New year, new career? If you're interested in landing a travel job this year - or looking for a short-term getaway from your current lifestyle - then you'll want to make sure you avoid these top four mistakes people make when searching for travel jobs.
Getting a travel job seems like a daunting task because there are often many factors involved. However, it is easier than it sounds! You just have to get out there and do it, and not make these little mistakes along the way.
Before we get started, I recommend clicking over to these helpful posts for some more context of living a work + travel lifestyle!
The Three Types of Travel Jobs (And Which One Is Right For You)
Why Working Abroad Is One Of The Most Financially Stable Ways To Travel
How To Stay Organized While Searching For Travel Jobs (+ Free Workbook!)
The Top 4 Mistakes People Make When Searching For Travel Jobs
1. Letting mental blocks and/or the opinion of others hold them back
Ah, this one is present in everyones' minds...and I admit, myself included at times! Some mental blocks include:
- Not thinking you have time to travel
- Not thinking you have money to travel
- The fear of the unknown
- The fear of "failure"
There are ways around all of these.
First, when you're living a work + travel lifestyle you are able to find both the time and the money to travel. It's just how this lifestyle works, which is pretty freakin' awesome.
Next, the fear of the unknown is typically present because we haven't done much research on what we want to do yet. And that is okay. This one freaks me out sometimes too, but what I like to do when this happens is:
- Read blog posts and articles online about the job
- Research the basics of the city/country
- Talk to my travel buddies about it, and ask for their advice (which is always "JUST GO DO IT!") :)
Looking into the opportunity really helps ease the fear of the unknown.
The fear of failure is scary too. We don't want to put ourselves out there and have something happen where we have to move on, or return to the life we had before. But even if something goes wrong, or you terribly hate your travel job and decide to quit and move home, that's totally okay. Because even by getting out there and trying something new, you've come MUCH farther than everyone else.
Have you noticed that everyone talks about the things they want to do, but never do them? Yeah? You're leaps and bounds ahead of them because you've at least tried to make it happen, which is amazing and something you should be proud of.
Also, the fear of what other people think can hold us back too. The second I announced my travel plans to my friends and family I was flooded with both positive and negative responses. Everyone thinks they know what's best for you, but the truth is, most of these other people are A) in a completely different situation, or B) have no idea what they're talking about.
"Don't let someone who gave up on their dreams talk you out of yours."
The only opinion that matters is your own. Don't let others' opinions or mental blocks keep you from going after your travel goals!
2. They don't narrow their search enough
First, cut down your list of ideal travel jobs to just one or two, instead of having a huge list. For example, this could be just focusing on Teaching English abroad or getting a working holiday visa in New Zealand, versus looking at being a flight attendant, and teaching English, and doing a working holiday visa, and WWOOF-ing, and Peace Corps, the list goes on.
Once you cut down your list to just one or two ideal opportunities, then narrow down the cities/countries you're most interested in going to.
3. ...or they keep their search too narrow
The other side to this is keeping the search too narrow, such as only applying to one single position or only looking at one organization to apply for.
Many work + travel opportunities are abundant around the world, and you can probably find multiple companies or organizations that all have the same or similar positions in the same city. Keep doing research - the opportunities are out there, you've just got to find them.
A good place to start? Searching online - Google is your friend - and oh, asking your actual friends for tips and advice. You likely have a friend or acquaintance that's living a cool lifestyle you'd like to pursue. If you don't know anyone personally, reach out to friends-of-friends or contact bloggers who have worked in that industry!
4. Not dreaming BIG
You can do awesome things in this world. YES, that's true! Do you remember when I asked you where you would travel if you had $10,000? Or $100,000?
You may not have that kind of money right now, and that's fine. That exercise is just to get you started on thinking about what you want your life to look like without limitations.
However, money and other barriers do not have to be limitations to traveling the world. I've been living a work + travel lifestyle for over two years. You can read about how I stretched an extremely minimal budget over six months traveling Europe because of my work + travel lifestyle.
THINK BIG. You can start small, but you can always aim bigger.
For example: you don't have to be a full-time digital nomad yet, but if that's your end goal maybe you can get a long-term travel job while building your business on the side. That way you'd be traveling while you're building your business, so you don't have to wait. And then when your business is ready you can live it up anywhere around the world!
Just a thought. ;)
There's also that quote about aiming for the moon, and if you fall you'll still land among the stars. AIM BIG, think higher, work smarter, and focus only on the important parts that will lift you up.
We're our toughest critics, and it's easy to tell ourselves that "Oh, I'm not that kind of person that travels the world," or "I'm not skilled enough to work at [insert cool travel job here]." Those lines that we feed ourselves are just crap. You absolutely can live a work + travel lifestyle. You are capable of much more than you think.
I believe in you. Now all it takes is for you to believe yourself.
The worst that can happen is you get a "No," and if that's the case, you move onto the next one. Just keep moving, because you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
