Maria quit her job and traveled for a year. Today I regret some mistakes
I retired at the age of 29. Well, sort of. I took a “mini-retirement” — sometimes called a “career break” — and traveled the world with my husband, Nick.
It sounds like a cliché to say that this trip changed my life, but that's exactly what it did. I stood 5 meters from rhinos on safari in Zimbabwe; I took a pizza-making course in Naples; I learned to bargain like a pro in Morocco.
I also faced uncomfortable truths about myselfwhich made me a more empathetic partner to my husband.
I also made a lot of mistakes along the way.
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The journey was exhausting; we had to deal with long-term health problems, and I missed a big opportunity to think about how this trip would affect my future career.
If I could relive this trip, here are five things I would do differently:
Planning like long-term travelers, not like tourists Trying to do too many things while traveling left Maria exhausted
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
I like to plan by nature, so of course I prepared a detailed plan for our trip around the world. I forgot one important thing: weekends.
I never thought before how important they are. For almost our entire lives, we slowed down for two days once a week. Meanwhile, during the trip – not wanting to “waste” any day – I planned new attractions for each weekend.
Effect? After just a month, we were completely exhausted. So we changed our approach. We've added “buffer days” in each city to give you time to rest.
We also took advice from other travelers who had already been to the places we were going to. This first-hand knowledge was invaluable.
We agreed to attractions and experiences that really mattered to us and gave up the rest.
See also: “Over time I realized that something was wrong.” The Hungarian describes growing up in Orban's country
Choosing the right equipment Her husband helped her carry all her bags because she developed back problems
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
The worst thing that happened to me while traveling was a back injury. I was in pain for months and on the worst days I could barely move.
Worse still, it could have been avoided. In short: I bought the wrong backpack.
My husband, an experienced climber, warned me to choose a backpack with good back support, but I was guided by something else – mainly pockets, organization and “anti-theft” features.
I learned firsthand that long-term traveling is demanding on the body. Now what I look for in a travel backpack is, above all, solid support for my back.
Planning the “grand finale” The couple finally flew to the Caribbean
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
At the end of our trip, after visiting over 70 cities in 22 countries, Nick and I were in Buenos Aires and spent most of our time looking for a job.
We agreed that we would go home when one of us got a job. It wasn't until the offers started coming in that I realized how empty this solution seemed. “We'll just go home and that's it?”
We needed closure – something to give the journey a sense of completion. So we spontaneously flew to the Caribbean for our “last trip”. If I could plan it again, I would do it sooner and choose something really special to end the trip.
Budgeting for your return home Maria says they should have saved a budget for when they returned from their trip
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
We planned our travel budget very carefully and tracked our expenses every day, so we stuck to our goals.
We set the budget at PLN 75,000. hole. (approx. PLN 270,000), also including expenses in the country during our absence – such as a Netflix subscription or renting a warehouse for our things.
At the end of the trip I realized that I left out one huge cost: returning home.
A deposit for a new apartment, the first rent, moving things from storage and replenishing supplies – all this costs a lot.
We should have included this in the budget. Instead, we reached for savings that we had not planned to touch.
Thinking about next steps This trip inspired her to start her own travel company
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Maria Laposata (private archive)
I knew the trip had changed me, but I didn't realize how much.
I only realized this when I returned to work. In the same challenging environment, it suddenly became clear how much I had changed—and where I had gone wrong.
Fearing that taking a break from my career made me less attractive on the job market, I focused on looking for positions I was best suited for – ones similar to the one I had previously left. I didn't give myself time to consider whether I wanted to do something else.
If I could turn back time, I would ask myself why I was on autopilot and returning to my old life. Instead, it was losing my job a few years later that prompted me to try something new.
Then I returned to the idea that appeared during the trip: starting my own travel company, Travelries.
After a year of traveling, I can confidently say that such a step involves many exhausting moments, problems and regrets. However, it also gives you a great sense of pride – for taking the risk and going on this great journey. And I would never want to change that.
The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider
