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During my recent press trip to Romania with Markus, I met another fabulous travel blogger: Becky from The Owlet. (In fact, I met many amazing bloggers on this trip!). Becky was actually the youngest blogger to participate in our group trip and she inspired and encouraged me to this post (thanks, girl!!!).
So far, most of my blog post are rather informative and I try to put in as much data as possible (like, prices, links, maps,…). I guess, I am pretty German in this case. But then I realized how many personal questions I get from you guys on Instagram or even via mail.
Thus, I decided it was time for a more personal post. Something about my current life as a travel blogger and how and why I ended up with this rather drastic career change. It’s a very personal story and I already fear the backlash I once got for a similar AMA topic on Reddit. But I also hope that my story will help you with the decision you may face in life currently. And that it might give you the courage to be bold and change what’s making you unhappy. Because one thing I can tell you now already: It’s worth going after your dreams!
A look back on where I came from
To understand my current life, we first have to travel back to 2015.
In June 2015 I graduated from Charité University Berlin as an MD and handed in my PhD thesis the next day (it’s a German thing that students of Medicine do their Ph.D. while still studying medicine). So yes, I am technically able to save your life if we meet and you are in trouble (but don’t count on it, I am out of training :D) because I am a legally accredited physician in Germany.
However, I never worked as a physician. Instead, Markus and I went on our second backpacking trip to Asia for a few months. In October, I passed my PhD exams and got my doctoral degree. And two weeks later, I started into my job at one of the most renowned management consulting firms worldwide.
So till that day, my career path had been like from the books: Finished school with the best grade possible in Germany (1.0 – that’s like straight A’s in America I think), studied Medicine and finished as top 10% of all students in Germany, did a PhD right away and got a job in one of the hardest to get into industries (only about 1% of applicants are accepted at my former company). So yes, I was heading straight towards a high corporate career, possibly “C-level” careers. Sheryl Sandberg with “Lean In” was my “bible” and I was eager to show the world that a curvy blonde girl from a small town in Germany can indeed play with the big bosses and become one of them.
I am not telling you this to brag about how awesome I am. No, I am telling you this because the next thing you will read is how my dreams were shattered. And why it was possibly the best thing that could have happened to me.
My “dream job” ended up making me break into tears all the time
So I started into my career as a management consultant with the highest hopes and motivation.
And then I got my first project assignment. I was supposed to work on the merger of two German health insurance companies. Not my dream topic, but alright.
The problems started when I met my project leader (kind of like your boss during a project). Until that day I believed that it is not a problem anymore to be female in a male-dominated environment (only 20% of consultants at my company were female) in modern-day Germany. I was proven wrong. My project leader was a narcissist and chauvinist.
I constantly had to hear comments that were almost harassing. But they were always subtle enough that you couldn’t point them out and straight say “hey, this guy is making inappropriate comments!” One time, e.g., he told me: “Just be a bit submissive. I am sure you can do that well” with that snarky smile on his face. It’s not like he slapped my butt or something. But it was not okay anyway and I did not feel valued as a team member. I felt degraded and like a slave that had to do what the master told.
One time, at midnight, when I was already in my hotel bed (consultants travel a lot), he called me back to meet at the executive lounge of the hotel with my team. I dressed again, but did not put on any makeup and wore my glasses instead. He gave me another assignment due the next morning. So I worked until 3 am on it. At 7 am we were back in the taxi towards the client location. I always had to sit at the middle seat of the backbench in a taxi with him on the right side. He told me that he didn’t need my work from the night before anymore. Yay! In the evening when I was back in Berlin, he called and said that my look and the look on my face the night earlier (at the executive lounge) were an insult to him and simply not acceptable. Even though I did what he had told me to, he was furious because I apparently was not “accepting enough”.
Two weeks later my grandfather died. My mother called me around 6 pm to tell me. I went back to the team room and told my team what happened. I still had to work until 1 am that night. Afterward I simply couldn’t stop crying. The next morning I was expected to work like normal. Around noon, I couldn’t take it anymore and asked to drive home to my family. He accepted, but was not happy. I was crying the whole train journey although I was working on some slides in the train. He called all the time with new request. A friendly businessman sitting next to me then talked to me and said “you shouldn’t have to do this. That’s not okay what is happening to you. Leave your company and work somewhere else”.
Maybe I should have listened to this man that day. Maybe not. Till this day, I am not sure if I regret the two years I ended up spending with my company in the end.
