[AyatoXKamina]

Sorry for the ambiguous title, but I seem to have this habit of naming threads with songs, movies, quotes or book titles.

How many of you fight the urge to say screw it and go out and travel and try to make ends meet as you go along?

I'm 27 and I've been a musician in a touring band, an EMT, a corporate sales rep making good money, and now full time student pursuing a BS in nursing so I can apply to grad school to become a Physician Assistant. but I have a sneaking suspicion I won't be happy there either. It will suffice and be ok, but I think I'd truly be happy just roaming.

Do you guys struggle w/ this?

 

[Monte]

Indeed.

The idea of not being tied down to one area is awesome~

 

[SlowPoke68]

Yes, and I don't think it ever goes away.

I realized I didn't fit in with the suburban crowd when I would get sudden urges to sell or give everything away and just take off to South America or something. And I'm old.

 

[xrevolutionx]

Yes, and I don't think it ever goes away.

I realized I didn't fit in with the suburban crowd when I would get sudden urges to sell or give everything away and just take off to South America or something. And I'm old.

I knew that feeling wouldn't die down. A lot of my friends tell me that I'll settle down and not want to do random things as I get older. They obviously don't know me.

 

[SlowPoke68]

I knew that feeling wouldn't die down. A lot of my friends tell me that I'll settle down and not want to do random things as I get older. They obviously don't know me.

No, they don't.

The stakes get higher as you get older--and that restrains your movements a bit--but the urge is still there. If you don't do something to satisfy it, watch out.

 

[amajakgar]

No, they don't.

The stakes get higher as you get older--and that restrains your movements a bit--but the urge is still there.

This is very true. I'm old too. I have the American dream (the old one)...the white-collar job, the house in suburbia, the wife & 3 kids, the dog and the girlfriend (just kidding, honey).

It's not that I'm disatisfied with my life, because I love my wife and kids and would never do anything to hurt them...but I often have fantasies about just walking away from everything with just the clothes on my back and starting fresh somewhere else. Furthermore, I have this overwhelming feeling that no matter what happened on this journey, I would land on my feet and be fine.

If you don't do something to satisfy it, watch out.

No shit! I've been out of college for 14 years and this is my 6th job. The shortest job I've had was 11 months and the longest is my current job at 3 1/2 years. I've never been laid off, fired or asked to resign. I think I simply get bored with what I'm doing and most employers don't give a shit about keeping their employees stimulated. I think I've been in this job the longest, because I've reinvented the job by making it into a game (i.e. I put on the costume, go through the motions and make those that do take this rediculously boring shit seriously...think that I do the same).

So, I say to those of you that are stuck in a situation where you can't just walk away:

Play The Game... and play it well!

 

[Liontiger]

I would love to just go out and follow my ever-changing desires on a whim. But I think I'd be too afraid to end up making ends meet...at McDonalds

 

[dagnytaggart]

Actually, that's my exact plan once I graduate undergrad.

Though, I do have a vague, sketched out "plan". After graduating, I'll get a better paying job FT (I work FT now, but it's actually 3 PT jobs, to accomodate my FT school), live like a miser for a year or two (max), get CELTA certification and teach English abroad! If I can't get work or I get sick of it, I'll continue traveling but work odd jobs.

In fact, I'm learning German, Spanish and Russian now, and soon Mandarin and Hindi, so I'll be able to actually live in other places.

 

[Third Engine]

Yes. I was just thinking about that today. I'm still planning on driving 2000 to see California next summer, but that's not all I want to do. I want to see the entire US.

 

[entperson]

I can't get rid of it either. In fact my only real goal in life that has remained consistent is to go everywhere and see everything. And I would if I knew where or how to start.

 

[JesusSuperStars]

I’ve got a similar, burning desire.

The hardest part is taking that first REAL step.

 

[Vaka]

I plan on doing that. Just traveling around and whatnot. I don't think I'd ever be able to get rid of that longing haha.
I have (perhaps blind) confidence in my abilities to make things work, but I'm just a bit apprehensive.
But hell, what is life if you're not gonna try to chase what you desire?

 

[Jerick]

I wonder if my brother is an ENTP... Here's his list of jobs from his website, which is a site he decided to put up to post updates on while backpacking across the US and doing radio interviews:

I have painted houses, joined the Army, worked my way up from the mail room to managing people in two different states for the same company, been a Corrections Officer in a maximum security prison, a felony investigator, surveillance "eye in the sky" in a casino and done computer forensics among other things. After all of that I decided it was time to take some time off and do something different, something interesting.

Travel was always part of the equation when deciding what I wanted to do and the more I thought about it the more I thought that I had not really seen all that the U.S. has to offer.

 

[SlowPoke68]

I would love to just go out and follow my ever-changing desires on a whim. But I think I'd be too afraid to end up making ends meet...at McDonalds

As long as you've got an education and some skills, I think you should follow your bliss every chance you get.

I identify with the twenty-somethings working ski lifts in the Winter in Colorado who go to Korea to teach English in the Summer and end up as nannies in Italy in the Fall. What a terrific way to live a young life!

McDonalds will always be there and there are plenty of self-protective, risk-averse, timorous people who end up working there sometime in their lives anyway. And they don't have as much fun as the ones who ran full-throttle.

 

[CJ99]

See this feeling is why I lve doing amatuer dramatics as you spend 3 months doing a show with one cast then go do another show with a different one and It might be a slightly different cast or a totally new cast but its always a new show and always different in someway so it helps keep the feeling of wanderlust away!

 

[Jacinto]

I feel the same way, but I have learned not to trust my needy instincts. In a kind if classic ENTP-manner I eventually get bored with anything i do.

 

[AyatoXKamina]

Hi all!

Wow... I haven't been on here in ages. I'm now 30 and can look back at 27 year old me and say you are correct. Funny enough I never got the chance to pursue the PA route. I had to take a job back in Corporate America temporarily when life threw me a curve ball. This detour provided my wife and I the opportunity to move from FL to ATL, then to NYC then SF where I am currently living. One year back in the corporate grind and I knew I wouldn't last. So I spoke with my wife and made the decision to start a company. That decision led to another which lined us up for the ride of our lives and we are still on it. If I had any advice to those living with these urges, my advice would be to start a company or find a way to freelance and support your urges. It's not an easy path, but it's definitely rewarding and spontaneous enough to feed that appetite for adventure. I'll be back to write more later.