Vacation Culture in the U.S.

If you are like me and you live in the United States, AND you love to travel, you understand the number one pain point in the American work culture is the number of days of PAID TIME OFF (PTO)! On average the American worker gets 10 paid days off, while our European counterparts get 20-30 paid days off. So is it any wonder people quit their jobs to travel and then end up writing blogs for an income?! Okay I’m joking. Half joking. Not everyone is dying to travel and all blogs don’t generate the kind of income you need to live. In this post I’m going to share with you my journey of how I became a part time travel blogger, and why you don’t have to quit your job to be a travel blogger.

A Dream Job and a Cyst

I graduated grad school with an MBA in 2007, and went into my dream company, Johnson and Johnson. I had the coveted role of a Brand Marketing Manager but I also had a first time manager from a not so nice place. Let’s call that place HELL. She also made MY life hell. Within a year of working there, I was hospitalized 6 times in ER for severe stomach pains that would have me doubled over in pain, unable to walk or move for a few days. Doctors at Stanford Hospital finally found a walnut sized cyst, removed it, and said I was now the proud owner of a condition called Endometriosis. Endo who?! They give me some technical jargon and said I might be in pain for a few days every month during my period, gave me some options for medication, and sent me home. Now all that medical stuff aside, I’m of the belief that we attract illnesses. Negative energy can translate to physical and mental diseases. I came to terms with my unhappiness at work, a deep rooted unhappiness by the way that was also spilling over into my personal life, and soon quit my fancy job at one of the biggest consumer companies. MBA be damned. I didn’t work for another 8 months. Hello peace of mind and happiness! I also started meditation around this time.

Pro Tip: You can do a type of breathing called Pranayama and a Soul Sync meditation everyday to help relax and restore emotional balance.

Travel is my Constant

Now throughout all this drama, I was still traveling. Travel has been my constant companion (almost as constant as my amazing husband!) from my first job after graduating undergrad, during grad school and then my job after. I was taking my usual 1-2 vacations per year. I had 10 days paid time off in my job post undergrad and grad, but would try and club Thanksgiving holidays to do a short trip and then take the December to New Year’s off for another slightly longer trip along with my paid vacation time. During the three day holiday weekends like July 4th, Memorial Day or Labor Day weekends, I would try to plan local trips.

Pro Tip: You can club together three day holiday weekends and do short trips near your home and then blog about that experience. It doesn’t always have to be an international trip.

How I Started Blogging

Although I didn’t work for 8 months after my job at J&J, I finally felt strong enough to head back to work after questioning my life purpose. Having got no answers but feeling content, I joined a company specializing in customer reference Marketing. During this time, in 2013, I started my blog after my friends told me I should start journaling my travels because I seemed to be doing some pretty cool stuff like going to Thailand but staying with the local tribes in hillside villages. AFAR magazine came out with a term for this: Experiential Travel and that’s when it struck me – hey that’s what I was doing. I was going beyond just the tourist places and trying to connect with the locals by staying with them and eating what they ate. So I started the blog.

Pro Tip: You can easily create your own blog using WordPress.com.

Writing for External Publications

Soon after, a wonderful guy called Dave from Dave’s Travel Corner found me and asked me to come write for him. So I web crawled over to his website, found out he had a large online travel repository of travel content and other writers and became a contributor. THIS is how I got my first ever press trip: In 2013, I was sponsored to stay at the Marriott Hotels in Oakland, California; invited to have dinner at an up and coming restaurant in Oakland; enjoyed a Gondola ride on Lake Merritt; and joined a foodie walking tour around Oakland. Looking back now, my journey as a travel writer/blogger began at home. It wasn’t a fancy destination, but I was grateful and it opened my eyes to this industry I had no idea was booming around me.

Pro Tip: Start looking for ways to increase your audience on your blog, or look for 1-2 external websites/publications to write for. They will sometimes send you on trips on their behalf as well.

How I began Working from Home

My husband’s job soon saw us moving an hour and a half away to the city of San Francisco. I told my company I would have to move but that I cannot commute back and forth every day 3+ hours in traffic. Since I had been working for them for two years by now, they agreed to let me try working remotely from San Francisco. They called it a “trial” period. And thus ladies and gentlemen, began my work from home chapter. THIS opportunity paved the way for me to become a part time travel writer. Writing for Dave enabled me to attend lots of media events in California and helped me connect and forge relationships with tourism boards. That in turn enabled more sponsorships to destinations such as the Dominican Republic, hiking in the Austrian Alps, a road trip through Estonia, visiting the lesser known towns in the Czech Republic, to hotel stays in Sri Lanka, Geneva, Colombia to a Hilton Hotels Campaign and most recently a fully sponsored trip to discover the lesser known cities of Germany.