Next, I called in sick for two days and subsequently, my project leader asked for me to be removed from the project. It was my first assignment and he tried everything to make sure it would be my last one. He called other project leaders to badmouth me. He wrote me a feedback containing blatant lies. Even though I raised the issue WHY he was doing it and could even prove some of the lies to be wrong (because he was dumb enough to tell somewhere I had witnesses), I couldn’t really stop the downward spiral.
As mentioned, I didn’t give up and stayed at my company. It was horrible to get project assignments because I was refused so often.
And then suddenly there was light at the horizon: I started working with an amazing healthcare project leader and a partner (the highest rank in the company) on really cool healthcare projects. I really liked my work. And then, I also found another healthcare partner that wanted to work with me. And a third one. After over a year of fights, I was finally happy with my job. And I was really good at what I was doing – so my reviews were great.
After 1.5 years, my company decided where you get promoted or whether they ask you to leave. Having all these partners supporting me and my perfect reviews I was not worried a little bit. When I went to hear my “verdict” my project leader (the amazing one) told me “go get your promotion”.
I entered the room. My supervisor sat there and said “You know, Sarah, we had to decide today if we promote you or if we ask you to leave. We decided that you need to leave”. At first, I didn’t believe him. I told him twice that this is not funny. Only after he said it the third time, I realized he was not joking. They ACTUALLY wanted me to leave.
A few minutes later I was talking to my mentor who had been part of the discussion about me. It was pretty clear that the reason for the decision was still that one 1.5-year-old review from my first project leader. The chauvinist with his lies. No one had cared that I flagged his behavior. And all the other female employees that had complained about him (yes, there were more….) did not have any power as well. He was even promoted to principal during that time.
That’s when I realized that still today, women have to fight harder in the workplace. We might be harassed and then asked to leave the company while our predators get promoted. It was March 2017, and I was working in a seemingly progressive, modern company. And I understood that I would have this fight anywhere else as well.
Leaving my company, marriage and a trip around the world
2017 was also the year in which Markus and I married. He had proposed to me on the 30th of December 2015 on Victoria Peak, Hongkong. And since this day, we were working on planning that perfect wedding. We had been lucky and found our dream location “Schloss Boitzenburg” quite quickly and reserved a date in August 2017.
So I was facing the situation of planning my wedding and having to look for another job at the same time. I don’t know how I would have managed all of that without the help of friends and family!
The good news: in Germany, it is literally impossible to fire someone on an unlimited contract if the company is not in trouble and you didn’t do something very wrong. You have to resign yourself. So I simply stayed and haggled for the conditions of my resignation.
Markus and I had already discussed going on a round-the-world trip as our honeymoon before. He was quietly asked at his company whether he could get a sabbatical while I was haggling for good conditions at my soon-to-be-former company. When his sabbatical was confirmed, I signed a (favorable) abolition treaty with my former company. It is safe to say that I became an expert in conditions for this type of treaties in the process. Throughout our trip around the world, I still got calls from other consultants in my company asking for what they can ask for. Well, I guess, I just love consulting! 😉
So it was all set: We were going on a nine months trip around the world! And in August, we had the most amazing wedding I could have ever dreamed about.
A trip around the world that has changed my perspective forever
In October 2017, we packed our backpacks and finally started our trip around the world.
As you can imagine, it has been an amazing time. We traveled all continents, went from 30 meters below sea level (diving) to 5,000 meters above sea level (Bolivia), slept in everything from hammocks to five-star luxury resorts and met amazing people.
I had initially planned to return to corporate life and find a “normal job” back in Germany. I even had calls with possible employers while traveling.
But something just didn’t feel right about it. I realized how much things were wrong with how we had lived before. We were both management consultants, working crazy hours and getting paid a lot of money. In fact, we earned so much that we simply couldn’t spend it because we simply didn’t have any time left. We were trapped in a golden cage.
And then we had the idea for a startup. When we were in the US, we bought a laptop (yes, we traveled without one for months!) and started making calculations. It made sense and we started seeing an opportunity here.
Also, I had started my Instagram account during that trip and we had been blogging about our journey already. It was just a travel journey, in German, meant for our friends and family, not for the world. But my Instagram account was growing quickly, despite the fact that it was already 2018. We realized that travel blogging “is a thing” and that you can actually make money doing it.
So we decided that it was time for a brave step. Upon returning to Germany, I did not apply for a new job.
