Often, when I meet people and tell them I live and teach in Madrid, Spain, their reaction is almost always, “Wow, that’s incredible! I wish I could do that.”
My response is always the same: “Well, why can’t you?”
This sentiment often reveals a common dilemma, especially for those in their twenties: the tug-of-war between what they truly want to experience and what they believe they should be doing. The question arises: Should we prioritize exploring the world, or should we dedicate ourselves to building a traditional career?
Conventional wisdom often presents these as mutually exclusive paths. You can travel, or you can have a career, but the idea of seamlessly blending the two seems almost utopian, or at least, something to postpone until “later”.
The typical reply I hear is laced with perceived limitations, “I wish it were that simple, but I need to commit to at least two years at my current company,” or, “I’ll work hard now, save up, and then travel when I’m retired and older.”
(Logically, this sounds reasonable, but reality often paints a different picture. The further you advance in your career, the more challenging it becomes to step away. As your salary grows, so do your financial obligations – rent, car payments, lifestyle expectations. While earning more may seem like accumulating travel funds, it often leads to increased spending, making the dream of travel feel perpetually out of reach.)
In essence, the pervasive belief is that pursuing travel will inevitably damage one’s career prospects.
Breaking Free From Black and White Career Thinking
This perspective stems from a rigid, outdated view of career progression. We’re conditioned to perceive our careers as linear ladders, where upward mobility, climbing to the highest rung as quickly as possible, is the ultimate measure of success.
Any deviation from this strictly vertical trajectory, such as taking a year to travel and broaden horizons (a concept forward-thinking companies like Google are starting to embrace and even encourage), is viewed as a detrimental detour, hindering career advancement.
Adding to this pressure is the societal expectation to define our career path with urgency, fearing that any delay is wasted time, condemning us to professional obscurity.
This inherited career culture, deeply ingrained in our thinking, is fundamentally flawed. It’s problematic because it limits our vision of what a fulfilling and successful career can actually be.
(This narrow mindset leaves a generation of young people making life-altering decisions with severely limited information. Not only do they lack comprehensive knowledge about their chosen career fields, but crucially, they lack self-awareness. The immense pressure to select the “right” career path leads to anxiety and stress, pushing many to either choose a path driven by external pressures or, even worse, to avoid making any decision at all, remaining stagnant and unfulfilled.)
I recall a dinner conversation in Madrid with my girlfriend and our friend Claire, another English teacher here. Claire had been accepted into medical school in Alabama but chose to defer her enrollment to spend a year teaching in Spain.
Initially, Claire, like myself, viewed this year abroad as a temporary pause, a lateral move at best. We were both operating under the assumption that we needed to satiate our wanderlust while young, before returning to the US to buckle down and focus on what “truly mattered” – our careers.
However, Claire was grappling with a shift in perspective. Medical school remained a goal, but the allure of Madrid, of continued exploration, was strong. When she inquired with the university about deferring for another year, they surprisingly agreed.
So, what was holding her back?
Fear. Fear of slowing down, of not keeping pace with societal expectations. She felt the invisible pressure of a race against time, where pausing for reflection was akin to being overtaken by competitors relentlessly striving for the finish line.
The Importance of Giving Ourselves Permission to Slow Down
But what is this relentless rush towards? Really, what fuels this urgency?
We fear disappointing friends, parents, societal norms, but at what personal cost?
Many of us are accelerating towards an undefined finish line, without truly understanding why. We pour countless hours into work, hoping passively that we’re on the right track, rarely pausing to question our direction or reflect on our motivations. We seldom consider taking our foot off the gas, even for a moment of introspection.
The education system often inadvertently instills this message: “Accumulate massive student debt to pursue an education that will lead to the highest-paying job possible. Achieve this as quickly as you can, at all costs, or risk being insignificant.”
What we often don’t hear is: “Live intentionally. Explore the world and yourself first. Discover what you truly want and, more importantly, why you want it. Don’t rush. Take time to cultivate the person, the friend, the partner, and the employee you aspire to be.”
We diligently teach future generations how to live, ideally lucratively, but neglect to teach them why they should live.
This results in a generation of young individuals adhering to a centuries-old life blueprint, only to feel lost and confused when they realize this pre-designed map doesn’t align with their own unique terrain.
The truth is, the more time you invest in self-discovery – through travel, exploration, and experimentation – the exponentially higher your chances of choosing a fulfilling career path become. (This principle also applies to finding the right romantic partner, but that’s a topic for another discussion.)
