‘I regret quitting my job to travel’ this is a thought in the minds of many people that has embarked on this journey.
Searching the internet for testimonials from individuals who have said, “I regret quitting my job to travel,” to describe their experiences in this article.
What I discovered is that the majority of people have no regrets about their trip, and most of the problems arise when they have to return to their regular lives at home.
Traveling is a fascinating aspect of life, therefore it will be hard to hear someone say, “I regret quitting my job to travel,” unless they didn’t plan their departure from the organization well in advance.
The Neuroscience Of Regret
Regret is a sense of guilt and accountability for the unfavorable effects of our decisions. In our brains, we contrast a choice’s result with what might have happened if we had chosen differently. We feel regret when the similarity is to our detriment.
Even rats exhibit regret, suggesting that the emotion may have developed as a method for mammals to learn from previous mistakes. Rats were trained in a lab experiment to wait for flavored food pellets or navigate a maze to pellets with varying flavors and longer wait times. When a rat bypassed a fruit pellet it loved because it didn’t want to wait, it occasionally discovered a longer wait for a pineapple pellet somewhere else in the maze. Neuronal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventral striatum, regions of the brain involved in selection and reward processing, showed that the rat was thinking about fruit, not pineapple when it recognized its error, which the investigators described as rodent regret.
Similarly to this, we could regret quitting a job to travel when the individual didn’t have enough plans or prepare appropriately. Remorse differs significantly from disappointment from a neurological perspective because, when we experience regret, we feel a feeling of personal accountability. Regret, but not a disappointment, has a high correlation with neuronal activity in the medial OFC in both humans and rats. It’s interesting to note that patients with damage to their anterior medial OFC cannot control their actions and experience remorse.
Steps To Avoid Regret When Quitting Your Job To Travel
You might be considering quitting your job to travel or in search of something more interesting, fulfilling, or simply tolerable. You’re not alone; the typical employee considers leaving their job 16 times a year, and 43% of workers intend to do so in the coming 12 months.
But the majority of us stay in one place, sometimes for much longer than we would prefer.
Many people wonder, “What if I regret quitting my job to travel?” when they consider a change. It seems sensible to ask that. A poll by Accountemps found that almost one in four persons who leave a job regret doing so.
Thankfully, there is a method for preventing regrets so that we can leave with confidence in our decision.
- Test Your Idea
It can be enticing to switch to something completely different when work isn’t going well. We often latch onto the first concept that comes to mind. Unfortunately, the first idea that comes to mind is rarely the greatest. Furthermore, it hasn’t been tried.
- Build A Safety Net
Occasionally, the thing we’re giving up isn’t all that horrible. Even though it’s wrong, it’s not terrible. And it might provide us with a balanced lifestyle. In this situation, the threat of regret is very significant. “It’s scary to say ‘no’ to excellent to pursue something bigger. “Creating a risk action plan is among the greatest tactics to employ.
- First, Explore All Options In Your Job.
By endeavoring to make changes at your current employment, you can prevent another typical regret while creating your safety net. It was found that 16% of those who regretted leaving their jobs did so because they hadn’t questioned their alternatives or pushed for promotion.
If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. Organizations will desire to try to keep you around if you’re a hard worker who contributes to the company. See what they can recommend after explaining the kind of job or setting you’d like to relocate into. The offers for learning, relocation, relaxation, or other creative approaches that come your way might astound you.
You can also try job creation, which entails altering your perspective on your workplace, how you interact with coworkers and clients, as well as the tasks you complete.
- Quit Already!
You might well be thinking, “I’ll never get to resign if I’m required to do all of this,” at this point. Hopefully, that’s not the case, as research indicates that regretting inaction is considerably more likely than regretting acts. To put it another way, staying will probably make us regret it for a longer period than leaving and discovering we should have stayed.
“Sure and recognized unhappiness is superior to uncertain and fresh bliss, which is why we hesitate to act when we’re contemplating a career shift.” “Although your employer may not be the best, it is a recognized quantity.
- Maintain Contact
The effort to avoid regrets doesn’t end when you’ve moved on and given notice. Nearly half of those who regretted leaving a job cited having to leave wonderful coworkers as their main regret. Particularly, 28% of respondents regretted leaving their coworkers, and 20% regretted leaving a supportive supervisor.
This makes perfect sense because connections are what give meaning. We are social creatures that attempt to make the best of our relationships, no matter where we are, even though our job is in many respects a bad fit. A change in jobs can break that connection, which can lead to regret by reducing our feeling of purpose in life.
