Backpack with Becky!: Things I now know..

I was stumbling around today (the day after St. Patrick's Day... how fitting) and came across an article written by a woman named Christine Gilbert. In July 2008, she made a massive life-change and decided to leave her job as a manager for a Fortune 500 company and follow her dreams to be a freelance writer/traveler. She sold all her belongings, began her adventure, and has been living the "vagabond" lifestyle ever since. 13 countries and 20 cities scratched off the list.

I thought her article "8 thing s I wish I knew when I was 22 was very fitting for me (especially as a 22 year old). Perhaps you will enjoy it too! Regardless of your age, I think the underlying message in her article is to quit making excuses and just do what you love. Travel, marry, have a family, work as a manager for a Fortune 500 company, volunteer, whatever....just do what makes you happy!!

8 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22:
1. Pick a career you love; you don’t have to give into the pressure to be practical. Everyone changes careers over their lifetime; why not experiment with one that you are crazy about? Worst case scenario, you go get that crappy corporate job when you’re 28 and let the cool waters of 9-5ing wash away any memories of your failed Falafel-R-Us Gift Basket business.

2. Pay off your credit card debt and don’t buy so much stuff. Does every college do this? Offer credit cards at the student union, and in exchange for filling out an application, they gift you a candy bar? I was hungry! I was broke! Sign me up! Thankfully I was so thoroughly burned the first time, I learned my lesson.

3. Your student loans can be deferred practically indefinitely. After graduation, just call them and ask for a deferment. They will bend over backwards to make deferring easy to do. In six months when your deferment is over, call them up and do another. Repeat as needed.

4. It doesn’t cost as much as you’d think to travel. You don’t need to save $50,000 to spend a year overseas. If you’re young, willing to sleep anywhere (hello, couchsurfing!) and go to countries off the beaten tourist track, then you can survive on much less (I’ve heard as low as $1000/mo).

5. The job you have right now is not that important. If I were an employer I would only hire ambitious twenty something’s. They will knock themselves out working incredibly hard on stuff that barely matters. Try to get a 35 year old to take photocopying that seriously and you’re more likely to get your dog to iron your suit in the morning.

6. You don’t need a safety net. You can figure this out. The idea of being out there, with nothing to catch you if everything goes wrong may make your stomach do little flips, but really, you’ll be just fine.

7. This is the best time in your life to travel carefree. If you wait it’s going to be more complicated financially and emotionally. Now instead of putting on a backpack and heading out the door, I’ve got to cancel leases, forward mail, set up online payment arrangements, sell a ton of stuff, convince my family that I don’t need an MRI “just in case this idea is a sympton of a brain tumor”, and wrangle with complex stuff like dodging the “when are you going to have kids” question.