Instead, we founded our startup “City Pirates“. “City Pirates” is a smartphone app with audio guides for German cities that helps you explore these cities at your own pace – by foot or by taking public transportation. By the way – even though the website is in German only – the tours are available in German and English and the app is completely free! So go ahead and try it if you want me to personally guide you through Munich, Hamburg or Berlin! 😉
And we bought web hosting space and launched “Fernwehsarah”. We also researched a lot about blogging and bought an awesome blogging course as well as subscriptions for tools like Tailwind.
Fast forward to July 2019: After one year, our blog has proven successful and is bringing in more and more money each month. We have also been invited to multiple press trips already. It feels a bit like a fairytale to me. Or maybe more like a rollercoaster because there have been so many ups and downs in my career, I don’t know.
Markus is still working with his management consultancy company part-time to secure a stable baseline income as we have to pay off the mortgage for the flat we bought in 2015. Also, he has found a really cool niche topic in his company (sustainability) and loves his work. They have been very supportive and much more flexible than my company (and he wasn’t harassed there…) so he will continue working with them on this topic he is super passionate about.
I also still work as a consultant – but a freelance one. I choose my projects myself and I can decide on whether I am willing to invest my time into the project that is offered to me. It’s awesome because I really loved consulting – the fast pace, the challenges and the smart people I was working with. It was neither the hours nor the topics why I walked away from my former company. It was the lack of freedom and self-determination. Freelance consulting AND blogging both give me these chances.
So here we are, one year after a trip around the world that has changed what we want from life: Being a crazy mixture of Travel Bloggers, Entrepreneurs, and Consultants. We both don’t work less. But we love what we are doing. And we know what we are working for.
What I love about being a travel blogger
One thing is crystal clear to me today: I am a workaholic. I DO like working a lot. Probably, this has helped me survive those two years with 60-80 hours a week.
The thing that made me unhappy (aside from that jerk project leader), was the lack of freedom. My company pretty much dictated me where to be, when to eat and sleep and what to wear / how to look.
I hate wearing suits. I am more a “Boho Summer dress with fringes and lace” person.
I want to eat when I am hungry, not when there is time to do (often there wasn’t…).
I need my beauty sleep – four hours is not enough.
I can be myself. Finally.
I still work until the wee hours with my laptop pretty often these days.
But not because someone has ordered me to do that. I do it because I WANT to publish that blog post. Or improve that Lightroom Preset Pack. Because I am stuck in my Instagram Analytics or “just want to finish editing pictures”. And when I am hungry, I eat. I do sleep until I wake up on my own most of the days.
Right now, I am sitting cross-legged in front of my laptop with a cup of green tea I bought in China and some fancy coconut snacks my brother gave me. I am wearing a short summer dress and the sun is shining into my window in our apartment in Berlin.
I have been typing this monstrosity of an article for almost 3 hours now because I had to stop numerous times to wipe my tears and rewrite parts. It’s a very personal story and more than once I wasn’t sure if it is smart to write.
But I’ll go on: Because breaking the chains that held me back before was a pretty damn good decision. And I want to encourage other people to do it too.
Being a blogger is easy. Running a successful blog and making a living from it is NOT. I will not tell you that it is a quick journey with a success guarantee. It might not even be the right thing for you. But it was for me.
It’s the people you meet that make the deal
Thanks to being a travel blogger and Instagrammer I met amazing people.
Inspiring people. People with crazy life stories. People that have founded successful businesses – they do write for newspapers, take photos on a professional level, run social media agencies, record podcasts, speak about travel destinations in nursing homes, work as models or were former beauty queens. And yes, these are all real examples of people I met.
Some work part-time, some are full-time bloggers and content creators. But they all share a passion that they thrive for. They have a dream and they work every day on making that dream come true.
I am not afraid anymore about having a family one day
Markus and I always wanted kids. In fact, we talked about that topic when we were a couple for a few months only. Simply because it was important for us that our goals in life are aline.
Wo don’t have kids yet, because we don’t “feel like it’s the right time” already. Some of our friends have kids, some don’t. But we know, this will be a topic for us during the next years. (My family would prefer rather sooner than later though :D)
When I was still in corporate life, I was always afraid of the day that it would happen. Because I knew it would be a deep cut in my career path. German employers don’t like pregnant women (in fact, they don’t even like married women like me that COULD become pregnant…). So it would be a burden on my path to C-level.
