I’ve been back home in Houston for two weeks now.
Two weeks, following the three months that I spent backpacking solo around Central America and the ten days after that in Canada with my family.
Having spent the past several months salsa dancing in Guatemala, riding motorbikes in Nicaragua, scuba diving in Honduras, and skiing in Canada, I’ve found myself in a bit of a funk since arriving back home to Texas.
My part-time remote work for my old boss ended in December along with my travels, so lately I’ve found myself jobless, broke, and lacking in adventure and excitement.
To put it simply, I’ve come down with a case of the post-travel blues, and it’s been hard to shake.
Being unemployed and penniless is fine when you’re on the backpacker trail. Not only is everyone else in the same boat as you, but you’ve got plenty of money to cover your cheap day-to-day expenses, and all thoughts of “the real world” are a million miles away.
But when you return home from those long trips, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed with how behind you are compared to all of your peers.
Not to mention…what if you still have NO idea what you want to do with your life? What if you don’t feel any closer to understanding your passion or your calling in regards to your career? How do you even begin looking for a job in that situation?
These are the types of questions I’ve found myself asking for the past two weeks. Some days have been filled with inspiration and motivation, while others have been filled with self-pity and doubt.
Luckily for me, those more “inspired” days have pulled through: I’ve figured out what I want to do with my life (at least for now) and I could not be more pumped about it!
At some point, I realized that my “case of the blues” had been caused by one thing, and one thing only: I wasn’t ready to stop making travel a priority just yet. Although I was, in many ways, happy to be home and ready to start figuring out a more “grown up” way to make travel a big part of my life (i.e. not quitting my job and running off to Nicaragua…again) I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel completely and go back into a job like the one I had before.
So, I started thinking: there has to be a job out there that will allow me to express my passion for travel and culture, while still paying me a livable full-time salary, right?
And then it hit me.
I started searching as soon as I had my little realization, and immediately found a handful of options in my area. There was one in particular that stood out as a viable option, so I checked their careers page…and they were actually hiring!
I submitted my application on a Tuesday, interviewed on a Friday, received an employment offer on a Sunday, and accepted on a Monday.
As of today, I now have the joint role of Marketing Director and Travel Advisor at a top travel agency here in Houston!!!
My new job is to literally plan trips and talk about travel all day.
As Marketing Director, I’ll be handling all aspects of marketing for the agency, including bringing in new business, managing social media accounts, writing blog posts, and other marketing/advertising/sales tasks.
As a Travel Advisor, I’ll be working with customers to create custom travel itineraries, making use of all of the new connections and resources I’ll have within the travel industry.
The way I see it, it’s the best of both worlds. This job will allow me the opportunity to be creative and to explore my passion for traveling.
There may even be a familiarization trip or two thrown my way if I’m lucky 😉
While many people (i.e. my closest friends and family) believe that the need for travel agents is long gone, I’m not so sure. I’m excited to learn more about this side of the travel industry, get my foot in the door, and start making some connections. More than that, I’m excited to start helping people plan their trips of a lifetime!
In other news, I’ve decided to start offering sponsorship opportunities on The Wandering Blonde!
As of today, you can now become a featured blog on this site, and have your banner ad appear in my sidebar. The advertising options range from $5 to $15 per month (what a steal, eh?) and can be found on my newly created Advertise page.
I’m super excited to be offering this new feature, and can’t wait to start promoting great travel blogs to my audience!
…Oh, and my travel plans for 2016?
To be honest, I’m not quite there yet.
The only thing I’ve really been sure of since I returned home is that while I absolutely adored my first long-term solo backpacking trip, three months is probably the longest I’ll ever be comfortable leaving home for.
While the experiences and memories made were incredible, it was more challenging than I expected to stay on top of work, keep important relationships warm, and generally put life on hold while I was gone.
That said, I have no immediate plans to take any trips spanning multiple months in the near future.
For me, incorporating travel into my life is all about balance. Now that I have a new (incredibly cool) job to look forward to, I’ll probably be looking at multiple shorter trips throughout the year.
Specifically, I’d love to take a short summer trip to Europe, and I’d also like to make it a point to see more destinations within the USA this year.
On the wish list so far is New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, and locations throughout Texas. I’ll be kick-starting my Texas travels with a short trip to Austin this weekend for my 24th birthday! Breakfast tacos, food trucks, antique shops, and hipsters, here I come!
