Quit and travel

[NotoriousT.S.E]

Sup ya'll, please read my quarter life crisis below and tell me what you think.

I graduated college in May 2015 and have been working in a boring accounting/finance job for about 8 months now looking to make a change. Same duties at the same time day in and day out and not really learning much nor very interested in the work. I took this job knowing that it wouldn't be great, but did it because I was desperate for money and a name brand on my resume.

During my downtime I find myself looking into real estate (interned at a small brokerage jr yr) and finding an opportunity to go abroad. Before I start my career that I am interested in, I think it would be beneficial for my personal development to go out and see the world. I never studied abroad due to various reasons and I am seriously regretting it, and I would like to amend that mistake before its too late.

I am seriously considering taking a 2-3 month volunteer opportunity to teach English at a homestay in Europe to cure this need for travel. Free housing and food and opportunities to take 3-4 days to go wherever I want. Some obvious issues of this is money; I have about 35k of student debt, but I plan on living at home the next year and half and paying it off. Another issue is finding a solid real estate job when I get back, which I plan on aggressively networking and applying for. I live outside of a major city so I know there are opportunities. I could also do some construction work in the meantime, which can sometimes be relevant to real estate.

Any thoughts on this? Would this take a big hit in my career and ability to get a job after being off the grid for a few months? Or would it make me a more interesting person and candidate?

 

[csteezy]

I don't really think you would take a big hit in your 'career and ability to get a job'. You won't necessarily be off the grid. Where you get into trouble if you are really worried about your career is if you have unexplainable gaps in your resume. In this situation you would be able to say you were teaching english in a foreign country. That sort of thing would catch some eyes on resumes imo

 

[GregFlik]

Well big meech, lets start with real-estate.

It may differ from state to state, but I'll use Michigan as an example with my mom as the subject. She was in finance for about 17 years. She was laid off and before it was official she started real estate courses and fucking killed the board exam and became licensed. Real estate firms works like this: You pay them a set amount or percentage of money of a house you close on, and you are allowed into their network of houses. You are occasionally given a house to sell or a client to buy for, but it really relies on your ability to get people under your name and have them use you as their sole real estate agent. Unless you are aggressive and good at it in general, you should be prepared for $800 a month from your commissions since it is all ran off of your commissions, and that $800 is after you pay taxes, fees to the firm, and closing costs that can screw you.

Being off the grid is wishy-washy to me. Its as if you are running away from responsibilities, unless you can switch up and say "it was a passion and something you've always wanted to do" not a "I want to travel" in an interview. Its cool, but that stuff doesn't apply to jobs and stuff unless your interviewer did the same thing.

My advice: Pay off your debts, get free and clear, get some savings under your belt, and go do something abroad in real estate or something like that. Just always have your end goal in mind and think of "How can I make this apply to my end goal"

 

[iFlip]

Find this theoretical "solid real-estate job" now, and then take a gap before your start date. This way you have security and don't have to stress. Also, it will show you whether or not your plan is entirely foolish.

 

[NotoriousT.S.E]

Thanks..residential isn't really what i'm interested. Anyway, the second part i agree with and that is what most people have been telling me as well. I probably won't do it, I just want to voice my opinion and see what people say. Pretty sure I just need a vacation haha

 

[daannnnieel]

if you're still 35 grand in debt at 25ish you should probably work that shit out before you're taking vacations.

just my opinion though.

 

[proZach]

if you're still 35 grand in debt at 25ish you should probably work that shit out before you're taking vacations.

just my opinion though.

as long as you can defer for a while or know an opportunity to get a job down the road exists, it's not a huge deal. 35k really isn't much at all after college. I'd consider him lucky

 

[Randy_Quench]

I find myself in a very similar situation OP.

I also graduated in May of 2015. Right after graduating I was offered an office job that pays well and offers me good experience. I jumped on it because "the thing to do after college" is to get a "real job". A year ago the world was my oyster, and now I feel like my world of possibilities is slowly closing me in. The job I have is too good of an opportunity to just walk away from, but part of me just wants to drop everything and be a bum for a few years, see the world, and ski my ass off.

The real world sucks man.

