Flashback: Quitting Your Job to Travel the World

What is Project 12×12

Project 12×12 is essentially an idea that Pierre and I had to live in 12 countries during 12 consecutive months. After telling people that we were going to leave NYC (and quit my job), people often ask how we decided to make the change. I would like to say that traveling around the world has always been my dream. It was certainly a dream of Pierre’s but the fact is that we were well ready to settle in the NYC for a few years. If I could sum it up for you, this is the series of events and notions that led us to take this journey.

FEBRUARY 2017 – Will work for travel. In February, I had purchased two sets of tickets for St. Lucia that were on sale from JetBlue. I had no clue where we would stay but convinced myself that we would find a solution before we landed. After researching accommodation, I realized that St. Lucia was filled with plenty of luxury resorts with some options for affordable accommodation (** or *** hotels at less than $100 per night) that were going quickly. I didn’t book anything as Pierre asked me to trust him and assured me that he would take care of it. At this point, I thought we would be camping on the beach. Pierre pulled through, and we were able to snag a 4-night stay at a luxury villa in exchange for a written article and photos that would be published in an online magazine. Pierre had previously exchanged his photography and website creation services for accommodation in Taiwan, but this was the first time that I benefited from it!

MARCH 2017 – Another Work for Travel gig – this time in Tulum Mexico. Pierre was hired to shoot a weekend workshop with free accommodation + an extra 2 nights post workshop in order to enjoy the sights and sounds. I quickly jumped on the opportunity to join Pierre and purchased tickets to Mexico. We came to the realization that we could easily get used to this setup.

APRIL 2017 – I finished reading a book that was given to me by one of the Tulum workshop organizers entitled “Home Sweet Anywhere”. It was written by a 70-year old who lost her husband to Alzheimer’s disease. She reconnects with her high-school sweetheart, and they both decide to sell their homes to live around the world together. They stayed 1-3 months in various cities around the world and her book outlines this journey. This was the FIRST travel book that really spoke to me as I have never had the desire to backpack around the world and move from place to place every two nights. I loved the idea of settling in different countries for longer periods of time. After reading this book, I didn’t want to have to wait until I am 70 years olds. Plus, I thought it would be nicer to do something like this with my current husband Pierre.

MAY 2017 – Our one-year least in NYC was up. Taking up another lease would require another yearly investment into the NYC rental market – another $36,000 out of our pockets. The more we searched for next apartment, the more we started to question if we belonged in NYC. We ended up finding a great apartment based in Downtown, Brooklyn with one of the most amazing views of the city skyline that we have seen to date. However, the apartment was only available for 3 months in the summer. We took this as a sign.

During the period to follow, we contemplated greatly about whether we should make the move. In the end, we came to a consensus that the universe was pushing us in a certain direction and that now was the best time to take on such a project.

That leads me to today. I’m sitting on a sailboat docked in a marina on the Greek island of Samos, writing this blog post to you at 12:48 am. I’m fatigued from the week that brought us here, but I somehow can’t stop smiling. *Originally published on September 10, 2017* from https://bytrins.com/quitting-job-see-world/

If you could live the life of your dreams for a year, what would you do?

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