To travel or to take dream job

rgdrfgdf

Quite surprisingly my dream job presented itself all of two months ago and i took it.
I'm 25 and up to then i'd be doing all sorts of things in Ireland but never travelled as I was too wrapped up in the whole work to pay bills/rent/booze thing but here I am having gotten the job and i'm thinking when exactly will i be able to do the whole asia/oz thing for 12 months if im now on the career path/ Path to responsibility lark.
Don't get me wrong i love the job but i can't help thinking im going to miss out..unless i do it at some point in the future.
Anyone been in my shoes?..what would you have done, postponed dream job and travelled or taken job like me and hope to do it within the next 5 years before kiddies and all that arrive?!
Anyone ditch their stable job and take a risk in their late 20's by heading off to oz or whatever?
How were things when you got back-Good or bad move?

Civilian_Target

I ditched age 21. Ask if you can take a year's leave. There's no harm in asking, and the likelyhood is they'll take you back after a year anyway.

It changed me, thats for sure, but should I have taken it, that's a question I still can't answer. I just dunno. The financial and sensible side says it was a waste of time but I really enjoyed it. If you do take it, make sure you're happy taking it, or you will regret doing so.

Tom Dunne

Common sense tells you to stick with the job, the settled life and general happiness.

However, you may regret it later if you don't do it. If the thought is even in your mind now, go for it. You don't want to look back in your early thirties and regret not doing something.

I know of two people who were in the same boat. One threw up the job, travelled for 18 months, thoroughly enjoyed it and has no regrets. The other, didn't do anything and is now looking back with regret.

I would say go for it.

jimmidy_cricket

All I can say is different strokes for different folks, to travel may be the best thing to ever happen you, you could however come back to nothing but thats the risk of life, is it really living if your not taking chances?

June last year (2004) I was offered a promotion from reception to Front office manager. I turned it down, I wanted to travel (actually the prospect of having a real job, a career if you will frightned the bejesus out of me so I decided I'd go travelling, I was 23) I booked my tickets the next day and travelled solo to the other side of the world three months later...The most ridicolus thing I have ever done in my life, and I'd do it again, it was harder than I could ever have imagined but I did it and lasted 8 months before coming home to witness my sisters pregnancy of my first neice (I also ran out of money and missed friends I had made on my travels who had moved on).

I came back to nothing, my friends aren't the same people that I left behind, although I still love them to bits, its just not the same. I had to move home till I got a job...the horror! and y'know what? Everything worked out fine, I landed a job as conference and banqueting manager, way better than the promotion I turned down last year! I'm renting a small room in a 2 bed flat but I'm seriously considering buying a place to rent out before I go travelling again, they say that once you start its like a disease that you never fully recover from, you might settle for a year or maybe even two but when the bugs got you all you can think is wheres next?

Now apologies in advance for being a bit morbid here but supposing you stick with the great job and a year or two down the line you meet your maker, are you going to think to yourself "Ah yes I'm very pleased with my life and the good job and salary etc. etc." or will you think "Dammit, what the hell was I thinking, theres a whole world out there why didn't I go explore it?"

You know yourself whats right for you, but if you have the means to do it then go for it, its the kind of thing you really would regret not doing. The amount of thirty somethings that tell me, "I wish I went travelling" and they regret it so much, theres not many backpackers that regret not staying in Ireland landing a good job and buying a house, although alot of them wish thay had a place they could've rented out while they were away but still I bet'cha there isn't a single backpacker that'd give up their experiences for a settled life, I know I wouldn't!

If you do decide to go and would like some advice I'd be more than happy to help you out. So feel free to PM me or what ever.:)

grahamor

just go travelling, there will be other jobs when you come back. Travelling will be one of the best things you will ever do, so many new experiences, a few of mine below:

drove 3500k in a camper van from Melbourne to Perth
3 bungee jumps in one day in New Zealand
got laid on a beach in fiji beside a camp fire
did a dive, a skydive and snowboarding and sandboarding for the first time.
experienced the hottest day ever for me (52C, ok it was too hot !)
Met the girl of my dreams who i am still with now.

and tons of other things.

Just do it, you WILL regret it if you dont.

whiskeyman

you're only 25. That's still very young.
If I were you, I'd take the dream job.
You'll get more experience from it, but you'll also learn if this "dream job" really is it.
I know a few people who took their "dream jobs" but it wasnt what they thought it was going to be like.

Take the job... get more experience and dosh.... then you'll be laughing when you travel... you should do this around 28 or 29.

I wish I was in your situation Best of luck!

LegacyUser

alot of people are under the impression that you have to travel before your late 20's!

i'm 29, have a v good job, am getting a bit sick of it at the mo, so i will probably make a move in the next year or so. luckly i can take a years sebaticle here.

friend of mine, 33, traveled round the world last year, she had a ball.

if you plan on having kids and marrige by your late 20's then fair enough.

jimmidy_cricket

grahamor wrote:

just go travelling, there will be other jobs when you come back. Travelling will be one of the best things you will ever do, so many new experiences, a few of mine below:

drove 3500k in a camper van from Melbourne to Perth
3 bungee jumps in one day in New Zealand
got laid on a beach in fiji beside a camp fire
did a dive, a skydive and snowboarding and sandboarding for the first time.
experienced the hottest day ever for me (52C, ok it was too hot !)
Met the girl of my dreams who i am still with now.

and tons of other things.

Just do it, you WILL regret it if you dont.

A little off topic here sorry...

I too traveled in a van, except from Perth to Sydney and I met a guy in Perth who I'm also still with now, best bloke in the world and treats me like a princess. I wonder does that happen alot of people?

sweetbeat

dream jobs don't come around everyday. If it really is a dream job, they'll give you some vacation time.