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Career vs. Travel: The Decision Part 2

Career vs. Travel: The Decision Part 2

It’s happened. Again.

A few months ago we sacrificed a trip to New Zealand when I (Kieron) was offered a dream three-month job and suddenly we’re faced with a very similar situation – to choose career or travel.

You’d think that it would get easier the second time around but it definitely doesn’t.

Upon learning a few weeks ago that my contract at the Australian Football League wasn’t to be renewed, the two of us began planning out an epic summer in Europe. We don’t throw the word “epic” around too often but this trip definitely deserved that label.

We were to spend 2-3 months  traveling through Florence Italy, France, Spain and Portugal and were including festivals and events such as La Tomatina, Oktoberfest and TBU Porto in our itinerary. Amy handed in her resignation at work and we were on the verge of booking flights…

Dreaming of this view...

We are dreaming of this view...

Then out of nowhere, a job offer came my way. A lucrative offer from a world leader in digital sports broadcasting; a company listed on the London Stock Exchange that has over 650 staff in 12 international locations. My job will be located in Melbourne but there’s definitely opportunity to grow.

It’s a job that will give me significant experience with account management, project management and digital media. Essentially, the perfect career move, regardless of the next step.

So here we are again, faced with one hell of a dilemma.

Career or travel?

Career or travel... which one to choose?

Career or travel... which one to choose?

If we had millions of dollars in the bank account, the decision would be simple. Travel will always be our number one passion as we’ve reiterated on this blog countless times.

But the two of us unfortunately aren’t loaded with cash and finding the right balance between travel and ‘real life’ right now is incredibly difficult, particularly after our 6 months of traveling in 2011. We simply can’t afford to fund indefinite travel.

Our Decision: Career* (with a HUGE Asterisk)

We’re firm believers that everything happens for a reason – we procrastinated on booking our flights to Europe and during this time a job opportunity came my way that I was able to consider.

After careful consideration and a few sleepless nights, we’ve decided that I should accept the job offer and therefore choose career over travel for a second time. 

But as the heading above suggests, the word career has a huge asterisk next to it because this decision certainly doesn’t mean the end of our travels and we’re not settling down… not by a long shot! The two of us are solely thinking about longer term and although it means sacrificing an immediate big trip to Europe, this is just the start of bigger and better things for us and for Don’t Ever Look Back.

Here’s a list of factors on why we’ve made the decision that we have.

  • We are still young and were considering doing a UK Working Holiday Visa in the next 12-24 months. This company may provide an opening to work internationally and even if that doesn’t eventuate, the experience I’ll gain will make me significantly more attractive to potential employers (definitely beats pouring beers at a pub!).
  • It gives Amy the perfect chance to try something different and perhaps even go back to the classroom to study, again improving our employment chances on a WHV.
  • It allows us to save a considerable amount of money which will be used for future travel adventures while living it up in a Melbourne apartment which we can’t wait to do.

Although it may seem that we’re choosing career, essentially we’re opting for a combination of career and travel.

Here are some of the exciting things that we already have planned for the next couple of months that we can’t wait to share with you:

  • A ski/snowboard adventure at Mount Buller in Victoria’s snow fields.
  • A quick jaunt through South-East Asia (destinations to be confirmed).
  • A road trip along the famous Great Ocean Road.
  • Plenty more exploring of the great city of Melbourne.
Melbourne Skyline At Night

There is still so much of Melbourne for us to see!

It’s not quite the epic three-month adventure through Europe but we know that Europe isn’t going anywhere and it’ll be waiting for us when we finally do get there.

Not convinced we’re making the right decision? Check out this brilliant post over at A Dangerous Business on how You Can Live a “Normal” Life and Travel Too that might just change your mind.

Have we made the correct decision? We want to hear your honest opinions.

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