But I'd say go for it OP. You have you're whole life to work. Get out there and have some fun. I wish I had the balls to do the same. Maybe in a year or so when I have some savings.

 

[no_steeze]

I think more and more employers are recognizing the benefits of going and exploring for a little while between jobs, but that's all dependent on what field you want to go into. Most people see it as a cool growth experience that's bound to have benefited you in some way that can be an asset to the company, but that being said it's always easier to get a job when you still have a job.

Maybe consider sucking it up at the finance job for a little while longer so you can pay off some more of your debt and start building some savings for your trip abroad. If you're gonna take the time to drop everything and go explore, you might as well make the most of it and do exactly what you want, which will be easier to achieve if you have some financial leeway. But if your job now is really bumming you out and you don't think you'll be happy riding it out for a little while longer then by all means drop it and go pursue something that makes you truly happy.

Aside from all of this it is important to remember that transitioning from college to the working world is a huge adjustment, and even if you're working a cool job there's still gonna be a bit of a rude awakening when you realize you're doing basically the same thing every day and you don't really have much going on outside of your job. I know people who are in their dream job but still grappling with those same issues. Even from a goal standpoint you're no longer working hard in school so you can get a good job - you've already done that and here you are actually living in that world which can be super daunting. Often times it seems like the easiest move is to bail and go explore, but it might be worth trying to get used to the working world for a year or two and experience an important transitional phase in your life where you develop a new set of interests and hobbies and ways to keep yourself fired up outside of work, since those will likely end up playing a large role in your life down the road. That's not to say you should never go explore since I think it's one of the most important things anyone can do in life, but remember that part of what's making you have these thoughts is the general transition out of an extremely multifaceted world into a singular routine

 

[FrenchFry]

Do it. Don't think twice. What else is there man. Working your whole life for what? Money and a tv and a house? Go find a purpose, travel...in my opinion there isn't really much else thats worth it.

 

[KravtZ]

Dude you just graduated man. Its your first job out of school. Tough it out for a year or so and than start looking into other jobs / areas you want to work in. My first job out of school SUCKED...but I made a lot of money and paid off my debt and it gave me a fantastic start for my career. I have a job now that I love and work at a company that I really can see myself at for a long long time. And I can tell you the difference is night and day. It really does help being at a place with good culture and enjoying your job a little bit.

Don't give up now. Accounting is insanely useful in so many jobs. Start networking into jobs/positions you want to be at

 

[KravtZ]

Dude you just graduated man. Its your first job out of school. Tough it out for a year or so and than start looking into other jobs / areas you want to work in. My first job out of school SUCKED...but I made a lot of money and paid off my debt and it gave me a fantastic start for my career. I have a job now that I love and work at a company that I really can see myself at for a long long time. And I can tell you the difference is night and day. It really does help being at a place with good culture and enjoying your job a little bit.

Don't give up now. Accounting is insanely useful in so many jobs. Start networking into jobs/positions you want to be at

Sorry for the dub post....

Also in a few years when you have to re-start at an entry level job if you take a break won't be fun for you wehn your friends are making way more and have money to do things they like. Travel is very easy and cheap and easy to do working...I get 25 days off a year. Its way more than enough when you use them with holidays and what not to extend trips I take a couple big trips a year and use the rest for little days off here and there.

 

[NotoriousT.S.E]

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.

@kravtz didn't you do banking out of school? Congrats on that and im sure the exit opps were worth it. Yeah i need to tough it out. I plan on taking 2 weeks off in a couple months to go to europe anyway... And there is always the opportunity to take time off in between jobs and business school if i want to do that.

 

[KravtZ]

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.

@kravtz didn't you do banking out of school? Congrats on that and im sure the exit opps were worth it. Yeah i need to tough it out. I plan on taking 2 weeks off in a couple months to go to europe anyway... And there is always the opportunity to take time off in between jobs and business school if i want to do that.

Had a friend who worked and killed it at a big 4 accounting firm doing something in the healthcare unit not sure exactly wasn't auditing...they sent her on a project to a startup in San Fran and gave her 6 months worth of pay and housing to get setup.

