Quitting My Job To Go Travelling

I turn 26 tomorrow and in just over two weeks I am off to travel the USA for 44 days. Had you told me 5 years ago when I graduated from University that this is where my life would take me I would not have believed it. As much as it is different to what I had imagined my life to look like, I am more excited than ever for the future. What I love most is that I realised that my life is in my control.

Everything went to plan – yet I was extremely unhappy

Let’s rewind back to 2014, I had graduated from University and bagged myself a Graduate Scheme position in a global company. The opportunities seemed endless and there was a career path ahead of me. Around two years later I began to get itchy feet. There were things I didn’t like about the company I worked for and I was also working around 60 hours a week. I always wondered – is this it?! I felt like I wasn’t living my life.

HAYLEYXMARTIN - QUITTING MY JOB TO GO TRAVELLING - CCCU GRADUATE

Taking a risk

In the third year of my first graduate job I was interviewing for Assistant Manager positions. It really started to hit me that the pay rise wouldn’t make up for the long hours and stress that came with the nature of the job. I had savings and decided to leave. In this time I launched an eCommerce website – which I loved and was a great learning experience. I still sell things now just through a different platform that has more traffic. As I only had a certain amount of savings I found myself wanting to get another job.

Working for a start-up

I then found a position with a start-up company, I progressed to General Manager here. The experience I have gained here is invaluable. Working for a startup I got involved with all aspects of the business. I really enjoyed this as I love learning new things. However, as the business began to expand, the processes were not adapted to ensure the customer experience was spot on, every single time. It is exhausting when you are correcting the mistakes of other people, over and over again. I really gained confidence in myself in this role – I now know I do have the ability to drive a business forward.

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE - HAYLEYXMARTIN

Taking control of MY LIFE

After a bad breakup last year, I realised that I need to get on with the things I want to achieve in life. I would find reasons as to why I could not do things so I started to book the things I have always wanted to do and doing the things that scared me. I would not let fear takeover – instead I would embrace it. The experience I booked was a flying lesson and I LOVED IT. I then decided to book my USA trip – it is an absolute DREAM itinerary. We seem to get to a point as an adult where our own wants & wishes get pushed aside. We get stuck in this cycle of eat, sleep, work – repeat. That’s just not how I want to live.