Reality Check Needed

[Street Pharmacist]

I took my wife on our honeymoon to the places of been in Europe when I traveled through there when I was 19/20.



It sucked. Nothing was the same as it was 10+ years ago when I was young and dumb

[GreenLantern]

I would go the opposite route, intricate lie. Spin a web of lies that would make even George Costanza proud.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Jonrox

Keep in mind a lot of the people telling you to take the trip did their traveling when they were younger than you and a lot less established. It's easy for them to say take the trip because they weren't risking much by doing it so early.

You said yourself "things are good". There's a lot of people that can't say the same and it's a huge risk to potentially throw away the goodness and come back to the unknown. For sure, the trip may be life-altering but are you prepared in case the life you come back to isn't as good as when you left it? The grass is always greener isn't it?

I know people that take amazing, life-altering 1-week trips all over the world with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. There are ways to have life expanding experiences without having to risk your future. You just need to open your mind to the opportunities.

Although, not being from Calgary it's very interesting to see the confidence (bordering on arrogance) about the ability to find amazing, stable careers so easily. I guess Toronto really isn't the centre of the universe, it seems that title now goes to Calgary.

I did my trip when I was 30, had a mortgage, full time job and a pet. I made it work. I quit my job, rented my condo and my mother took my cat for the year. Everybody takes a different path in life and I think this thread shows that everybody thinks differently about this type of trip. I am "PRO" worth go on the trip because I know what it did for me.

That said I can also respect why others would question giving everything up to do something like this, It can be scary as hell stepping outside the box and into the unknown.

Do you fall back or leap in?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I took my wife on our honeymoon to the places of been in Europe when I traveled through there when I was 19/20.



It sucked. Nothing was the same as it was 10+ years ago when I was young and dumb

I have a vision of you trying to convince you wife it would be awesome to go drinking all night and try to pick up chicks.....I have no idea why.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I would go the opposite route, intricate lie. Spin a web of lies that would make even George Costanza proud.

That is great advice. He could send emails from elsewhere in the world, and they would populate at crazy times of the night in people's mailboxes.

"Damn see Worth was up working at 3 am. That boy deserves a raise,"

[lazypucker]

I know a couple people who had pretty cushy jobs right after graduation, worked a few years, then said "F- that" and quit to go teach English in Asia.

They came back a few years later, and their careers were never the same again. They have lost their Canadian work history as they went overseas for a long while. They are now working at entry-level low end jobs that are totally irrelevant to their education. In fact, one of them came back for a year, cannot find suitable employment, working temp jobs, and now went back to Asia and he will probably never come back to Canada for work.

What I try to say is that if you decide to quit your current life and venture out for a long period, when you come back, prepare to start your life from scratch...

[Hockeyguy15]

I'm going to play a different card here, obviously you are always going to have people second guess you whatever you decide to do. I think the biggest thing is you have to man up and just make the decision you are happier with and stop trying to listen to what other people say.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by fotze

I would agree with the sentiment of this for this case, but another good lesson in life is that whenever anyone's advice contains the phrase "man up", look elsewhere for advice.

What if it is for the boys? Nothing bad ever happens as long as it is "for the boys"

[blankall]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I know a couple people who had pretty cushy jobs right after graduation, worked a few years, then said "F- that" and quit to go teach English in Asia.

They came back a few years later, and their careers were never the same again. They have lost their Canadian work history as they went overseas for a long while. They are now working at entry-level low end jobs that are totally irrelevant to their education. In fact, one of them came back for a year, cannot find suitable employment, working temp jobs, and now went back to Asia and he will probably never come back to Canada for work.

What I try to say is that if you decide to quit your current life and venture out for a long period, when you come back, prepare to start your life from scratch...

This is a different scenario than the OP. You are talking about people with 2-4 years experience who took multiple years off. The OP has 9 years of experience and is only planning 1 year off. His experience will still be worth something when he gets back, and I'm sure he'll be able to find some job without having to start from scratch. The issue is whether he will get this opportunity for training/management again.

[automaton 3]

I'd wait and see if you are accepted into the course at Rice first. That opportunity might not come up again, and may open doors for you down the road whether you choose to stay with this company or not.

If you aren't accepted, you can still leave and never have to wonder "what if".

Edited to add: good luck with your decision, and hopefully the answer becomes clear.

[Rutuu]

Wait...let me get this straight:
1. They're going to pay for you to go to Rice in Houston for a year?
2. Do you have to work during this period?

If you have money saved, and are going to be around University aged girls all day at Rice you're going to hate yourself for missing that.

