辞去工作，游历世界

It was sunny and the trees had just started to sprout leaves the day I quit my job to travel. As a contract administrator for a shipping company， Id spent 2012 working in a windowless office in Washington D.C.—and while it was a great job for a 25-year-old， potentially even a good career， it was not what I wanted. I wanted to write stories and see the world.

The seeds of this decision were sown two years earlier， in 2010， when I graduated college and moved to Spain to teach English. I exchanged my university texts for kids books and spent my spare time travelling around Europe， documenting it all in my blog， Young Adventuress. I had no idea that the blog would eventually turn into a business that sustains me to this day.

After two years， my teaching contracts ended， so I said hasta luego to my life on the Iberian Peninsula and moved back in with my parents to work a nine-to-five desk job in Washington D.C.， dealing with financial reviews， company deadlines， terrible co-workers and fax machines that never worked.

Writing， on the other hand， continued to make me happy. And during those two years in Spain， my blog had grown a large following of dedicated readers. I faced a tough decision： quit and pursue writing full-time， or play it safe and keep a good job.

While I felt guilty for wanting something different to the norm， I knew that returning to the world of writing and travelling was the right choice， and I began planning my next move straight away. This time， my goal was to move to New Zealand： the Land of the Long White Cloud. For Americans under 30， its a relatively easy place to get a yearlong visa. Not to mention， the countrys epic landscapes， pristine wilderness and snowy mountains had captured my imagination since watching the first Lord of the Rings film a decade earlier. This goal kept me sane during a year of work， while I squirreled away as much money as I could and wrote every day.

Every night when I came home from my desk job I would work on my blog. I spent a year building up the content， growing my social media following and setting up freelance writing contracts， so that I would have guaranteed paid work once I quit. Halfway through the year I took a week off and flew to Turkey on my first press trip to see if I would actually like travelling full-time and traipsing around a new destination every day. A few months later I was invited to explore Jordan for a few weeks， and I knew the time had come to make the final leap. I planned out my trips for the rest of the year， booked my flights， set up freelance work and sold my car（my last strong tie to my old life） before setting off. The plan？ Fly to Jordan， where I made friends with Bedouins under the stars in the Wadi Rum and ate more hummus and kunefe than I could have ever imagined. Then I road-tripped through some of the most remote parts of Iceland under the midnight summer sun. And finally， I hopped on a one-way flight to New Zealand.

Its been almost two years since I quit my job， and Im now based in Wanaka， a tiny town on New Zealands South Island. At virtually the end of the world， it was recommended by my readers as somewhere I might like to live. Tucked away next to the towering mountains of Mt Aspiring National Park and next to a pristine crystal blue alpine lake， it is one of the few places in the world where I see myself living long-term.

Since quitting my job， Ive sailed off the coast of Italy and Greece； dived shipwrecks in Bali and Thailand； ridden horses across the high mountains of western Mongolia； slept under the stars on Australias Great Barrier Reef； and chased elves in Iceland. Not once have I regretted my decision to leave my job in Washington D.C..

My first year abroad was one of trial and error， with my business and work evolving month to month. Now the majority of my income comes from partnering with likeminded brands， helping to share their story on my blog and on social media. In many ways I work harder than I ever have before， but doing it on my terms makes it worth it.

Sometimes I wish for those regular paychecks， for the ease of turning off my computer at five p.m. on a Friday and knowing what will happen the next week， month and year. But then I pinch myself， look out the window at snowcapped mountains and remember where my choices have brought me.

My path has been far from linear， and it has definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions， failures， freak-outs and learning experiences. Two years ago I wanted to see as much of the world as possible， tick items off a bucket list and collect stamps in my passport. Now I prefer to travel slowly， really dig in my heels and get to know a country. I enjoy going back to places Ive been before and seeing them in a new light.

Through all this， I have achieved my goal of becoming a writer， blogger， Instagrammer， whatever you want to call me； I did it. I gave up a comfortable life to pursue personal happiness—hopefully proving that dreams really do come true， if you work for them.

