Part of the reason I started The Blacktop Nomad is I wanted a way to start funding my travel adventures, while at the same time giving me more free time to do so. Working a conventional job for a standard 2 week vacation may help to pay bills, but it doesn't leave much time for travel. This is especially true if you are forced to use this PTO for things like illness, weather, funerals or a million other little life events that can pop up each year.
Last February I lost my job, like hundreds of thousands of others, but I also was reunited with my love of exploring this world. After a summer spent traveling around I've made a promise to myself to continue doing so, and unfortunately returning to a conventional 9-5 grind just isn't going to cut it.
I've realized that I want to spend what's left of my younger years seeing as much of this planet as possible. Why should I wait until I'm old and unable to enjoy it or feel up to the physical demands of travel? Why should I be forced to postpone my dreams so I can toil away at another thankless job making someone else rich?
I know this means I will have to make sacrifices, adjust my lifestyle and temper my expectations but the price seems fair to live in a more fulfilling way. All choices involve taking some degree of risk, but worthwhile opportunities will always outweigh the cost of failure. I can always find another faceless job in a windowless office somewhere, but who knows how many times this opportunity may ever present itself again in my life. So here is to all of us out there taking a chance and trying to live our lives in an unconventional way. I hope I see you out there on the road!