Now, being a blogger, being a mum is much less frightening. In fact, it is not a problem at all. Blogging is probably one of the careers that works BEST with having kids. Because you can be at home AND work. And you can adjust your working time to the needs of your baby/kid.
And there’s a whole industry out there just waiting for “Mommy Bloggers”. In fact, it’s an even more lucrative niche than travel blogging. Too bad I married BEFORE becoming social media active/blogger: Weddings and Babies seem to be big draws in the industry. 😀
For me it’s simple: When Markus and I feel that it’s about time – I won’t have to worry about my career. You’ll be the second ones to know (no, my family will be first 😉 ) when I’ll be expecting a baby. But give me some more time (sorry, mum! :))
Do I feel like it was the right decision every day?
Don’t I have doubts about what I do? Of course, I have them!
Everyone that tells you that they never ever questioned themselves about their decision to leave a traditional career path and becoming a full-time blogger is lying. And probably trying to sell you a (bad) course about blogging.
There are days, where I am sitting in front of my laptop and I am thinking “what the heck am I doing here?!”. It’s normal to leave management consultancy after a few years (in fact, two years is exactly the average tenure people stay in this industry). And then you either climb the corporate ladder or you found a startup. Which is precisely what I did. And I am still accepting projects whenever I feel like it’s interesting and a good time to do i.
I could even go back into medicine (which would make my dad incredibly happy) – but at the moment, this simply doesn’t seem to be a good idea.
What’s most important on these days where I question my decision is to look back on WHY I decided to not live that life anymore.
I think about all the hours of my life where I felt like I don’t have control over my life. The hours I was crying in my expensive luxury hotel bed, alone, away from my family and from Markus. I am not saying that management consultancy does not serve a purpose. In fact, the whole economy relies on it and I also have a lot of good memories!
But I was “too edgy” for my former company. I simply didn’t want to be submissive as my first project leader literally requested me to. I am a strong personality with a hard-working mindset. You really want me to be on your side and not against you.
And there’s a lot to win: Freedom.
The freedom to be yourself.
Be bold. Be yourself. Live your dreams.
My freedom might not be your freedom. So I am not telling you to become a blogger. I am telling you to be bold and to allow yourself to dream.
Ask yourself if you are truly happy with your life. Or are you just pretending to be because, according to social expectations, you HAVE to be?
And if you are not, then ask yourself why. It might be your job. Or maybe it is your partner that you aren’t happy with. Or something totally different. There are so many things that can make us unhappy. And once you figured out what it is, think about how you can change it.
It’s your life – not someone else’s.
Don’t fulfill expectations set by others. Set your own expectations. Your own dreams.
And then follow them.
Relentlessly.
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I found this post from Reddit. Really interesting to read about your career path and how you got to be where you are now! I’m a medical doctor practicing in Australia so it’s interesting that in Germany, you have both an MD and a pHD. May I ask why you didn’t go into clinical medicine? I’m not familiar with the corporate world, but I’m heading into family medicine where there’s a good work-life balance in Australia. 🙂
Wishing you well,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
cool to meet a fellow doctor and blogger! In Germany, the situation for doctors is not really good. You do earn considerably less money if you work in medicine than you would in the corporate world. Also, you have to work really long shifts and many weekends for the first six years (or longer).
The MD + PhD thing is something very “German”. You don’t have to do a PhD, but literally everyone does it. And while all other university degrees normally do their PhD AFTER finishing university, medical doctors do it during the studies. It’s quite a lot of work doing it simultanously – but a medical PhD in Germany is less work than in other subjects.
I hope you will enjoy practising family medicine!
Sarah
I love this!!! I was never one for the corporate world and got sweaty palms from reading about your experience! I think you made the right decision (clearly) and well done for doing so well on the blog and with the startup too. I’m not quite full time, but I can totally understand the hard work that goes into running a successful blog. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story with us!
Hi Lisa,
thanks a lot for your super kind words! I really hope that my story will inspire others to go their own path and live the life they have dreamed of. It’s not easy to do this but it is worth fighting for your dreams.
Sarah
I used to work at the same company, know some of her former project leaders (not just the „chauvinist“ one) and even worked on the same project as her for some time. And I know these stories and think they are quite exaggerated and very biased and not even true on some parts
No one would ask a smart woman (which she definitely is) to leave if she performed well and fit in with the teams. The part of the story where she talks about how she threw her company phone against the wall and says that she wanted it to break (so that the company has to pay for it) gives a hint of her personality and professionalism that we saw for 1,5 years to say the least.
