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How much can you learn after traveling to 18 countries over a span of five years?
It's hard to believe that it has been about 5 1/2 years since I traveled internationally for the first time, and my life has never been the same since.
I've gone through the years from saying YES to studying abroad in college in 2011, to where I am today having worked and traveled in 12+ countries, with some big lessons and takeaways from each year.
This was a huge move for me. It wasn't just quitting my corporate job and moving to California. It was the courage to say YES to a goal I had been working toward for years.
Saying YES to something new.
YES to the unknown.
YES to ditching the standard path in favor of going with my gut feeling.
I wanted to share a few takeaways I've come up with now that the dust has settled from the transition.
If you have a big change coming up, here are some things you may consider:
I get a lot of emails from people saying they want to be location independent and work for themselves so they can travel whenever, but don't know how to exactly #GetStarted.
One of the best things to do is now that can help you out later is to brand yourself online. Especially if you want to be a digital nomad or start a business.
In today's age, a lot of networking happens digitally. This isn't to say meeting people in-person doesn't work, but you may be surprised about the amount of people you can reach and varying opportunities that can come your way through social media.
It’s a classic story: you travel or study abroad in college, have a massive desire to continue traveling afterward, and vow to make a big trip happen once graduation rolls around.
However, expectations from parents, peers, and professors may suggest otherwise, like settling down to a “normal” routine and climbing the ladder in the corporate world instead of traveling out in the world.
Finding a job that allows you to travel often can be tough, though it is doable, and you can start taking steps now if your goal is to land a travel job.
Especially when you realize that your average corporate setting allows maybe 10 paid vacation days per year and that you're working 50 out of 52 weeks...then you definitely need to get creative with traveling when you have a full-time job!
This post is for those who are looking to create a work + travel lifestyle by working for a company/organization and want to be traveling for at least six months or so.
I get quite a few emails asking questions about traveling, work + travel, and blogging (please feel free to email me anytime!) and sometimes the questions can be similar.
So what did I do? Compile a few helpful Q & As into blog posts to share them with you! These Q & A type posts will have an #AskAlly in the title.
This first #AskAlly post is asking about packing for year-long travel. Long-term travel of any kind can be tricky as it is tempting to bring your entire closet and bathroom with you, but that's not reasonable!
Read on for my two easy suggestions to make packing for long-term travel easier.
Hey Ally,
That's awesome, I just quit my corporate job as well to pursue my dream of traveling to Australia. I was wondering if you have any tips for me on what to pack and how much, I will be backpacking for about one year, and have repacked about 3 times already and still have way to much stuff.
A visa for temporary travel is much different than the credit card. The visa is the stamp of approval - literally and figuratively - that allows you to enter and exit a country.
It could simply be a stamp in your passport upon arrival/departure, or could also require a pasted sticker in your passport.
Getting a travel visa - and if you actually need one or not - really depends on what type of work + travel opportunity you're doing, and whether you're working for yourself or someone else.
![I Quit My Job And Moved To California [VLOG]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568045695a5668eee10c9eb2/1479234150698-P2E2RTU6VL2GLP482QXM/IMG_4926.jpg)
