Why I Didn’t Take a Raise and Went to Travel the World Instead.

I am 32 years old, left my job for 365 days, and traveled the world with the girl I love.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsch

I once read that life is too short to stay at home. When I turned 18, I decided to see more of the world and left my parent's house.

I lived on a beautiful German island for 7 months and worked for food and accommodation only in a rehabilitation clinic.

I had to find out what makes me feel alive and gives me energy. Living by the sea changed my life. I traveled from island to island and met a lot of great people.

I have been on the road ever since but also pursued my professional career in the finance and real estate industry.

At least until one rainy day in October 2019. This is the story of my final decision :

Being the one everyone expects me to be or leaving my comfort zone and fly into the unknown.

At his point, you might be wondering how on earth did this guy manage to take 365 days off. Well, I didn’t do the saving all by myself. I paid a decent degree of the journey with profits I made by trading stocks. Here is how to start:

Germany, October 2019, 6. p.m.

It was already after six o’clock and, for once, I was the last one in the office. It was a usual rainy and foggy day in autumn. I sat in front of my desk and looked outside the window, where I saw the employee’s car park with all the cars lined up. Suddenly I recognized a voice.

Boss: “Marcus, I saw you made an appointment. What’s the matter?”

My boss is the managing director of a medium-sized company in the middle of Germany. He just turned 50 and usually wears fancy and expensive black suits. It took me a while to answer since I wasn’t prepared to talk to him on this particular evening. I didn’t even know he was in office. Well, there he was. Why did he show up?

If you are curious about how to finance a twelve-month journey around the world, I would love to share some experiences with you.

Tuesday, 10 a.m.

The reason is that I made an appointment with his secretary just a few hours earlier for the next week. “What is the reason for the appointment?” the secretary asked me.

At that point, even though we were close, she hasn’t had a clue about my plan. “Just write personal matter,” I told her and took a deep breath. She checked his calendar and gave me the earliest gap in the next week, leaving me some time to prepare myself. I returned to my desk.

I probably need to explain something. In our company, asking the boss for an appointment is pretty unusual. Normally we talk about stuff during the lunch break or just after a meeting on our way back to the desk. Asking for an appointment means serious stuff.

When you see my CV, I am a pretty random guy.

I did my high school and spent a few years studying abroad. I got two degrees from decent universities, have 2.5 years of professional experience, and archived some goals at work.

For my boss, it must have been a logical and obvious choice to ask him for a talk. He either expected me to ask for a promotion or for an interim report to prepare for my leave.

Do I want to make a career?

Why not? That would mean a nice raise in my salary.

We didn’t live badly, my mother’s old house was fully furnished. I had a small parking space for my car and a decent garden.

Unlike most of our friends, we didn’t have children or plans to marry. Well, it was decision time I guess.

With a better salary, me and my partner could move to a bigger house, buy fancy stuff like the newest Apple watch every year and eat out five times a week.

“Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.” — Paulo Coelho

But do I really want this?

Tuesday, 6:01 p. m.

Boss: “You asked for an appointment, Marcus”, my boss tried once again.

He was still standing in the doorway and continued to look at me in an attentive manner.

The moment had come. I took a deep breath and answered “Ok, but you better sit down”. His office was right next to mine, it was only a short walk and didn’t leave me much time to rethink what I was about to say:

“Ok, I’m going to say it straight away: I need to take one year off.”

Silence.

One year off equals 365 days of freedom.

I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t committed to anything or anyone for more than 3 weeks.

Since I am employed, most of my time is already scheduled, not leaving me much space to do what I love the most: to travel.

While I studied, I could at least skip a lecture or appear unprepared for a colloquium. This is unimaginable in everyday business life, which is dominated by internal and external meetings and pretty high expectations.

I wanted 365 days off. Did I ask for too much?

In Germany, we have 32 vacation days. It’s already a lot, I know.

But it comes at a price. The average working week is 43 hours, excluding overtime. However, 365 days off is roughly 11 x the yearly vacation. In other words, 365 days off are the time for 11 years of service whereby I only had been doing 2.5 years. Did I even have a chance?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” — Mark Twain

Tuesday, 6:03 p. m.