我決定辞职去旅行那天，阳光明媚，树上开始冒出了新芽。作为船运公司的一名合同管理员，我的2012年就在华盛顿特区的一个没有窗户的办公室里度过。尽管这对一个25岁的年轻人来说是一份十分好的差事，甚至有可能是一份很好的终生职业，但那不是我想要的。我想写故事，想去看看这个世界。

这个决定的种子早在两年前——2010年——就已埋下了，那时我刚从大学毕业，随后便到了西班牙教英语。我以大学课本跟小孩子们交换儿童书，在空余时间游历欧洲，我把这些经历都记录在我名为“青年女冒险家”的博客上。我从没想过这个博客最终会变成一份收入来源，直到今天支撑着我的生活。

两年后，我的教学合同到期了，因此我告别了伊比利亚半岛上的生活。我回到父母身边，在华盛顿特区做一份朝九晚五的办公室工作，应付财务报告、公司期限、糟糕的同事，还有那台永远不能正常运作的传真机。

另外，写作仍然让我感到快乐。在西班牙的两年里，我的博客多了很多忠实读者。我面临着艰难的抉择：放弃工作，全职写作，还是边工作边写作，让生活有保障些。

虽然与普通人的差异让我感到内疚，但是我知道回到写作和旅游的世界才是正确的选择，于是我马上开始计划下一次的出行。这次，我的目的地是有“长白云之乡”之称的新西兰。对于一个30岁以下的美国人来说，申请新西兰一年签证是很容易的。更不必说，这个国家让人惊叹的美景、原始的旷野、覆盖皑皑白雪的高山，对我有多大的吸引力，十年前看过第一部《指环王》后，我便深深爱上这里。这个目标让我在一年的工作中保持神志清醒，期间，我努力存钱，而且坚持每天写作。

每天晚上下班回来，我都会写博客。我花了一年时间建立博客内容，使博客粉丝数量增加，并签订自由作家合同，这样我才保证了辞职后有一份有报酬的工作。半年后，我请了一星期假，飞到土耳其进行第一次新闻采稿之旅，我要看看我是否真的喜欢全职旅行，每天都去不同的地方闲逛的生活。几个月后，我被邀请到约旦进行为期数周的体验探索，我知道是时候完成最后一跳了。我为这年剩下的日子计划行程，订机票，安排好自由作家的工作，出发前卖掉我的车（我最后一条维系旧生活的强韧纽带）。计划进展如何？先是飞去约旦，在瓦地伦沙漠的星空下认识了贝都因人，在那里不可思议地吃了很多的鹰嘴豆和库内费甜品。我还在冰岛夏夜的阳光下一路乘车去到那里最边远的地方。最后，我搭上单程飞机到了新西兰。

我辞职至今已差不多两年了，我现在在新西兰南岛上的一个小镇——瓦纳卡生活。那里几乎是世界的尽头，是读者给我推荐的地方，他们觉得我会喜欢这里。隐藏在阿斯派灵山国家公园里的巍峨高山旁，与原生态的碧绿高山湖相毗邻，这是一个让我渴望长期居住的少数地方之一。

辞职后，我在意大利和希腊出海游船；在巴厘岛和泰国潜入沉船；在蒙古西部骑马横跨高山；躺在澳洲的大堡礁上看星星；在冰岛追逐精灵。我从没为辞去华盛顿特区工作的决定后悔过。

我在国外的第一年在尝试和出错中度过，我自己的事情和工作都在逐月推进。现在，我主要的收入来源是一些与我想法相似的品牌，我的工作就是在我的博客和社交媒体上分享他们的故事。从多方面来看，工作比从前更辛苦，但这是为我自己而做的，我觉得很值得。

有时候，我会想要定时发放的工资，想要能在周五下午五点关掉电脑，而且知道下周、下个月、明年的工作是什么的轻松感。但这时我会掐自己一下，看看窗外积雪的高山，想想我的选择让自己到过哪些地方。

我的人生道路并非直线型的，必然会有剧烈的情绪起伏、失败、惊慌、不断学习的经历。两年前，我希望尽可能多看看这个世界，在目标清单上打勾，收集护照上的印花。现在，我更喜欢慢慢地游览，花时间真正认识这个国家。我很喜歡重回我走过的地方，并以新的眼光去欣赏它。

经历了这一切，我实现了自己的目标，你可以称我为作家、博主或图片分享人，反正我做到了。我为了追求自己的幸福，放弃了舒适的生活——希望这能证明梦想真的能成真，只要你努力去实现。