Criticizing the industry and saying that it’s not for you is fair, but you were not „too edgy“ for the job. You were just not getting along with almost EVERYONE and this is certainly not all other consultants‘ fault..
Dear “Anonymous”,
first I thought about simply deleting your post. Because you felt the need to call me a liar and saying I did not get along with almost everyone which is certainly VERY far from the truth. I found a lot of good friends that I still stay in contact with even years after leaving the company. When I left, I got so many calls from people who helped me cope with the situation because I was dear to them.
But then I decided that your comment should stay up. I think it speaks for itself, that you felt the need to make such grave accusations without even having the courage to give your name. Apparently, you feel personally attacked by the simple fact that I was not happy when I was with my former company. You seem to identify strongly with them and I am frankly a bit worried for you.
I did not attack anyone in my former company (expect Mr “Chauvinist”) or anyone working in the industry. Neither did I blame it on “all other consultants”. The opposite is true: I blame it on myself – because I am “too edgy” for this company!
It’s great for you if you are happy with your job there – it was just not the right thing for me.
Please be careful not to get too emotionally attached to them. Because I was like you before as well when talking to others. I really wanted this to be my “dream job” and I advertized them a lot. Heck, I even wanted my own sister to join. It took me this year to realize how unhappy the whole situation has made me and how much happier I am now. I hope you won’t have to make similar experiences one day. I am a strong personality and I fear it might break someone like you. If it’s really your dream: Live it!
And this is also how I want this post to be perceived: It’s about motivating people to live their dreams, to think outside the box and to leave behind the things that don’t work for them. I think you didn’t really get the message.
I wish you had the courage to address me personally and not hide behind vague (and untrue) descriptions and “Anonymous”. Given how quickly you found my post you must follow me on Instagram or Facebook. Which is frankly a bit weird as you don’t seem to be particularly fond of me. Maybe you will find the courage to send me a personal message?
I will leave it to my reader to judge themselves when they read my post and your anonymous comment who they believe and trust.
Sarah
I’m sure your parents may not be very happy with your decision, but I commend you for switching gears to do what you like to do. As a physician’s wife (and mother), I know first hand how hard doctors’ lives are. Unless you are really passionate about this profession, is better to just walk away from it. As for being a travel blogger, I can attest to the rewards, hahaha! Hope you’ll be able to make the six figure income in travel blogging soon.
Hi Anda! Yeah, they are not exactly super positive about it – but they have always supported me in my life with any of my decisions. I am really incredibly lucky with my parents – and my family in general. For me, medicine was also not the right career choice. I could probably write a full blog post about why I didn’t become a physician after university – but this would not really help anyone. With this post here, I hope to inspire others and maybe help them as well. It’s always easier to see that everyone is struggling – even if it might not look like!
I am wishing you the very best with your blog too!
Sarah
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. It sounds like your previous job was very difficult and the treatment you had was completely disgusting. Now you’ve taken the leap into travel blogging it seems you’ve found your passion and I hope you continue to succeed. It doesn’t feel like work when it’s something you love and it’s clear that that’s what you have now found. All the best for the future.
Hi Laura!
This is so true – if you love what you are doing, it does not feel like work at all! Thanks you for your kind words – I really felt the need to talk about what had happened at my previous job!
All the best
Sarah
Liebe Sarah!
Ich habe Dich schon aus unserem gemeinsamen Studium als sehr positive “edgy-person” in Erinnerung. Vor Allem wenn es um Ungerechtigkeiten ging, hast du Dich eingesetzt!
Ich finde es richtig toll, dass du den Mut hast so einen außergewöhnlichen Weg zu gehen und auch durch Deine Offenheit anderen Mut machst sich zu Verwirklichen!
Deine ganze Story lässt mich auch sehr darüber nachdenken, ob es wirklich die w/r-ichtigen Dinge im Leben sind die man so energisch verfolgt…
Bitte mach weiter so und lass dich nicht von der Verwirklichung Deiner Träume abbringen!
Ganz viele liebe Grüße
Julia
Liebe Julia!
Vielen, vielen lieben Dank dir!