1. You're screwing your career you worked 9yrs for...I literally just met a female/male that "took a year off" from a mining company here in Australia. The mining industry turned and now both of them can't find jobs. They're both engineers too, so it should be easy. Anyway they wanted to switch to O&G, but the first thing I thought was you screwed your co-workers by just quitting one day, so what's stopping you from doing that to us. No thanks. I didn't recommend either. Nice people, but I wish them luck.
2. You're missing a MAJOR opportunity to meet the girl of your dreams. You're going to be around young (18-30yr old) girls that are smart enough to get into Rice and are low on emotional baggage. You're still close enough to home that they're a definite long term option as well.
3. Finding those girls will be more fullfilling then talking to other backpackers that just came out of Uni and are interested in "travel". Haha. I'm sure since you're 30 you've figured out some more interests. Trust me you won't be talking about politics, business, or even interesting things about the places you're seeing. You'll be taking selfies next to world landmarks then getting wasted...which is fun, but not life changing.
4. You can just go work/live in a new place too. If your company is that big they'll transfer you. You'll get a WAY better experience if you can spend more than a month in some place and make some real friends, not just meet other backpackers/travellers.

Anyway your call...

My background...I moved from Calgary O&G when I was 28 to Australia. It was a great move, but I also had dreams of just quitting and doing the same thing. Having a real job and a comfortable place to live down here is WAY better than working at the hostel bar. Trust me...since I still frequent the backpacker bars.

[jtfrogger]

You are in a great situation. You have two great opportunities in front of you. Trust your gut and run with it.

I know which one I would chose. I would travel.

I'm 39, married with a kid. Last year when our daughter was seven months old, I walked away from a good contract. I would have been renewed continuously if I wanted it. We spent about two months travelling (France & various spots in Canada), and then another three months chilling out in Calgary. I loved it.

I'm now thinking about when we will do it next. I'd like to take six months and spend the whole time in a foreign country. Our current plan is to do it on the latter half of a mat-leave again. But if it turns out that we do not have another kid, I would still like to do it.

If you don't travel now, you will have opportunities later if you want to do it. But if you don't travel now when you really don't have many excuses, I am sure you will find more reasons not to travel in the future. You will always have a great reason why it isn't a good time to travel.

Originally Posted by Jonrox

Although, not being from Calgary it's very interesting to see the confidence (bordering on arrogance) about the ability to find amazing, stable careers so easily.

Last year, I confidently left a contract job while my wife was on mat-leave, spent a fair amount of money on travel, and did substantial renovations on our condo. Lots of cost, negligible income. And I had no doubt I would find something. After spending a bit of time in various places, it became quite clear to me that there is no other place that I want to consider home than Calgary because of this. In no other place that I know would we have saved up enough money to not worry about this and also have confidence of finding a new job.

That said, it was a bit of an adjustment. Getting my mind back into the work environment at the same time as starting my daughter in day-care and my wife going back to work was difficult. It took a couple months longer to land another contract than anticipated, but I will admit that I really didn't try too hard. I did blow one interview because my mind was really not back in a work mindset. But, now I'm adjusted and going better than ever.

[worth]

I resigned my position as of March 2014. In April I will hit the road. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion CP!

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by worth

I resigned my position as of March 2014. In April I will hit the road. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion CP!

Congrats and good luck!

[surferguy]

You bought the ticket, enjoy the ride.

Congrats!

Now that the road is wide open, where are you going to go?

[worth]

Thanks guys. There are relatively cheap and accessible flights to Beijing, so I think this will be my starting point. I would really like to go to Mongolia, but would also like to spend time in South East Asia, so not sure how I can work that out.

Eventually I would like to make my way to Nepal and India and then over to Turkey. Not sure how to get to Turkey since there are a few trouble spots in the way. Perhaps I can go north into Russia and take the Trans Siberian Railroad, but I've heard Russian visas are a bit of a pain to get.

In any event, i'm very much looking forward to it.

Anyone have any tips for me?

[lazypucker]

Congrats to you Worth for making a decision. Keep us in the loop as you travel around the world! Have fun.

[Kybosh]

That's awesome. Congrats.

Some random musings to consider:
-In addition to the trans-Siberian railroad there are also extensions and slightly different lines in the trans-Manchurian and trans-Mongolian lines. Check them out on a map. One might fit with your plans.
-Russia seems to keep changing their visa requirements and I think you need some sort of "invitation" from a third party now.
-I was recently in India and the visa was pretty easy to get and lasts a long time (6 months). You can easily get it right before leaving and have it still be valid several months later. You can do it through the BLG office here in Calgary but they will send your visa and the application to the consulate in Vancouver. I loved India and would consider spending a serious amount of time there.

[habernac]

A friend recently did a bike race in Mongolia and had a great time. Barely a paved road in the place, people are hardy and friendly, sounded like a good time.

[GP_Matt]

The Russian visa wasn't too difficult to obtain but you do need that invitation letter. We got ours from the first hotel that we stayed at. We just booked a room and then asked for an invitation. It took a bit of time though and I think they need to know your dates and entry/exit points on the application.
When going to Turkey check out Pegasus Airlines. They are Turkish and have really great prices. I just looked and saw $75 from Moscow to Istanbul.