That’s what’s new in my world! What big changes are headed your way in 2016?
Congrats on the new job! I used to be a travel agent about 10 years ago back in Australia, which was a job I loved, but ended up leaving to move overseas to Japan. It was so much fun planning trips for people though, and I still love doing it today!
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Thanks! That’s great to hear that you loved it–I’m looking forward to getting started!
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
1000 congratulations to you! I’ve not yet been on a month-or-more-long trip but I still get post travel blues. I can’t imagine what that felt like for you! But HELL YES to you figuring out how to make it work. How cool does that new position sound? You rock!
I’m heading to New Orleans for the second time in February. This time it’ll be for Mardi Gras! Have you been before? I think it’s so wonderful! I’m also headed to Denver in March. So it looks like we’ve got similar taste. 🙂
Thanks so much!! And no, I’ve never been to New Orleans! I’ve actually never been to a lot of really cool places in the US, so I’m hoping to change that this year!
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
Congratulations on your new job, it’s sounds ace!
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Thanks, I’m hoping I’ll love it!
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
Hi. I can definitely relate to the post travel blues funk kinda thing. In fact last month, I wrote a post titled “Christmas Funk”. I definitely was feeling blah, even until right now. I just couldn’t get my act together, we couldn’t work, not that we don’t have jobs because we do, it’s just that they didn’t need us so we got called off 90% for the month of December, even up till now. So no money definitely coming in and yet, the bills keep on piling up. And that can be hard. So I had to sacrifice/compromise my dreams of travel nursing for the meantime in exchange for a more stable job locally. It is great that you found a job that satisfies your wanderlust and at the same time, pays your bills. We can’t be all penniless travelers, can’t we? Good luck!
Thanks for sharing, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one! You’re right, finding a job that pays the bills is definitely important. Being broke was fine on the road, but not so fine here haha.
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
That’s so exciting about your new job! It sounds like the perfect way for you to incorporate your passion while still making a living. Happy early birthday, and have a blast celebrating in Austin!
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Thanks so much!! I’m hoping it works out for the best!
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
Congratulations, your new job sounds perfect for you! While I love travel I don’t think I would like months of travel at a time, I like my routine, but traveling frequently that is the dream.
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Thanks girl! And yeah, traveling for months at a time was great this one time, but I think it’s probably the last time for me. I’m so happy I did it, but at the same time I think it’ll help me appreciate the shorter trips even more (since now I’m more sure about what I prefer).
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
Your new opportunity sounds amazing!! And I hope you have fun over here in Austin this weekend, the weather is supposed to be perfection!!
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Woohoo, I can’t wait to be back in Austin!
Kelly | The Wandering Blonde recently posted…New Year, New Beginnings, New Directions
Congratulations! It sounds like you got a job that is right up your ally! How exciting!!
Thanks so much!! I’m super excited to see how it goes!
Kelly, this is fantastic! It’s so funny that you went and did this, because I went and did the exact same thing – I also applied for a Travel Consultant position! Such a great way to incorporate the balance of a job and travel, all wrapped into one 🙂 Good for you!
Amanda | Lesson Plans & Layovers recently posted…What I Miss Most About the Highlands of Scotland
Thanks Amanda!! I’m really excited to see how it turns out!
We always love reading your blog. Congrats on your new job! It will suit you perfectly since you’ve already had a lot of experience with traveling. Enjoy Austin this weekend and have a lovely birthday sweet grand-daughter! Very proud of you! Love, granny & grandpa
Thank you both so much! Love you too!!
What a lovely turn of events! I think it’s fantastic when one passion can feed another and feed back to the first. Hopefully your new job will inspire and invigorate you for the next time you can get out on the road!
Thanks! That’s exactly what I’m hoping for! 🙂
Love this, I can certainly relate to some of those feelings! Best wishes with your new job x
Thanks Emma!!
Congrats, Kelly! The new job sounds like an amazing fit. And I think the benefits of short term trips are sometimes overlooked–the next state over can be an adventure within itself. 🙂 That being said, this upstate NY-raised/New England-living girl would really like to make it to Austin or New Orleans very soon!
Thanks Paige! I’m really looking forward to some of these shorter trips this year 🙂