Ich hab wirklich lange gezögert, ob ich mich traue, einen so persönlichen Artikel zu schreiben. Wie man an manchen Kommentaren sieht, mache ich mir damit nicht nur Freunde. Aber es fühlte sich einfach richtig an und Antworten wie deine bestärken mich darin, dass ich offen damit umgehen kann!
Es hat eine ganze Weile gedauert, bis ich begriffen habe, dass ich mir ein Ziel gesetzt habe, was nicht meinen wirklichen Wünschen entspricht. Und ehrlicherweise hatte ich auch Angst vor den Reaktionen anderer. Letzen Endes geht es aber darum glücklich zu sein im Leben. Und Glück bedeutet für jeden Menschen etwas anderes. Ich habe tiefen Respekt vor Menschen, die einen “klassischen Karriereweg” verfolgen und darin aufgehen. Nur für mich war es einfach nichts – und ich bin jetzt “mehr ich” als in meinem Job in der Beratung.
Dir auch ganz, ganz viel Erfolg und viele liebe Grüße!
Sarah
I quite understand your situation. Sometimes the boss cannot get along with the smart female employees, specially if the boss is less qualified. Didn’t you try the Betriebsrat for a help? They must be the right persons to deal with the situations you ran into. Nevertheless now you are out of the shady situations and starting the new life-work-balance. I am happy to see that. I am also working towards being a successful blogger but have still long wary to go. As you said, to earn a living from a blog is not easy…though I have tried 18 months by now.
Hi Mijia – don’t give up your journey. It will definitely take a while – but it’s possible to earn that much. I am not quite there yet – but getting closer to it every month.
The sad thing with my situation was that situations like mine were so rare in my company (most people there are amazing) that no one really knew how to help me. And consulting companies also don’t have a Betriebsrat in Germany. They would actually have to have one given the size of the companies, but somehow, no one cares. I probably should have spoken to a lawyer and a dear colleague even recommended it to me. But at that time I didn’t have the courage to do it. The pressure can be really high to “make it work” in these environments and employees often identify strongly with the company. But in the end, it was not the right thing for me. So I am working on making this work!
I wish you all the best for your future and your blogging career too!
Sarah
Wow Sarah , there may be many stories about quitting the regular doing something which you love but how one writes it and with what passion matters . I am a full time corp slave and a part time pasisonate blogger and been itching to follow my dreams too which I weave almost every night per say . I have liabilities , I don’t have support and have mamoth of difficulties around me. Let’s even talk about being on a third world passport with a first world dreams ..hahaha ..
Travel has been a little bit more restricted for us than anybody else ..But, that doesn’t stops me from dreaming frm being hopeful of becoming what i truly want to become .. i had amazing time reading your article . Thank you for articulating it so well.
Hi Debjani, thank you so much for these words – it was not easy to find the right words for my story. Much more difficult than for a regular post about traveling. It’s difficult to go this path and I can only imagine how much more difficult it can be for you. Let’s be honest, it is easier for me with my husband still earning a stable income with his corporate job. And I am also lucky with my passport as only Singaporeans can travel to more countries visa-free than Germans (although I would need one for India! 😉 ). But this does not mean that you can’t “make it” – I do personally know successful full-time bloggers and content creators from India – so don’t give up your dreams!
Having a full-time job while blogging at the same time, I can completely see where you’re coming from. Overall, I too believe that happiness is more important than money and I love the flexibility travel blogging gives me. I’ve been thinking to go full-time for months now and I will definitely do it soon 🙂
Travel Blogging indeed gives a high flexibility – and if it makes you happy, it’s definitely worth looking for a way to make a living out of it! Money can’t buy you happiness – that’s what too many people don’t understand. Of course, money might help you buy things that make you happy – but hey, if you can be much happier with less, then go for it! I can only encourage you to take the step and give it a try, especially since you say you have been thinking about it for a while already!
Wow, what an inspiring post. I can relate to much of it. But unlike you, I was fired for traveling too much, haha. But ever since I have tasted success in blogging, I do not want to go back to the corporate world for the same reasons mentioned by you. Even if they pay more, one loses her/his freedom. Freedom is the best benefit of being an entrepreneur and working on your own terms. I am sorry to hear about the horrible things you faced in your corporate job for 2 years. The episode on your grandfather broke my heart!
Hi Abhinav! Can’t believe they fired you for traveling too much! But well, I guess, sometimes we need to be pushed out of our corporate jobs to see that there is something else that we could do. Something we genuinely enjoy. And that gives us freedom. Completely agree that freedom is one of the highest values EVER! Now, I am free to do what I wish – even if that means that I have less money.