She ended up loving the start up and got an offer to work full time. She had to pay back a lot of her comp but was well worth it. Lot of options out there man. Don't jump to conclusions so fast.

 

[californiagrown]

Do it. Don't think twice. What else is there man. Working your whole life for what? Money and a tv and a house? Go find a purpose, travel...in my opinion there isn't really much else thats worth it.

Working your whole life to support a family, have the means to pursue your passions, have a stable, awesome, long retirement, and have enough money for healthcare so you aren't a burden on your kids/family/state/friends.

I think life is a compromise in whatever you do. Money is a very nice thing to have if the above is important to you.

 

[FrenchFry]

Working your whole life to support a family, have the means to pursue your passions, have a stable, awesome, long retirement, and have enough money for healthcare so you aren't a burden on your kids/family/state/friends.

I think life is a compromise in whatever you do. Money is a very nice thing to have if the above is important to you.

Ya, of course, i was just stating my opinion. Also in my opinion retirement is just another thing in the system that they're convinced us to be a good thing. As soon as you retire you set your self up for death. Being normal is the scariest thing to me. Not figuring out my purpose, why i'm here, why i exist..If we exist. I don't know if i'd ever be able to find that though a "stable job". If you or anyone else thinks that's immature or something like that, broaden your perspective.

 

[californiagrown]

Ya, of course, i was just stating my opinion. Also in my opinion retirement is just another thing in the system that they're convinced us to be a good thing. As soon as you retire you set your self up for death. Being normal is the scariest thing to me. Not figuring out my purpose, why i'm here, why i exist..If we exist. I don't know if i'd ever be able to find that though a "stable job". If you or anyone else thinks that's immature or something like that, broaden your perspective.

With healthcare the way it is now, I can retire at 55 and be able to chase my outdoors active passions for 20+ years everyday all day without worrying about money. I think typical American retirement sucks, agree with you on that. But being a ski/bike/outdoors bum with the luxury of money and no job sounds pretty awesome to me. Especially if I can still get 50 ski days and 100 bike days in while I'm working

 

[FrenchFry]

With healthcare the way it is now, I can retire at 55 and be able to chase my outdoors active passions for 20+ years everyday all day without worrying about money. I think typical American retirement sucks, agree with you on that. But being a ski/bike/outdoors bum with the luxury of money and no job sounds pretty awesome to me. Especially if I can still get 50 ski days and 100 bike days in while I'm working

Yea there's nothing wrong with that! Sounds pretty wicked to me.

 

[NotoriousT.S.E]

I find myself in a very similar situation OP.

I also graduated in May of 2015. Right after graduating I was offered an office job that pays well and offers me good experience. I jumped on it because "the thing to do after college" is to get a "real job". A year ago the world was my oyster, and now I feel like my world of possibilities is slowly closing me in. The job I have is too good of an opportunity to just walk away from, but part of me just wants to drop everything and be a bum for a few years, see the world, and ski my ass off.

The real world sucks man.

But I'd say go for it OP. You have you're whole life to work. Get out there and have some fun. I wish I had the balls to do the same. Maybe in a year or so when I have some savings.

Yeah i feel you. It might be best to put this idea on pause though and save up some more money

 

[corona]

if you're still 35 grand in debt at 25ish you should probably work that shit out before you're taking vacations.

just my opinion though.

nah you just make a go fund me saying you're going to go travel to some disaster stricken country and help all the poor children and make 100 grand in a week so you can fund your ego trip fueled voluntourism vacation and probably do more harm then good, or at least be way less effective with the money than donating it through other sources. Fuck I hate people. That weed $$ thread made me look through some of the gofundme campaigns. I mean how the FUCK does some girl who just posts a picture of her cat and says "I'm shitty at finding jobs and need to pay rent, please give me money" get $670 in 11 days??? Or pet surgeries. I mean fuck. You can raise 2 grand no problem in a day or two if you write some sob story about your dog needing surgery so it can live another year or two before it gets fucking hit by a car again because it's a piece of shit creature that doesn't realize 2 tons of metal moving quickly towards it isn't about to scratch its stomach.

ok well that just sounds angry. I'm going to go have a popsicle and chill.