- Allow Yourself To Make Mistakes
63% of individuals would think about “boomerang employees,” and 94% of supervisors would welcome them back. Given this, knowing that we can change our minds may be the key to quitting without hesitation or regret. Even if we are unable to take on the same function exactly, we are still able to play a similar part, and our reappearance will be welcomed and met with gratitude.
“Our choices don’t have to be irreversible. Go pursue your dream and allow the disappointment of achieving it to make you discover what you desire.”
The Best Ways To Quit Your Job And Travel The World
That’s well and wonderful, but let’s talk about reality, shall we? particularly if you have children, debt from a house or car, education loans, or health issues. How do you react?
- Sell All Your Property And Set Up Your Financial House.
Having too much stuff will make it difficult to live a remote lifestyle. Additionally, they frequently work against generating general contentment. Consider reducing your losses and selling any possessions (such as furniture, a car, etc.) that are draining your finances.
You could initially tremble while doing this. Alternatively, you might be sitting there (again) believing that I’m a complete nutcase and unrealistic and that you could never sell your amazingly Italian sofa that serves as the room’s unifying element. The world has a million sofas, but each of your life’s experiences only occurs once. Get going.
- Figure Out Your Source Of Income
Although there are many possibilities, many people appear to feel imprisoned in the standard 9 to 5 professional path. In the US, we rarely learn about the possibilities available to us outside of our country’s boundaries (minus the military). Simply be willing to work a little bit harder and take some risks.
An exhaustive list of possibilities for getting out there and seeing the world:
Become a part of a volunteer group.
Find a mobile income source.
launch a web-based business.
Persuade your employer to permit you to work remotely.
Take up odd jobs while traveling.
work for a cruise line or an airline.
Your entire career should begin abroad.
- Calculate Your “Escape Velocity”
Do some study and select your starting point (s). Would you like to try an Asian online startup? Work for a Central American NGO? Travel through Europe on foot while working odd jobs? Your financial commitments are a secondary consideration. You must take into account any debt you may have at home. You should conduct extensive research on your health issues as well. The good news is that leaving America will enable Americans to significantly reduce their healthcare costs.
Determine how much you’ll need to make each month in passive income to make it wherever you go. This can entail finding employment once you’re there. It can entail selling things and starting to save money right away. It might entail producing online passive streams. In either case, plan your spending so you’ll know when you’re ready.
- Pull The Trigger
Work tirelessly to achieve your desired savings levels and/or location-independent income after you have identified it. This might entail quitting your day job right away to make more time available to work for it. Setting a financial objective for the day you can begin your two weeks can be necessary.
Don’t be egotistical about it as you get creative. However, planning can only take you so far. Plan as much as you can, but then plunge headfirst into the action. Give yourself no choice but to prevail. Although challenging and nerve-wracking, it is necessary for growth. You get the most juice out of life by doing that. frighten yourself. Afterward, laugh about it.
Things You Won’t Learn About Quitting Your Job To Travel
- On the Off-Chance that Saying It out Will Somehow Jinx Your Plans to Quit Your Job and Travel, You Won’t Tell Anyone About Them.
It will be something you guard closely. Even though it will be all you can think about, you won’t tell anyone until it’s TOO LATE to cancel—that is until tickets are bought, hotels are reserved, and it’s happening.
You’ll silently be doing mental cartwheels because you’ve discovered this incredibly thrilling, all-consuming secret that you’d like to shout from the rooftops but can’t just yet. You’ll smile politely and nod at your coworkers as they tell you about their weekends.
- Up until The Moment You Depart, All of Your Thoughts Will Be on Your Trip.
You’ll be a single-minded machine of planning, obsession, and focus. There won’t even be anything else on your mind.
The only thing going on in your head while you’re having a crucial conversation or presenting is a mental Instagram feed that is constantly rotating with images of you in opulent settings, dozing in caftans (whatever those are), choosing to wear floaty pants, having to eat exotic fruits like “melon” or whatever, and having a good laugh with all of your latest and greatest travel friends while sporting flawless wind-blown travel hair because that is undoubtedly what your next year will be like. Right?!!
- The Most Thrilling and Terrifying Day of Your Life Will Be the Day You Quit Your Work.
Immediately after that comes the day you head to the airport to begin your journey. You’ll look back on that anxious, fearful selfie you snapped at the airport months from now as a weathered, seasoned traveler and laugh at how innocent and careless you were back then. What you didn’t know back then. You were so young.
