embrace them? What happens when my parents get too old to take care of themselves anymore? Who knows, it’s not my priority right now. Traveling is.

Home is where the heart is? Nope. Home is where your backpack is.

I actively avoid responsibilities.

I would rather jump off a cliff than take on responsibility. Start a business? Too stressful. Get a car? (See “Family is not a priority”). Mortgage? HA! Longterm travel and responsibilities don’t mix. Responsibilities tether you to tedium. If you’re not careful, you’ll get tied down forever. “Let’s paint the cupboards green for spring. Christmas Eve with my family or yours? Time to put the winter tires on.” — Shoot me.

Everyone is having babies, buying houses, renting summer cottages. We‘re not. We’re the black sheep of the family. Frequently unemployed. Potentially homeless, penniless, couch surfers. No wonder my extended family always thinks I’m dead. Responsibilities require time and effort. So does world travel.