Taking time off to travel solo can be quite a daunting task. There are questions all around.
Will I be able to do it? What about my job? What will people say if I take off for six months?
Convincing people that you’re quitting your job to travel to gain lifelong memories is hard. However, it’s even harder to convince people (and maybe sometimes yourself) that you’re going to travel while trying to be an active entrepreneur. Yet, co-working spaces are teeming with young entrepreneurs who are getting copious amounts of work done.
How? Well, despite it may seem like a vacation – travelling solo teaches you a lot. It teaches you skills that could be easily be used to be a successful entrepreneur. Travelling alone has taught young entrepreneurs’ essential skills such as:
- Learning to respect different cultures. In today’s interconnected world, chances are that your product or service is going to be used by people from several cultures. Thus, being culturally sensitive is an important skill to have.
- Being independent. Travelling alone means that all decisions are made alone. This teaches you how to trust your gut and how to make the hard decisions when necessary.
- Networking. Travelling alone means you’re often doing things by yourself which can get quite lonely. This often forces you to talk to people and network with them. More often than not entrepreneurs benefit from this skill as they are able to gain new perspectives and find people to collaborate with in the future – affecting their work positively.
- Working with limited resources. Often times in remote areas there is little accessibility to things that may seem common in an office. These situations allow entrepreneurs to learn not only how to be flexible but also how to work smartly with what they have.
This post could go on forever about the potential benefits to entrepreneurs travelling solo, but these, in my opinion, are the most important ones. If you still aren’t convinced about quitting your routine to live a sort of nomadic existence, there is another option: entrepreneurial retreats.
Entrepreneurial retreats are 2-3-week long programs that take place somewhere exotic where you relax and enjoy some of the benefits of travelling solo. Such retreats are said to beneficial for those attending as it not only allows them to take a break from their busy office schedule but also gives them a taste of what it would be like to work while travelling.
Furthermore, meeting likeminded people can bolster creativity and can lead to more efficient results.
Travelling can make you take a long hard look at yourself. You will recognise your faults and tweak yourself accordingly which will allow you to gain more confidence and for you to be the best version of yourself. Whether you quit your office job permanently to travel or decide to go on one of the retreats – you shall have an unbelievably fantastic learning experience either way.
Written by Pooja Zaveri
