With the rising cost of higher education and the striking inclination to see the world due to social media, students often ask whether they should skip school and use the money to pursue their passion for traveling the world. Online articles and Instagram reels that say “why I quit my job to travel” or ” why I skipped school to follow my passion for traveling” are popping up daily. Graduating high school students, college freshmen, and sophomores often express how they want to “figure life out” while traveling around the globe, and school does not seem to be a good fit for the life they want. Words like “globetrotter” and “wanderlust” are not only limited to social media bios right now. But we want to say that you don’t need to essentially skip “education” to pursue your passion. You can still travel wherever you want while receiving an education. Hello, spring break and summer vacations! You can see Inertia Tours for spring break 2023 to get an idea about how fun this can get.
Should You Skip College To Travel?
Yes, the world is filled with successful people who never went to college, received a formal education, failed, or got kicked out of college. But there are millions of stories of people who fail in life by not attending college. The sad part is you will not read about them in the news because they don’t have a success story. They will not be talked about among your friends because nobody wants to talk about unsuccessful people. If you are a student and thinking of dropping out of school, maybe you should rethink. There are hundreds of travelers who have education degrees that they don’t see as a waste. They have built their resume by taking up jobs post-college and collecting their first funds for traveling that way. This is why we see so many travelers with a corporate background and certified professionals. Hence before quitting education for traveling ask yourself the following questions.
- How will you be able to afford traveling?
- What is your big backup plan?
- Will you still enjoy traveling if you are stressed about money?
- Will this make your parents or loved ones upset?
- What is making you quit when you are already halfway through?
These questions will clear up your clouds of doubt before you make any decision regarding your passion for traveling by quitting education.
What Is Your Backup Plan?
No, we are not telling you to follow your ancestor’s path of getting married and staying focused on a single job for life. Yes it’s possible to live a nomadic life on the road, but you need to know what you are doing. It is always necessary to have a backup plan(s) to figure it all out. Life might not go as you planned and you need to find a job quickly, this is when you will be thanking your language knowledge and qualifications to crawl out of bad situations. It’s not possible to survive in a situation like that by being just a professional traveler. All qualifications necessary doesn’t mean only a college degree. You can do anything from a professional certification to a philanthropic diploma. They are as useful as a college degree. Moreover, with Instagram and YouTube travelers popping up everywhere like mushrooms after rain, you would need to have something more to offer the world than just your traveling experience.
Can You Stay In School And Still Travel?
Yes, you can still travel around the world after staying in a 9 to 5 job. You can find many ways to travel then just your regular two weeks of traveling allowance per year. Think about getting a major in a job that involves traveling like international business, aviation, or fashion. There are thousands of job workers and business professionals across the globe who are managing their time and money to travel after getting their respective education.
Do You Have Enough Money?
You might have saved enough money to travel but not enough to keep you afloat if things don’t fall as per your plan. This way you might have saved enough for food, hostels, and tourist attractions- but still not enough for finding out new things to do and places to see. It can leave you the feeling of “wanting” as it is always better to see everything you want at once rather than thinking about going back to those places when you have enough money.
Of course, traveling is an education in itself and it’s the best way to learn about the world and yourself. You can engage with different nationalities and personalities while traveling the world and teach yourself to be more independent by surviving uncomfortable and difficult situations. The truth remains that a college education degree increases your opportunity of earning and traveling better. Pursue your globetrotting dreams, take up a hobby, do everything you enjoy, get a job, and travel the world- all while getting an education.