Keeping my fingers crossed for your blogging success as well!
Sarah
And I thought it happened only in the third world countries! Well, I know there are still some places that cannot handle a successful and smart woman. They want us to be just a ‘bit submissive’. Enjoyed reading your story. I was also in the corporate for more than 8 years before I decided to follow blogging as my career. Blogging is not very easy, but then I enjoy it a lot.
I totally liked the fact that you were honest with your feelings. On a bad day, I always have the doubt “did I do the right thing?”. It is good that you mentioned it here, not putting blogging to be a very easy and hunky-dory means of living. Thanks for the inspiration, Sarah!
Hi Amrita! Sad but no, this does happen in Germany as well. “First world” countries still have a long way to go until women are finally equal to men. It might be better here, but still, we sometimes have to face situations like this.
So glad to hear you took the same decision and are working as a blogger too! For some of us, this is just simply the best job in the world – even though it is far from being easy. I really hate when I read someone promising “become a blogger and get rich will traveling” just to sell people courses. These people make money out of the dreams of others (but there are great blogging courses too, not saying this is true for all of them!).
Thanks a lot for your kind words!
Wishing you the best in your blogging career too!
Sarah
I am sorry that you had to face harassment in your first ever job but I guess we all have things (good or bad) that have happened to us in life that have pushed us to do better for ourselves and move into the right direction. I admire what you’ve done for yourself and quitting the stability of a corporate career cannot be easy. I love travelleing myself but I don’t think I’d have it in me to do it as well. What helps, I believe, is that I love my job, thank heavens for that!
This is a very personal post and it was really interesting to see what motivated you to change your life and become a full-time travel blogger. I hate that it had to be because of unfair treatment and stress but it’s great that you found a path you are comfortable with 🙂 Furthermore, I am fully behind the positive message that everyone can find their own personal freedom. Xx
Hi Susanne, thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! It was really something that meant a lot to me and I really wanted to share my story for quite a while. I was just too afraid to do it before because I feared the backlash. But now that I have done it, I feel like it was definitely necessary and it’s super motivating to see that it actually resonates with people and motivates others! This is what I wanted to reach with it. 🙂
Beautiful and inspiring story. Earning as a travel blogger is among our fondest dreams. However, I don’t think we have the courage to leave our jobs. I guess we are one of those lucky ones who were able to land on companies whose employers consider our travel/adventure lifestyle.
Also, having a family really changes priorities. We go adventuring, traveling, and blogging, yes, but we have to consistently earn a certain amount of income to support our daughter. Although we can potentially earn through travel blogging, the cash flow is just too unpredictable.
Perhaps this may change when our daughter graduates from college and will have a job and family of her own.
Hi Adrenaline – I only partially imagine how much having kids influences priorities in life and I have the utmost respect for everyone who has already “tackled this adventure”! That’s also precisely why we decided that we will give it a shot now – because it will only become more difficult once we have kids. I definitely believe it’s possible – but more difficult. And also, if you like your job and it gives you security and enough freedom, there is no reason to change anything! Life as a full-time blogger is certainly not for everyone. But I strongly feel like it was the right decision for me. And thus, I am doing my best to make this work!
This is an incredibly inspiring story! Definitely a risky decision but it sounds like the reward was much higher! Very proud of you following your dreams!
Hi Shane! Thanks so much! It is still a challenge to make this work. But one that I am willing to take – and so far, it looks like it’s going to work 🙂
Wow, it sounds like your role in management was an awful experience. As I was reading your post, I felt really bad for you but it’s made it easier to digest knowing that was your past. It’s cool that you were able to find the winner of Germany’s next top model, Sara Nuru. Great article and an inspiration to others in the travel blog industry.
Hi! It wasn’t an easy time – but I also met amazing people during my time with that company. It’s not like everything was bad – but it simply wasn’t right for me. And in the end, you personally grow when mastering challenges like the one I had to face. I really hope this article will inspire people to live their dreams and step out of this vicious cycle when they are not happy with what they do.
In the end, I think it’s always better to regret the things you did than the things you didn’t do. So, it’s worth taking those shots and chasing your dreams, and it seems like you absolutely made the right choice.
Hi Christopher – that’s also what I think. I am far from being sure this is going to work out – but at least I won’t have to ask me if it would!