In my last year of blogging, I have read numerous articles on why people have quit their jobs to travel and why others haven’t. What works for one doesn’t always work for another. In each article, no matter which choice the author had made they explained their reasons and why it was the right thing to do but what struck me as interesting is that many of these articles listed very vague and general reasons. Not things that were personal. Not many people would describe me as someone who is entirely open with my life and therefore the reasons behind what I do but if everyone else is putting their reasons out there, then maybe it’s time I do get personal.

I will try to keep the melodramatic sappy BS to a minimum by making this a list (I’ve found it’s hard to be sappy or melodramatic when making lists).

• I tried doing everything I THOUGHT I was supposed to do ie college, job, boyfriends, etc. College was ok. Jobs only grasp my attention for a while and I have yet to find a guy I really click with. This clearly isn’t the right path for me.
• To elaborate on jobs, I’ve worked at least 11 jobs in the 7 years I’ve been out of college (some of these were held at the same time to be fair). But I know myself. I follow a trend. I get a job, get bored at around 6 months to a year and I start looking for other places. Yes, I guess I sound like a typical millennial but I’m not going to apologize for that.
• I was a hyperactive kid. I always had to be doing something even when my mom tried to sit me in front of the TV to have a few minutes of rest. I have absolutely no clue how I thought the whole go to college, get a good job and settle down routine was going to work for me unless I became like a modern-day Indian Jones working side by side with my love interest traveling the world…. (yes I realize Indian Jones isn’t that old but you get the point). I shouldn’t have tried to fight my nature.
• There are a million cliche sayings about once you do something you can’t ever go back to the old way. Cliche as they are, for me they are true. Once I saw what all the world had to offer, in geography, humanity, architecture, history- remaining idle simply became more and more impossible.
• I have ALWAYS tried to walk a mile in someone else shoes. See things from different perspectives and I find the best way to go about doing this is by traveling. Meeting people, talking with them, seeing the world as they do. My biggest desire from this endeavor is to gain at the very least one new perspective.

Now to the real gritty parts. Yes, I have secured a job overseas but just a job. I have yet to get whatever visa or permanent residence card I need for this job. There are still plenty of unknowns for me. Do I get medical insurance for the one month between being without and applying for whatever I need to in Germany? Will I have enough money? How can I make more money while I’ve over there in my spare time? Will I like it? I don’t have answers to any of these questions… And I don’t know if I will.

On an almost daily basis, I question what the hell I’m thinking by leaving a good-paying job with insurance to become an au pair in a country where I can probably say about 10 words and get paid close to nothing. But usually, the first emails of the day from various demanding coworkers and superiors remind me why I’m choosing this path. I’ve given up everything I’ve known for almost 30 years because I don’t want to look back on what remains of my youth and feel the same anger and frustration I do every day waking up to the emails I do.