Looking back, what I remember the most about my life in the cubicle was the utter boredom. Back before I started traveling, I worked in hospital administration: first in inpatient assistance (I was the guy that greeted patient families when they came onto the units) and then in the administration office of the surgery department. There were five people in my office (all older than me), and I spent most of my days on MySpace and Friendster or reading the news. (When I came back from my first trip in 2008 and returned to the world of hospital administration, it was the boredom and large amount of downtime that led me to create my website.)
Back then, every day felt the same — and I felt stale and uninspired.
“What am I doing wrong?” I would wonder. “After all, I work, go to the gym, go out on the weekends, and have good friends and hobbies. Isn’t this the dream?”
But something was missing. A piece of the puzzle wasn’t there. I felt like the guy from the movie Office Space. My mother used to say it was because I was in a job I didn’t love. Once I found a passion, “work would be more than work.”
It turned out she was right.
But I don’t buy into the idea that “you can find your passion” by sitting down with a pen and paper and thinking, “OK, I’m going to write down my passion and just do that.”
I think you stumble onto your passion.
You go out and live life and then realize: “this is the thing that lights my fire the most.”
Years ago, I knew a girl in Thailand whose uncle fell terribly ill. He was in the hospital in Bangkok, and we were all unsure if he would make it. My friend, a former marketing manager from NYC, realized while she was caring for her uncle that that was what she was passionate about. When her trip was over, instead of going back to her old job, she went to school to become a nurse.
My friend Matt recently got into gardening. He and his wife love growing their own food. With every new season, he finds himself more drawn to farming issues, land use, and gardening, and less interested in his law practice. So much so that, after his wife finishes her doctorate, they are looking for a town for her to teach in where they can buy a farm and he can become a farmer.
The same happened to me. Once I started traveling, I found out that what I wanted to live for was travel. That was my passion.
When I first started traveling, everyone thought I was crazy for giving up on the American dream. But I had discovered that the American dream didn’t fit in with me. I was a circle trying to fit into a square hole. While there are many people who are fine with office work from 9 to 5, I realized am not one of those people.
It’s when we start living our life that we find the stuff we love doing.
If you are unhappy or daydream your life away but want amazing things, you have to make a change. You have to get out there.
You can’t win the game of life if you don’t play it.
Sitting at home watching Netflix isn’t going to change anything. You won’t lose weight if you don’t work out. You won’t meet people if you stay at home. You won’t find your mate if you never go on a date. You’ll never know if you can do more if you don’t push yourself.
Life happens outside your door. And it is something you have to participate in!
The day I quit my job was the day I moved closer to living the life I wanted. When I started my blog, I took another step forward.
Every day I take one more step — from reading 10 minutes longer, to cooking dinner, to signing up for archery classes (the Hunger Games are coming), to biting the bullet and booking that cheap flight I found.
My life isn’t going to change unless I make it happen.
Neither will yours.
And then once you stumble upon what it is you love, pursue it with vigor……because there’s nothing worse than a wasted dream!
TF
Good for you.
The other thing, though, is to each his own. I am more like you, craving adventure and seeing the world. I have friends, though, who are homebodies. They have uninspiring jobs that pay the bills and they devote themselves to friends and family. And that is OK, too. What is not OK is living somebody else’s dream, whether it’s pushed on you by parents, friends or the media.
Marina
I love travelling as well, but I can’t see myself actually getting a job travelling. I guess it’s that mental block of really quitting your job and finding yourself travelling with your last dollar that scares me.
Connor Hamilton
Hey Marina!
It’s all about what YOU want in life. I thought the exact same thing, it’s terrifying to abandon everything you have and throw reason and logic to the wayside to see the world. Not to mention the dirty looks and judgement you will get from everybody around you.
You have to know that travelling itself will teach you so many lessons, more than working any 9-5 will. I even outlined them in a blog post (link in name).
Also, I love the blog. I’ve heard Iceland is an amazing place to explore.
NomadicMatt
It’s not about working in travel. Do whatever it is your heart desires. I mean of course travel can help you figure out what you want but all that matters in the end is doing what it is you want and making things happen! Whatever that may be!