- The Moment Your Jet Touches Down, Enthusiasm Will Be Replaced with Panic and Remorse.
You will be overwhelmed by the confusion of arriving in a strange location, trying to figure out how to get about from the airport, and finding yourself suddenly speaking a foreign language. The first few days of your trip, when the gravity of what you’ve done fully sinks in, will be the most homesick you’ll ever feel while traveling.
Did you just essentially endanger your own life? There is no going back. You are unable to unpack all of your possessions. Your lease cannot be reinstated. Perhaps you can reclaim your job? Hmmm … Keep going, though. it is Getting better
- You’re Going to Start Missing and Craving Familiarity.
It turns out that even your most boring routines may sneak up on you when you encounter something new and strange, giving whatever you used to do a much more interesting appearance than it was.
- You’ll Start to Crave Strange Items from Home.
You will only want something once you realize you can’t have it.
- Time Will Pass More Quickly than It Does for Anyone Else.
When you reflect on what you were doing per day, per week, or a month later, it will seem like a long time ago. For you, everything is brand-new and exciting, so time flows slowly. It will seem like a month if you are somewhere for a week.
But while you’re at home, time flows at its typical pace, which is quite quick for most normal human beings who perform many of the same tasks every day. You’ll spend an entire year abroad and return changed and unique, having had these incredible adventures. only to discover that nothing has changed for everyone else and that you were scarcely gone at all.
- You’ll Experience Some Friend Loss.
This one is awful. It does. Since I don’t get it, I can’t even really articulate it. But people will start leaving your life for unknown reasons. even the closest of friends.
Some otherwise wonderful friendships just appear to abruptly end when you start living a completely different life than you were before. But hey, a buddy isn’t a friend if they aren’t excited for you and supportive of your endeavors. Keep in mind the good times you had, be sad about the past, and then move on.
- You’re Going to Meet Some Fantastic New People Who Completely Understand Your Obsession with Traveling.
Meeting people that share your passion for travel is very reviving since they will understand some of the things that your family and friends back home won’t. Additionally, you can express your exhaustion to them without fear of judgment, which is always pleasant.
- You’ll Miss Stability.
Moving around a lot will quickly get boring. You’ll grow tired of unpacking everything only to pack it back up a week or two later and move to a new place.
You’ll begin building small micro-routines daily to keep you anchored, such as locating “your” grocery store or “your” coffee shop in each new place you visit. like a nightly Netflix binge.
- Every new destination you visit will ultimately lose its allure.
Do you know that sensation you get when you’re SO anticipating a vacation? You’ve done all the planning and research; you’ve highlighted the days on your calendar; your phone backdrop is a photo you saw on Instagram, and now all you can think about is the time when you’ll pack up your belongings and finally travel.
It’s like Christmas Eve when you were a child! Say goodbye to the joy and anticipation you were experiencing. You’ll stop experiencing butterflies when you board yet again another twelve-hour overnight bus to reach somewhere fresh after a few months of nonstop travel.
Conclusion
It may be time to conduct a thorough self-evaluation If you are having the feeling of “I regret quitting my job to travel”. First, avoid the pitfall of rosy retrospect, which occurs when we remember bad experiences in a better light. We can recall the aspects of our previous employment that we disliked, such as lousy management or a lengthy commute, but the corresponding unpleasant feelings no longer exist.
Ask your relatives and friends what they remember about you at that time to gain a more unbiased perspective. Did you appear generally content, or did you frequently lament how bothersome your manager was? Recognize that you may be minimizing the drawbacks of your previous employment while mistaking familiarity and comfort for a positive.
Next, identify the advantages and disadvantages of the new job compared to the old one. Don’t forget to include less visible benefits, such as a better employment balance or the chance to develop new skills, along with more obvious ones like a greater income or more flexible working conditions. You’ll have a better understanding of why you’re experiencing regret and whether it’s warranted once you’ve put everything on paper.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Feeling Regret After Leaving A Job Normal?
- According to a recent Joblist survey, 26% of workers who left their former jobs express regret over their choice. And considering that over 50 million Americans gave up in the last year, there are certainly a lot of regrets.
Why Is It So Sad To Leave A Job?
- Many people believe that their work defines who they are as a person, and as a result, they feel sad when they lose their job. You can experience a loss of personality with your transition if you have a strong sense of pride in the organization you work for, have a solid reputation in your industry, or are wedded to titles.
You can also read, “Writing A Resignation Letter After Short Employment“
