I didn’t quit my job on a whim. I spent a long time figuring out how to make taking time off actually possible.
Here are the 5 things I did before quitting my 9–5 to travel:
1. I figured out my number.
I calculated how much I needed to save for my normal expenses, travel, and unexpected events. I wanted this to be as concrete as possible.
2. I built a financial runway.
I saved aggressively and made sure I could cover my expenses and adventures without an income. Plus a little extra for emergencies. I wanted quitting to feel freeing, not like a ticking time bomb.
3. I figured out what I was quitting for.
I didn’t hate my job. I just wanted more time for the things I kept putting off: traveling internationally, visiting national parks, and completing random side quests.
4. I made a plan for my time.
It’s easy to dream about what you’ll do, but completely different to actually figure out the logistics, priorities and seasonality of everything you want to accomplish. You will have a lot of free time, but getting that time isn’t cheap so you want to use it effectively.
5. I reminded myself I could always go back.
My worst case scenario is that I would need to rejoin the workforce after only a few months. That was already the status quo before I quit so acknowledging that was freeing!
I’m not saying everyone should quit their job, but it is worth checking if you are actively pursuing the life you want to live. I was saving a lot of bucket list items for later and decided why wait?