Leah
Inspiring words, Matt! I have a really hard time picturing you in a hospital administration job. You LOOK like a traveler to me, and it\’s obvious that\’s what makes you light up from the inside. People who\’ve stumbled upon that thing they\’re passionate about have a certain glow about them.
Frank
Exactly, Leah. In order to stumble you have to be stepping out. And once they’ve stepped out people are likely to stumble across any number of things they are not passionate about before stumbling upon a something that lights their fire and puts air under their wings. If we don’t step out and try something we will never stumble across anything; and never know what was possible and what might have been.
NomadicMatt
Agree with both of you! 🙂
Chi Hang
Everyone has a dream, but if you just dreaming then it doesn’t come true if you don’t try to do t.
Leanne
I’m only 19 here but I’d still like some advice. My first job (17-18-years-old) I took some time off here and there to travel with my family. 7 months in they fired me for being unreliable. I now have a different job however I’m terrified of taking any kind of time off because of what happened before. I will admit that I would be somewhat okay if they did fire me but that isn’t really ideal. Also, don’t really want to add that one to my resume for the future, you know? Anyone have any advice to where I could travel a little and still work a normal job or is that just not possible?
Mary True
Working in education worked great for me. I had my 3 weeks of paid vacation, but I got about 3 more weeks in holidays for local adventuring. I managed to visit most of Central America, France, Thailand and Greece and Turkey 3 weeks at a time. I am now retired in Hawaii. Life is good…
Jill
Become a nurse. The schooling can be as short as two years. You’ll likely have to work a year or two at a regular job to gain experience but then you can become a traveler. Traveling RNs usually work 13 week contracts then take as much time off as you want! No PTO though so you have to know how to budget.
FDV
This is so true !
When you found the job you love, you don’t really work anymore 🙂
Stephanie Craig
Agreed. You can’t find a passion if you haven’t exposed yourself to it.
Laura
I love this! I’ve finally decided to start playing, and so I’m moving to China in March to teach! Your blog has really helped me in my preparation, so thanks a lot for the inspiration! x
NomadicMatt
That’s awesome! I’m glad to have helped! Hope you have an amazing time in China!
JB
I’ll be honest with you Matt. I haven’t read too much from your blog but your last couple of posts have really resonated with me. Back when I had a 9 to 5 job, it was my dream to work remotely and have clients from all over the globe (I’m a graphic/web designer). I’ve since achieved that and have been working that way for the past 8 years. But that dream I once had is no longer my dream. I don’t have the drive to do commercial design work for other people anymore. Traveling and my blog are my passion now and I want to do it full time. I’m just afraid to let go of the security I built for so long and take that step into the unknown like you did. It takes courage, a willfulness that I’m not finding just yet. But I hope to soon because I’m 42 and I don’t want to live the rest of my life bored. Thanks for the inspiring words.
NomadicMatt
JB, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Glad this post has inspired you to break out and do something!
Karin
The “American Dream” is definitely not being trapped in a cubical, sitting at a desk and answering a phone all day! Unfortunately that is the nightmare I am living now. I can’t quit my job because I need the income, I would also lose my pension and health insurance if I quit. I have time off to travel but cannot afford it. When I first read your blog, your life sounded like mine – working a job that you’re not happy with, and having the dream of traveling. I also have the dream of traveling. I recently started a blog of my own, with the focus on horseback riding vacations. I’ve been on a few, and hope to add more to my blog in the future. It’s just raising the funds. I’m looking for other streams of income – including monetizing my blog, airbnb hosting, and freelance writing to fund my future travels.
NomadicMatt
Wish you the best of luck in achieving those dreams! If you work towards them, they always become a reality.
Jade Gower
Hi Matt,
Great blog! Absolutely agree… I felt the same way with my previous work – totally unfulfilled. But I took the leap of faith, resigned and spent the past 18months in Central America. Initially, I was disappointed… My life didn’t automatically transform. I didn’t wake up and run on the beach, or meditate in the afternoons. In fact, life in Central America was starting to mirror my life back home. That’s when I realized you have to do more. It’s a conscious decision to constantly move your life in the direction you want. Take one step and expecting everything to fall into place, just wont work. It’s about commitment! It’s not easy, but it’s absolutely worth it!