Boss: “Alright, you want to take a year off. Tell me, what do you want to do?”

At this moment he was still pretty cool. In fact, he generally is a pretty relaxed guy, but I also knew that could change quickly once the wrong subjects are raised.

I wasn’t sure if the topic was right or wrong. However, I have said it, there was no turning back.

I didn’t want to become a team leader at that time, I didn’t t want a raise, a bigger car, an interim reference to apply to other companies, and also no bigger bonus. What did I want?

I wanted time to do what I love the most: travel!

Time for me is the most precious resource we have in life and the only one we can’t get back.

I once read a book where the author interviewed people in their last days before their death. Every single one said he enjoyed most of his life when he did what he loved the most in life. Wherever it’s time with the family, charitable work, or running in the neighborhood.

What is the difference between travel and vacation?

There is a slight difference between vacation and travel. Vacation makes you feel comfortable, tries to maximize your satisfaction in a given time, and doesn’t leave you with any risk.

Travel on the other hand lets you dive deep into the culture of your destination, makes you take a lot of risks, and won’t necessarily reward you with pictures from the hottest bucket lists. Travel is best if you have a lot of time. That’s what I wanted, time to travel.

We wanted to only book a one-way flight and nothing else. We wanted to take risks, like being lost at the Cambodian border with no money, no cell phone coverage, and not a single word of Khmer to ask for help from the locals.

The idea was simple: stay if we like the place, leave if we don’t like it, and never book a place more than a week in advance.

The only things needed would be us, two backpacks and some money. Instead of the crossing of “must-visit-places”, we wanted to sit down with the locals and see their world the way they see it. Do we demand too much?

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” — Saint Augustine

Tuesday, 6:04 p.m.

“My partner and I,” I began my explanation, “want to travel the world”.

Silence.

His mood was apparently still good. On purpose?

As managing director, he was incredibly good at negotiation and could also take a break without saying anything. He probably also plays poker in his spare time, I guess.

Boss: “And how are you going to pay for that?”

He probably didn’t expect my demand. There is no one in our company who did anything like that before.

After all, I was just getting started in my career. As a young professional, you earn a decent salary in our company. You earn well, not but not generously. When I take a look at our salary table, I see much more space above my pay grad than below.

I still had a lot of room to improve my salary after 2.5 years with solid results in my professional career. I was absolutely ready to advance to the next level.

Instead, I asked for 365 days off. I saw my boss was wondering, how on earth this young professional wants to pay for this big trip. The question was justified.

“We saved,” I replied.

At this point, I made myself clear and committed my intention. It was his turn to decide what to do with me and my demand.

But instead of making a decision instantly, he gave himself a few more seconds to think.

Boss: “Where do you want to travel?”

I was surprised. I expected the decision. But once I thought about his question I imagined the moment we would finally leave home to start our journey and became quite euphoric.

“We definitely want to start in Asia, probably Bangkok,” I said. I was ready to resign if he would turn my demand down. I was absolutely dedicated to taking any risk to make my dream come true.

Tuesday, 6:05 p.m.

Boss: “OK”

Silence

“OK?”

Boss: “Yes, OK — when do you want to start?”

That’s it. “OK”. Only two letters made me feel free.

Boss: “ But you will come back ! ” he said, almost demanding.

It wasn’t a question, more a condition.

Wow, did I just get my permission?

I understood, one can do extraordinary demands, even if no one has ever done it before if you only dare.

Maybe my performance wasn’t so bad after all in recent years. Maybe I did well. Just like my salary, which was good. Maybe good enough to peruse my dreams?

There is a saying. You can break life down into three essential ingredients:

Health, time, and money.

If you are young you’ve got time and health, but no money.

If you are a young professional, you’ve got money and health, but no time.

If you are old, you’ve got time and money, but no health.

When do you have everything?

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” — Gustave Flaubert

I hope to see you again in the future.