Lacking self-knowledge when choosing a career is akin to playing darts blindfolded. You might hit the bullseye on your first throw, but more likely, you’ll need multiple attempts just to land on the board.
Unlocking Careers That Travel the World: Practical Pathways
Fortunately, there are numerous ways to build Careers That Travel The World, allowing you to gain valuable life and professional experience simultaneously. Here are a few starting points:
- Global Internal Transfers: Explore opportunities within your current company for international assignments. Many large corporations have offices worldwide and offer temporary or permanent transfers. This allows you to experience living and working abroad while maintaining career progression within a familiar structure.
- Strategic Vacation Planning: Maximize your vacation time for extended travel. Combine vacation days, public holidays, and even unpaid leave to create longer travel periods. With careful planning, you can achieve significant travel without completely disrupting your work life.
- Teaching English Abroad: Become an English teacher in countries like Spain, Thailand, China, Korea, and throughout South America. This is a well-trodden path for those seeking international experience. Many programs offer structured support, making it a relatively accessible option.
- Pursue International Education: Consider pursuing your Bachelor’s or Master’s degree abroad. Tuition fees in many European countries, even at prestigious universities, are significantly lower than in the United States. Some countries even offer free tuition for international students. This provides an immersive cultural experience alongside academic advancement, setting you up for global career opportunities.
- Remote Work and Digital Nomadism: Embrace the growing trend of remote work. Many companies now offer fully remote positions, allowing you to work from anywhere with an internet connection. This opens the door to becoming a digital nomad, traveling and working simultaneously. Explore platforms specializing in remote job listings to find opportunities in your field.
- Freelancing and Location Independence: Develop freelance skills in areas like writing, graphic design, web development, or social media management. Freelancing provides flexibility and location independence, allowing you to work for clients worldwide from anywhere you choose.
- Volunteering and Working for NGOs: Combine travel with purpose by volunteering or working for international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Many NGOs operate globally, offering opportunities to contribute to meaningful causes while experiencing different cultures.
These options are particularly beneficial for those who haven’t yet discovered their “passion.” We often claim to be searching for it, but in reality, we might be passively waiting for it to magically appear, neatly packaged as a perfect career path.
Traveling, working, or volunteering abroad allows you to step out of the abstract realm of an idealized career and gain invaluable insights into your most important asset – yourself.
The deeper your self-awareness, the more effectively you can navigate your career and life choices.
A person working on a laptop in a vibrant, travel-inspired setting, representing the concept of careers that travel the world.
In Claire’s case, perhaps she had already chosen the right career path before arriving in Spain. The crucial difference now is that she understands why she chose it. This self-awareness will undoubtedly make her a more empathetic and effective physician.
Personally, I initially viewed my move to Spain as a lateral, even risky, career step. I imagined returning to the US after my time here to “get serious” and focus on my “real” career.
Unexpected Career Opportunities Abroad
However, fate, and perhaps a more open perspective, had other plans. Since living in Madrid, I’ve encountered incredible career opportunities that I never anticipated.
- Refugee Support Volunteering: Alongside teaching, I began volunteering with an organization assisting refugees in Madrid, contributing to grant writing and fundraising efforts.
- European Parliament Interview: I had the unique opportunity to interview a former president of the European Parliament who was visiting my roommate’s university for a lecture.
- International Debate Success: My German friend Max and I won a debate competition focused on solving logistics challenges for a non-profit financial technology company, Merkur.io. The university funded our trip to Paris for the final competition.
The most profound realization has been that these opportunities were simply inaccessible to me in the United States. Living abroad has unveiled a spectrum of creative career paths I never knew existed, and importantly, access to them didn’t require a $70,000 education.
Are there individuals who discover their career passion early, follow a linear path, and achieve happiness and fulfillment? Absolutely. My father, an electrician, and my girlfriend, an aerospace engineer, are perfect examples.
However, for many of us, a different approach is needed. An approach that prioritizes freedom to expand, explore, and evolve first.
For me, travel and career have not been mutually exclusive; they’ve been mutually beneficial. The key was to discard the outdated map of career progression that my culture provided, as it simply didn’t reflect my reality anymore.
From a limited viewpoint, the choice between travel and career appears as a binary, an either/or decision.
But in reality, they can be intertwined, forming a single, richer path. Why not embrace both?