NomadicMatt
Nothing worth doing is ever easy, right? 🙂
Janet
It’s interesting. What you want in life is always evolving. The trick is, to balance it all out so that each stage is fulfilling. I used to wander and crave change of scenery and country a lot more than I do now. And I made it happen. But, as I’ve moved further along in life with a family and such, I find I am happy to grow roots in one place. It’s Alaska, so technically to see it/experience it, we have to go long distances. But I’m content to stay relatively put. Never thought I’d say it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Chris
Beautiful picture wish I knew where that was. There’s a lot to see in this country. I just started following your blog and looking forward facing about the places you go.
Backpacking Panda
Thanks Matt…
Your posts are always inspiring and motivating. We all need to remember, if we want to change something, we have to act to achieve it.
It reminds me to keep living my life the way I want it, without paying attention to what others may think.
Bert
I have nothing more to say than good for you. You are 100% right. You don’t know until you take the leap. Amazing that you did what so many of us are afraid to do and chased what you thought may be a passion. Could you have failed? Absolutely. But you went for it, chased your travel bug, and validated that you love to travel. This sums it all:
“If you are unhappy or daydream your life away but want amazing things, you have to make a change. You have to get out there.
You can’t win the game of life if you don’t play it.”
Thanks for the great and inspiring read!
Bert, One of the Dividend Diplomats
Whitney
Matt, there\’s certainly something to be said for the timing of things – like me stumbling upon this blog post. 🙂 I\’m on the edge of calling my corporate life quits after 5 years of gradually feeling more and more unfulfilled. I honestly feel like my internal \”spark\” is gone, as though my day-to-day of answering hundreds of emails, attending pointless meetings, and generally doing work that I could care less about has sucked the life right out of me.
It\’s funny how going against the \”American Dream\” can be so tricky, my head constantly asking for my plans once I\’m unemployed, with no income, no health insurance, no 401K, no pension, no \”home\”….but my heart reminding me of the adventure and life that\’s out there asking to be lived. I hope I have the courage you did to leave it all behind and take that leap into better things.
Julie
This is true. Exploring outside your comfort zone also sometimes makes us appreciate what we already have and love it more, or at least see that the grass isn’t always greener, which can be just as valuable and wonderful as moving on to something brand new.
Cat
I really like this post. i am very skeptical of all these blogs that make out that you can just leave reality behind and live the dream but the advice you give here is modest but spot on.
Obviously (to me) if you know your dream stop pissing around and grab it. However it will be difficult to impossible for most people to find their passion in life. As you say the only way you can keep searching is to change things, try new things, get out there. NEVER allow yourself to stagnate. I am in my mid forties and have had an interesting life but I have never found a passion. There are difficult times but I always regroup and keep trying to live life to the full as best I can.
It is morbid but remember that life is finite and the older you get the faster the years rush by. Think about being old and reflecting on your life in your last few years. Do you want to be tortured by a wasted life or look back with satisfaction on a life well lived?
Jon Espina
Hi Matt,
I wish I can also have a job that is so boring and has a lot of downtime so I can have time working on my blog. Haha!
But seriously, my job right now is literally killing me with workload. Like our bosses are like looking at us each day checking out who’s gonna pass out first. I’m always exhausted by the time I go home late at night, that If I wanted to write and work on the blog, I really don’t have enough energy anymore.
but the good thing is, I know my passion. And it’s traveling and writing, so no matter how difficult my life can be especially with my work, I will continue to blog and travel. I will continue to fight for my dreams.
just like what you said, “there’s nothing worse than a wasted dream.”
Regards,
Jon
Garedine
Hi Matt,
I just want to tell you how much I love your content.
It’s so inspiring and it is what I always wanted to do, to inspire people to travel.
I live in Singapore and I have a lot of friends who is telling me the same thing. The like the fact that I always get to travel and how envious they were but they just didn’t dare to take the step.
Anyways, keep doing what you’re doing!
Cheers!