How Travel (And Two Years Without A Stable Job!) Helped Build My Career And Self-Worth

The Manhattan skyline seen from Brooklyn Heights, NYC

Have you ever been between jobs, or perhaps just held a job that you didn’t love, and found yourself immensely frustrated by the question, “What do you do?” It’s one of the first things that strangers ask in casual conversation, and we are supposed to answer it by explaining where we work, and essentially how we make money. But I believe that what we do is so much more.

I was prompted to write about this topic because it is one that is very important to me, but also because I recently started a full time job that I’m really excited about. The job is in NYC, and it involves sustainability and travel and more, all things that I’m passionate about and have written about throughout this blog. Yet having this job has also prompted some analysis of what it means to work full time versus not, and what it means to be productive, and how we as a society can challenge our conception of what it means to “do”. Here I share my particular journey, because in the throes of job searching I asked myself more than once if quitting the workforce to go travel the world totally derailed my career (hint: it didn’t), or if my focus on my side projects and interests inhibited my ability to get a job in the field that I wanted (hint: they didn’t either). But regardless, I want to provide some words of solidarity here, as someone who has diverted from a more conventional career path and who has also had some major doubts about my trajectory along the way.

This post is for anyone who has ever walked a nontraditional path, who has struggled to see the payoff of their efforts on a project or goal, or who is simply fed up with the false assumption that productivity equals monetary output. Let break this thing down, shall we?

Colorful homes and cascading greenery in Cartagena, Colombia

Let’s talk about joblessness, productivity, and self-worth

In July of 2016, I chose joblessness for myself. I quit my stable job, left my apartment in Baltimore, and set out to travel the globe, on and off. Since that moment, my life has been this whirlwind of movement and change on all levels. In the two years that passed since then, I traveled to five different countries and to many cities in the U.S., navigated love and heartbreak, moved from Maryland to New York, and once I settled in NYC, I began searching (and searching and searching and searching) for the right job. I briefly discussed this job search during my last annual update, written eight months ago at the time of this post, stating that I had decided to live in New York City for the time being, while I was looking for a job that was going to be the right fit for me.

My job search was long. I returned to the United States in April of 2017, after my trip to Colombia, and promptly began looking. In total, it took me one year and two months to find the right job. I did my best to not internalize the messages of what it means, culturally, to be jobless in a capitalist society (aka, that we are only considered “productive” when we’re making money), but there were times when the job search really got to me. I was frustrated by how long it was taking, and by all of the constant judgments from people around me, from cultural expectations, and from pressure that I put on myself.

There were so many times during my job hunt when well-meaning folks would ask me about what I “do”, and no matter what I mentioned (traveling, volunteering, writing this awesome blog) it was never enough. There was always that pause, that falter, that, “But, really…” Before I picked up some odd jobs, people always wanted to know how I was making money. Once I started working odd jobs, people wanted to know why I wasn’t working full time. When I got a full time job at a construction company, I was judged by some for not doing work that was in line with my values and my plan…. but to some others, at least I was doing “something” when I had that full time job.

But honestly? That’s a load of bullshit. Even if I never made a dime during that year and two months, even if by capitalism’s impossible standards I would have been considered totally “unproductive”, I was always doing something. That something may have been volunteering my time, or being a friend to someone who needed a listening ear, or writing even one blog post that touched one person. All of these actions matter. Our value as human beings is not defined by our jobs.

But I will be totally straight up with you: while in the thick of a job search, it is not easy to reject all of these judgements and misconceptions. It is not easy to own joblessness, even when it’s something that we’ve chosen for ourselves. And that is totally the result of society’s baggage, which defines work in terms of monetary output as opposed to intellectual, creative, and/or emotional labor.

Cityscape of Meknes, Morocco on a cloudy day

Still, I job searched. I went to many interviews, wrote a slew of cover letters, networked my butt off, and applied to so many jobs that I lost count (the vast majority of which I never heard back from, of course). Until finally, one day I applied to yet another job. Three days later I went in for an interview… and this one ended up being the one that stuck. And in retrospect, I am so glad that it took as long as it took, because I’m happy with the job that I got, and it was worth the wait.

But the main reason why I wanted to talk about this here, to divulge all of these personal details about my trajectory (and agony) with all of you dear readers on the internet, is that while I’ve gone through a chapter shift from pre-full-time-job to full-time-job, and now when I talk about my work I get to mention a fancy title or an exciting mission statement… that this is no way affects my value as a person, or as a productive member of society.

Now when people ask me what I do, I can talk about a job that I have that I am proud of. But that’s not all that I am, or all that I do. I am still a writer, still a dancer, still an activist. And when people ask me what I do, I choose to respond with any of these answers, and more. We have conflated “what do you do?” in this culture with “where do you work?”, but what people really want to know is actually “how do you make money?”. Although culturally these questions have become essentially interchangeable, they’re actually not, and how you answer them is up to you. Perhaps by challenging the “what do you do?” question with a response that has nothing to do with how we make money, then we can collectively rewrite the definition of productivity, and what it means to be a contributing member of society.

