I used to work as a sightseeing guide in New York City. Every day, I watched thousands of excited travelers march into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They had giant smiles at 9:00 AM. By noon? They looked like zombies. They were dragging their feet. Their eyes were glazed over. They were snapping at their…
I remember exactly how spring felt when I worked a traditional 9-to-5 office job. I used to sit at my desk, looking out the window as the weather warmed up in New York. I would watch people walk by in light jackets and think, “I want to be somewhere else.” I spent years following the…
I know exactly how you feel right now. You are staring at your screen, dreaming of a trip, but your brain is spinning. Summer is the busiest time to travel. The flights are expensive. The streets are crowded. The sun is hot. And if you are going alone, the idea of figuring it all out…
For a long time, those four words terrified me. When I first left my traditional 9-to-5 office job in New York, I knew I wanted to travel. I wanted to see the world. But the thought of sitting by myself in a nice restaurant made my stomach tie up in knots. I would grab a…
I used to spend my days in a gray cubicle, staring at a computer screen and wishing I was anywhere else. I played the corporate game for a while, but my heart was always looking for an escape. Before that desk job, I worked as a sightseeing guide in New York City. I spent my…
I remember the exact moment I realized I had to change my life. I was sitting at a gray desk in my 9-to-5 corporate job, eating a cold, sad sandwich from a plastic box. I had limited vacation days. I had a rigid routine. And I was deeply unhappy. I dreamed of eating hot noodles…
I used to hate the cold. Back when I lived in New York and worked as a sightseeing guide, my days were spent standing outside in the freezing January wind. I would wear three pairs of socks, shift my weight from foot to foot on the icy pavement, and watch tourists complain about the weather….
There was a time, back when I was sitting at a gray cubicle in a New York office, when the idea of spending the holidays alone felt like a failure. Society told me that Christmas was meant to be spent with a large family, huddled around a dinner table, surrounded by piles of wrapping paper….
I remember the exact moment I realized I wasn’t cut out for the office life. I was sitting at my desk in New York, staring at a spreadsheet, when I caught a glimpse of a travel documentary playing on a screen across the room. It showed the rugged, red earth of Australia’s Northern Territory. I…