To turn down a high-paying job because I want to go travelling instead?

[Harishnayfoke]

I am just about to finish university in a few months and have been offered a job in a high-paying, quite intense business. I was always planning on going travelling for at least a year after uni and had planned to do lots of internships and volunteering whilst I do this to give me skills for the career I truly would like.

My dream has always been to work in some human rights related field or in international development as an aid worker. I'm not sure why I applied for the business job, it was just on a whim and I never expected to get it.

Now I have found myself really not looking forward to starting and fear that I will be setting off on the wrong path and will struggle to get onto a path I'm passionate about. I just worry that I'll be sat in an office wasting away my twenties when I could be off travelling the world.

Would I be mad to turn this job down? I worry because grad jobs are hard to come by and if the economy goes to shit after Brexit I may really struggle to find work and will kick myself for turning this down. But I really feel slightly gloomy at the thought of doing a job involving at least 50 hours a week doing work which I find boring and soulless.

I got a well-paid job after uni, worked for a few years and then took unpaid leave and went travelling. I’d really recommend doing it that way round.

I have thought that I could work for 2 or 3 years and save up enough to buy a flat which I could then rent out to give me an extra source of money when travelling.

I think this is the best compromise.

Honestly I'd be really wary of turning down a good job after graduating. Many graduates struggle to get jobs after University and the political and economic backdrop to the UK is so shaky there may not be so many opportunities in a years time. It'll be much easier to find work again after travelling if you already have experience on your CV and know some contacts.

Take the job, save as much money as possible, and don't build up commitments (I.e. Live at home if possible, if you buy a house make sure you can rent it out for more than the mortgage, don't buy anything big you can't sell like a new car). Do the job for long enough to get some experience and a big pot of money, then take a year off. Maybe 2 years if your savings are good.

Take the job and work. Build your business skills, save some money, make connections. Consider your chosen area and maybe do a post grad. Make the most of every opportunity. Then travel.

There are thousands now travelling after uni which is brilliant but jobs aren't as easy to get and you have an opportunity to utilise both, just not in the order you thought. You have to stand out from others and have good proven skills to gain employment.

An job you do will always be useful in the future. Traveling is a must but try the job. If you really do hate it then your no worse off than you are now. You leave and go traveling anyway.

You can't live your life worrying about maybe not getting another job in a year's time. You have no idea what might happen in a years time. You might take the job and then be made redundant (happened to me) and be left having to look for a new job anyway. You might take the job and love it and it leads to a fantastic career for you. You might go travelling and it opens up new opportunities you hadn't thought of.

I do think it's good to have some sort of overall plan in mind but in my experience, life generally doesn't turn out quite the way you thought it might. As long as you can afford it and think you'll be relatively employable when you get back then I would definitely go travelling. I travelled for a year and it was one of the best things I ever did. Now I have young children and will never have the opportunity to do that carefree type of travelling again (well unless me and DH decide to take off in 20 years time when the kids have left home which I could always be persuaded to do!)

I don’t think think you should turn down the well paying job until you have tried it. I went travelling in my 20s and didn’t enjoy it as much as my well paying job if I am honest. I was actually pleased to get home and be able to go back to my job and start earning well again. I know everyone is different but you can go travelling any time or even take an adventurous trekking two week holiday in the Summer for now for example. I personally wouldn’t turn down a good job opportunity.

I'd take the job for a year, it will set you up for when you come back from your travels as well as give you more money for the travel thus making it more fun. Getting that 1st job can be the hard part.

I'd work first so that you have something to offer when you get back. Cousin went travelling for two years post Uni and has never really settled. She did all sorts of jobs while travelling but none that stood out. Since being back she hasn't been able to get into a NGO like you're talking about because she has nothing to offer. She hasn't been able to settle into a career either. She keeps dropping out and travelling again. So she is still part funded by her dad at 35. Not great.

It depends on your idea of travelling really. When I travel I like nice hotels and restaurants, the whole “back packing” idea and working as I went along never appealed to me. That’s just me. So I’d take the job and build a career and finances and then travel later in life - world isn’t going anywhere is it? I’ve found my career progression much better than some peers because I prioritised travel last, and did things like buy a house etc when I was 20. For other people they’d do it the other way around and that’s fine. Depends on what’ll make you happiest and where your priorities are. There’s really no wrong choice.

Take the job. Travel in your holidays. Lots of corporates will let you buy extra holiday.

It’s MUCH nicer going to Thailand for 3 weeks and staying in aircon private rooms than in mixed sex 20 person dorm rooms with no air con.

The point about THIS job is that it's not in the area she wants to work, it'll be full on 50 hour weeks and the OP already feels 'gloomy' at the prospect of a job which she'll find 'soulless and boring.' Surely that's a recipe for stress and misery?

If it was a high paying job in a field she loves, the choice whether to go travelling would be more difficult. But it's a job she's 'not looking forward to' and is likely to hate! As others have said, once you get sucked into a steady job, a place of your own and all the other things which come with it, it's not so easy to step out. (Although maybe not so much if she really hates it.)

Could you negotiate a start date of say Sept rather than July and then take off for a month or two. Not quite the same as gallivanting round the world for a year but you can certainly do a lot in a month. I went inter-railing back in the day, surviving on bread & cheese and travelling on overnight trains to save money. The only problem is how to fund it all in advance even if you decide to do it the cheapskate way.

Go travelling.

I think the job could set you up financially for travelling and give you experience in a different sector. Whilst it may not be what you want to do ultimately, anything new has learning opportunities and new skills which bring their own enjoyment. As long as you keep your eye on where you want to be in 5 years time and choose options which work towards that, you won’t be on a path you don’t like.

Take the job. When does it start? Will you have the summer to travel? 2-3 months is a decent length of time for a great trip and then you can take time out when you've got a couple of years' experience under your belt, as others have said.

Oh and if the job is as boring as you fear, you can give it up and go travelling then. You'll still have some money behind you even if you leave after 6 months.

If you can afford it do it. Have fun whilst your young before you end up with bills and a day to day life.
Follow your heart

I took a year out at 42 and went travelling, in style and safe in the knowledge I had either a life to return to or £400,000 in assets to sell if i decided I liked it there more than here. There’s no time limit.

I'm on team take the job and travel in a few years' time. I also traveled for a year and loved it. Good luck!

Go travelling before you settle down you've 40 odd years to work if you want to.
It's much harder to do when you have responsibilities, go for it, you'll regret it if you don't.

How did you get the job - ie you must have said the right things at the time and not all untrue?

I’d take the job travel later

I took at year out for work abroad / travel and again after four years on a grad scheme. I'd love to tell you to take the chance to travel, but think times have changed. Its harder to get graduate level work than it used to be. If we fall into recession again it will be a nightmare without experience. People who graduated in 2009 had a really tough time.

Sadly, I think you should take the job and stick it out for 2 -3 years then travel. You'll have some experience to sell if there are internships or projects you are interested in and have something more to offer future employers.

I'd also be concerned about the length of processes for getting grad scheme jobs. This would just not fit in with being abroad. Standard entry positions are far easier to target when you come back with prioe experience.

If you think staying and working for a few years, then travelling is the right idea, then I'd try applying for other more suitable jobs that give you good career options towards future plans. Don't just take this one as they offered it unless it's what you want to do?

Go travelling... Plenty of time to spin the hamster wheel at a later date. There's always job opportunity later.

Backpackers places were pretty nice that I stayed in 20 years ago, more like basic hotels.