View of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec City, Canada on a sunny, spring day

Plus, you never know where a passion project can lead you

During the two years that I spent between stable jobs, I did a lot of different things. I spent a little less than a year focusing solely on travel, moving between my (then) home in Maryland to different points around the globe. Once I moved to New York, I downgraded my focus on travel, now working more on settling into NYC life. I reconnected with friends and family. I started volunteering. I kept writing here on this blog. And all the while, I was job searching.

There were plenty of times during my job search when I agonized about whether I had made a huge mistake by choosing the path that I chose. (Generally this would happen after blowing up over a “do something” comment, understandably so!) It’s easy to doubt yourself when a) nobody you know seems to have gone through as many weird career shifts and life changes as you have (truth is, this is likely false, but it’s easy to feel alone when going through major moments of transition and doubt), b) it’s easy to agonize over “resume gaps” and other job search nonsense when the reality is hiring is fairly arbitrary, and c) when you’re not doing exactly what you envision yourself doing at the exact moment in time that you want to be doing it, it’s easy to doubt all of your life choices and ask yourself why you hadn’t been more focused and more on track up until now.

But these moments of transition (and moments of waiting, for the job searchers out there) can be totally necessary in guiding you along your path. For me, this happened in two very critical ways.

First, travel. You’d better believe that I love to travel, because I gave up a lot of stability to go after my dream of travel. And sure, some cranky hiring manager out there might think, “Oh, they quit their job to travel, how irresponsible!” But for me, this was actually a very necessary step in my career development. You see, before having made this decision, I felt stuck in a job that I hated, yet I had no clue what the right job for me could be. By taking time away from the workforce to travel, I gained some much-needed perspective. I learned that my ideal job would be full time and stable (because travel is great but, for me, not indefinitely so), and my ideal job also had to feel like it really mattered.  I was no longer willing to work any job just for the sake of having full time work, as was the case when I was 22. I learned that I needed a job that would align with my values and make me feel proud to be doing the work.

Colorful street art in the neighborhood of Coyoacan in Mexico City, Mexico

And second: blogging. I started this blog as a passion project, simply for a love of travel and writing and the desire to use my words to educate and empower people. Many people would consider a blog to be a “hobby” but not a “job”, but here I want to point out another interesting twist: I believe that I currently hold the job that I hold in large part because of this blog, which has helped guide me immensely along my path, both personally and professionally. Regardless of its level of financial independence, this blog is a job, as is any blog or any project, because it is a place that I put time and work into, engage with, learn from, and try to make grow.

When I walked into that job interview, one of the first things that my now boss said to me was, “I was reading your blog!” And throughout the interview, I was able to use my blog as a proof of concept of my values. My blog is a sample of how I see the world, and the active work that I am doing to try and make the world a better place.

So I guess I was doing “something” the whole time, financial stability or not. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gotten a job offer out of it. Both traveling and blogging mattered, and continue to matter. And your interests do too, no matter what they are. So pursue your projects, hobbies, and ideas with whatever capacity you have, because you never know where they might take you. They might form the foundation of a future career, or teach you a skill that lands you a job. Or maybe they are just a way to blow off steam, doing something that you love.  Maybe they make you money, or maybe not. Regardless, these endeavors are valuable, and the emotional, intellectual, and/or creative currencies that they provide are important, regardless of financial payoff.

View of Cadiz, Spain from the top of the cathedral tower

In conclusion…

There are some ridiculous expectations and judgments placed on us, especially when we pursue a path even remotely out of the norm. But it’s important to remember that each and every one of us is on our own journey, and our paths all have different timelines, roadblocks, and markers for success. If your path doesn’t match up with those of the people around you, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If your path doesn’t align with the rules and expectations of capitalism, I attest that in many cases, that can actually be a good thing, especially if that path leads to personal growth and increased self-worth.

I do want to point out that my trajectory is particular to me, subject to its own unique privileges, barriers, and constraints. I emphasize travel above because travel has marked me significantly, but just because I gained perspective through travel doesn’t mean that travel is necessary to gain perspective. You might gain some much needed clarity by getting to know a new part of your city, or going on a long hike, or picking up a new hobby or skill while working within the unique constraints of your own life. Travel is no antidote to our problems or catalyst for personal growth, and it’s important to emphasize that because it so often gets built up as immune to faults of its own.

I fundamentally believe that our value as human beings is divorced from our job titles and how we pay our rent. As a society, we have a responsibility to rewrite this false definition of productivity, away from monetary output and towards a definition that encompasses intellectual, emotional, creative, and even spiritual growth. I was just as productive in my unemployed moments as I am in my employed moments. And I have just as much value in society with a job that I love as when I had no job at all. Maybe, just maybe… life is about more than just work.

How do you define productivity? What are your tips for surviving a long job search? Has travel helped shape your career in any way? Have you ever had a passion project that has guided your life or career? Let me know in the comments below!

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