Pro Tip: If you think you have an opportunity to work remote even once a week, why not ask your boss if that’s an option. It never hurts to ask if that’s a possibility for you.

Working Remote While Traveling

Now I still only get 10 paid days off during the year at this job, but I also get another 5 paid days off but that can only be taken during the Christmas to New Year’s period. So I technically get 15 paid days off. Having worked with this company for 8 years, I have built a level of trust and work ethic that has given me a valuable currency: credibility. With this, I am able to negotiate working remotely while I travel on assignment or for just personal travel, as long as I have access to the most amazing WIFI ever. A disruption in work is not acceptable, so with that understanding, I am able to now be a part time travel writer/blogger while still working a full time corporate job. Having a flexible, supportive, work environment is key.

Pro Tip: You can even start off with short assignments in the local areas where you live. A weekend trip to a neighboring attraction, or a three day weekend getaway is also a fantastic article highlight for many publications.

Why I didn’t Quit My Job

Now you and I have come across plenty of people who have quit their stressful corporate jobs to become full time travelers. Sooo, why have I not done that yet?! Well for one, my writing doesn’t generate any income for me. I also only get paid $50 to write a travel story. Some of the publications don’t even pay me to feature my stories. I stopped focusing on MY own blog so monetization isn’t an option, but I am shifting my focus now to working on my own blog. My sponsored trips and hotel stays are just that: sponsored. Meaning I am not getting any cash out of this. As of now, I must work to get some green bills flowing into my account. Also I need to mention, my corporate job is not stressful for the most part. I also have no work commute so I am extremely productive because the time I save by not having to drive or get ready in the mornings, I am already using to work. After my traumatic period of working at Johnson & Johnson, I didn’t want to deal with that level of stress so this type of a job works well for my personality. I am acutely aware I could be earning more given my MBA but my peace of mind is most important to me now. Being able to travel as much as I do brings me more joy than I would get earning more money, at a stressful 9-5 desk job.

Pro Tip: If you are in a situation like mine, where your corporate job is not stressful and you have extra time on hand, start writing. Perhaps focus on writing an article once a week for your own blog and maybe once in two weeks for an external publication.

Can YOU Work Remote?

Note, not all of us can work from home however. But if your job is one that doesn’t involve a whole lot of in person meetings and interaction, if it is mostly via phones and emails, you may be a good candidate for working remotely. It never hurts to ask to see if your company might be willing to accommodate that, even if it is just during 1-2 trips a year to start with. Then on top of your paid time off, you can take these additional 1-2 trips and see how working remotely works for you and your company.

Pro Tip: Read this blog post to understand the pros and cons of working remote.

The Work/Travel Balance

When I do travel and work remotely, I do have to take into account time zones and plan my schedule accordingly. That means, I often don’t get my 8 hours of beauty sleep because I need to be awake during U.S. hours answering work emails and even taking work calls. Because of my strong work ethic and the credibility I have built up, I make sure I am diligent about checking emails and attending meetings, especially when traveling. This CAN get overwhelming and exhausting, especially when you’re on your feet all day on a press trip. When I’m back from my trips, I have a TON of content to edit, write, post, and this requires strong time management skills. I find myself sacrificing time with the television or turning down “fun” events with friends sometimes. It’s been worth it for me so far, because I get to have the best of both worlds.

At the end of the day, mine is an immigrant story; I came here with my parents when I was 12 years old. I remember standing at a church in Michigan waiting for used clothes because my parents were trying to find jobs as they were starting over in a new country without a U.S. education. I don’t ever want to be standing somewhere begging for clothes again. I enjoy having my day job as my security blanket, yet being able to travel several times a year. So you don’t necessarily HAVE to quit your job to be a travel blogger. If you’re hoping to become a travel blogger but don’t want to (or can’t afford to) quit your day job, check out this blog on working remotely to see if this is right for you. I hope reading my story has been insightful. Please let me know what you think in the comments section, and happy to answer any questions you may have!

Pro Tip: Check out this site for a list of freelance remote jobs.