Following the "Eat Pray Love" book/movie phenomenon I'm sure a ton of women out there are plotting ways to quit their job and travel the world in search of love, enlightenment, adventure, and more. It's actually been a goal of mine to travel the world for awhile since I was a little kid really. I'm hoping by the time I'm 30 I'll have a nice little global adventure planned :-)
If you're a little more eager than I am to get your "Eat Pray Love" on then check out these 12 steps from Barbara Singer the author of "Living Without Reservations". Singer, who has lived in both the Caribbean and Italy, provides tips on how to both prepare and make the most of your "Eat Pray Love" experience.
1. Get Ready Mentally. Your attitude is far more important than the check book balance. Focus 100% on creating the lifestyle that you want. Be acutely aware of how you are spending your time and money...Quit all organizations, commitments. Create a totally different home environment -turn off the TV, turn on your favourite music, open the windows, eat your meals outside and de-clutter. Change up your daily routine and spend time walking or biking alone in nature. Plan your strategy.
2. Liquidate your home. Rent it to someone else or sell it. The goal is to travel light. You will be renting a room from someone else somewhere in the world (perhaps even several times a year in different locations), so all your possessions need to fit into a bedroom.
3. Get Rid of Your Car. Stop your car lease or car payments sell it then buy something under $5,000 and put the minimum insurance required by your state. You will cut 2 bills with this one move. Most of the time, your car will just sit, unused while you are out of the country.
4. Stop all re-occurring monthly charges. If you don’t spend it, you won’t have to earn it. Stop all services like cable TV, lawn care, pool care, cleaning service, car detailing, beauty treatments, all memberships, and classes.
5. Forget about Security and Responsibilities. Security doesn’t exist. It is a big lie. All kinds of unexpected events can change our lives in second- like a heart attack, car accident, getting fired, or divorced. Live today joyfully rather than spending time, energy and money on days that may never come.
6. Get Healthy. Since you will be living and travelling abroad, you need to be in good shape. Get off all medications and get in your correct weight category. Look toward alternative medicine if need be. Buy catastrophic health insurance with a big deductible and shop around for the best price. The healthy you are, the cheaper your monthly rate.
7. Get Mobile. Get a laptop and learn to get all the information about your finances and other important things on line. Stop every piece of paper mail and learn how to get what you need from anywhere in the world. Get a Post Office box at Mailboxes Ect. And have them forward you the mail every so often.
8. Living Without a 9-5 Job. Focus on the gift of exchange.You may not have money, but you have something much more valuable, time and talent. Practice thinking of ways to get what you need without using money. Always give more than you receive in cash value. Do your best and think win/win. I trade you this X and you give my Y.
9. Work on the Road. Work when it’s right, then make it last as long as you can. That’s my motto. You work in season in the states and then travel wherever you want until it is time to work again. If you have skills you can freelance your self online anywhere. If you don’t, you can still find good paying tipping jobs at restaurants and resorts at during high season for a few months in destination towns (e.g., Aspen or Key West). Then you can fly to Italy or the Carribean, rent a room for a month at a time, and go on from there.
10. Make Your Plans and Study Now. You may simply want to move to someplace new and get set up for the first time. You can do that. If you have a particular country in mind, apply for a visa before you quit your job and travel...Tons of resources at your fingertips. Work for a resort company. Work for the National Park system (Campworkers.com), find unique opportunities at Caretakergazette.com or work on boat and be paid crew (Crewfinder.com or 7knots.com), or be a live in nanny or teacher and travel with an International family (nanny services).
11. Making a Living on the Road. You don’t have to plan out the rest of your life. Break it down into little chunks. Rent a room for a month at time or plan to stay in an area for a season. If you decide to go touring you can keep costs low by staying in hostels (no longer just for youths!). There are also organizations that offer assistance to travelers, pensiones, and home stays like serva.org. Americans can even travel and work in places like American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and other places without any additional papers.
12. Be Helpful And Be Useful. - Visit without mooching - If you are lucky and have friends and family in places you want to visit, go see them, and be useful. Offer you talents. Offer your time. Work freely and wholeheartedly.