The reality of quitting your job to travel the world Peter Shaw has been travelling the world for nine months. Picture: Peter Shaw Source: Supplied TIRED of being stuck in an office, doing the same thing day after day? Dream of packing it all in to hit the road and explore the far corners of the world? Nine months ago Peter Shaw did just that, quitting his job in Perth to set off on a journey without an end date. He reveals how the reality of long term travel - while amazing - can be quite challenging ... It's the question I'm often asked: What's it really like to quit your career and travel the world long term? Well, it's both amazing and exciting, yet not without its trials. The reality of long term travel is quite different from the 'honeymoon period' we enjoy in the opening stages of a trip. Short-term travellers never emerge from this honeymoon period; their journeys are simply over so quickly. On the other hand the long term traveller inevitably breaks through this invisible barrier, emerging into unfamiliar and unexpected territory. Then the realities of long term travel sink in: the tiring reality of constantly moving, the expenses, occasional boredom, disputes between travel companions ... These more negative experiences mingle with the positive experiences we all enjoy while abroad and long term travel becomes a realistic mix of great, frustrating, amazing, annoying and ultimately memorable experiences. I'm certainly not saying that it sucks - far from it. It's an incredible character-building experience that I believe should be as much a part of our education as high school, yet it's naive to imagine there won't be trials and tribulations along the way. The worst bits of long term travel (not to say that they're not valuable, just unpleasant) Travel days: 18 hours sitting next to Charles Manson on a Greyhound bus in America wasn't exactly a highlight, nor are airport security lines, neck cramps, Salmonella poisoning, getting lost on the subway, arriving in a new city at 3:30am with nowhere to go or dragging a pack five kilometres across a city after tearing some intercostal muscles ... Yep, actual travel days are never the most pleasant of times. Yet they are a part of the experience that make the rewarding parts more valuable, and keep things interesting. Travel is tiring: There are some days I'm so tired from walking, sightseeing, trains, buses and people that I feel like I almost need a holiday ... then I remember where I am! Boredom and monotony: As a long term traveller you can't just go around sightseeing all the time, it does get old and occasionally awesome places - for example the house that famous British traitor Guy Fawkes (who attempted to kill the king 400 years ago) was born in - become 'that stupid bar where I kept banging my head on all the doors because people were just smaller back then'. The forest can occasionally get lost behind the trees. Homesickness: There's also the inevitable homesickness that occasionally rears its melancholy head (often along with a hangover). Usually the pangs happen when you're sick, tired or generally just uncomfortable somewhere far from your comfort zone. Rat race stress: Occasionally I think about home and ponder that somehow I'm being 'left behind', that everyone I know will be miles 'ahead' of me when I finally return. A ridiculous notion I know, and some clear-headed thinking cuts through this mirage. The best bits of long term travel Amazing new sites and experiences: I've seen some truly amazing things. Hiking through Death Valley, snow camping in Yosemite, walking on cracked sheet ice in Canada, leaping canals in Venice, hiking across the Isle of Skye in Scotland and partying my way all across Europe ... and that's literally just the tip of the iceberg, I could go on and on about the incredible things I've seen and done in the last nine months. A frozen Yosemite. Amazing people: Some of the best moments have been shared experiences; catching up with old friends, forging new memories with temporary travel companions or making new friends along the way. It's the people that make the experiences and sites the more personal and the more memorable. Time travel: Time changes while abroad long term, it slows down and doesn't seem to slip through your fingers as easily due to a constant sense of novelty. Inner space: I have more time to contemplate things while abroad: life, myself, the world around me. I observe people and places everywhere I go and reflect on everything from religion to consciousness a world away from my home. Mingled with new experiences, it's a potent mix for new ideas and philosophies. Gratitude: Long term travel helps put your life and your home into perspective on a world stage. It's a wonderful experience in that it reminds us each to be grateful for the opportunities and people we have in our lives. Enlightening: It's a cliche yet it's quite true that travel broadens the mind. It's a perspective-shifting, enlightening experience that I believe does make you a better, more functional and worldly person. Beautiful Ireland. Final thoughts on long-term travel Size matters: I've found that the world is actually a very small place; countries are separated by invisible lines, cultures and history may change but people are people everywhere I go. We all want the same things, for the most part ... a notion that challenges many social boundaries. Environmental concerns: A distressing part of travel is to see the disturbing ways that people treat the environment. Occasionally I observe people to be more like a virus than intelligent, sentient beings and sometimes try to imagine how much better off our world would be without us. It's unpleasant and disturbing to see how many other cultures treat our planet like it's someone else's problem. Expectations are a trap: Expectations are funny things that so often overshadow reality in such a way as to make it disappointing. I have learnt that in my travels, expectations are forms of closed mindedness and thus should be ignored in favour of an open mind and simple curiosity. Travelling is a skill: You learn to travel better as you go. You'll make mistakes early on in a trip: fall for a scam, spend too much early on, yet these 'mistakes' are part of the ride. Ensure you learn from them and recount them not as regrets but as a valuable part of the experience and you'll become a better traveller. Peter Shaw knows the challenges of long term travel. Ultimately, the paradox of travel is: the more you travel the more you realise how much of the world you have yet to see and so, the more you must travel ... Like having the wisdom to understand you are not wise (a library is all about the books you haven't read, not the ones you have), travel appears to me to be an unending journey; there's always another city to explore, friend to meet and new experience just around the corner. By visiting one city you must miss another, is this frustrating or does it open many new possibilities? The answer is both. Packing it all in and leaving a career to travel the world long term is one of the best things I've ever done. I want to continue living a life in which curiosity is paramount and exploration itself is a reason enough to explore, and what better way to live this philosophy than through world travel. Just like back at home, there are the good times, bad times, exciting times and boring times, there are moments of wonder and moments of regret. The downs have been just as important as the ups and the journey itself is as valuable as the destination. Has it been hard, frustrating, trying and tiring? Absolutely, and yet do I regret anything? Only not doing it sooner. Peter Shaw is a travel blogger, photographer and Australia's second-best chandelier cleaner, he's currently wandering the globe and will be posting his updates each week, you can follow him on his blog, Facebook page and Twitter. More from Peter Shaw: Bus rides in America