Why We Went From Being Aspiring Homeowners To Unemployed Backpackers 

As my now fiancé Adam, hit ‘submit’ on an offer for a 3 bed in Suffolk back in March 2022, rather than feeling what I imagine should be excitement and enthusiasm, all I could feel was internal panic, heart palpitations and a slight cold sweat brewing. 

We had spent the better part of 4 months avidly searching for a new place to live. 2022 was to be the ‘year of the house’ as we playfully called it. Renting a one bedroom flat for 5 years in Essex left us feeling uninspired and burnt out. This, coupled with the relentless lockdowns during the pandemic with no garden, and us both working from home in one room, we knew it was time to switch things up and expand our horizons. 

Little did we know then that our house deposit would soon be used to fund something a little different to initially expected…

How did we go from looking to put down roots and ‘settling down’ to leaving our jobs, living with Adam’s parents and deciding to go backpacking around the world for the foreseeable?

Firstly it has to be said that when I first told my friends and family about our radical change of plans (from searching for homes to buy to hostels to stay in!), the majority of people barely batted an eyelid at our decision. It’s never been a secret that I have always loved travelling – aside from art and food/cooking, travel has always been one of my greatest passions. I am the daughter of habitual expats and an immigrant myself after all! The only reason we hadn’t made the decision to go travelling sooner was that Adam was a little less keen on the idea. He had a solid career, a close family and was happy with us going on a couple of trips abroad each year. 

Throughout our 9-year relationship we would often make passing jokes that we should ‘quit everything and just go travelling instead’, laugh it off and go about our day. But one day Adam came to me and said he was deadly serious about leaving our jobs, selling all of our stuff and taking some time to backpack around the world. I thought he was joking at first, obviously, but then as we talked a bit more I realised this was not a laughing matter. My relentless travel seed planting over the years had paid off! I was euphoric. 

But why now, I hear you ask? 

We are both approaching turning 30 and have established decent career paths and living situations. We were exploring the topic of whether we wanted kids and timelines for that sort of thing and looking to get a dog – you know the drill. 

Some of the blame for taking a diversion to our house-buying life plan was the pandemic, for sure. We spent a lot of time in a very small space reminiscing about past travels and desperately waiting for there to be a time when we could jet off somewhere again. Some of our happiest memories and greatest periods of growth/ learning were made while travelling before. And having not spent any money on holidays for nearly 3 years meant we had accumulated a healthy savings pot. That money was always going to be used to better our lives one way or another, it just so happened that in this season of life we came to the realisation that life is friggin’ SHORT. We both experienced what it felt like to not be able to do the one thing that brought you joy amidst working and adulting.

With normal, everyday life seeming more and more uncertain and unpredictable, to us the only rational thing to do was accept that the only thing permanent was impermanence and back our bags! 

Some people may read this and think we are mad – using our savings to gallivant around the world. But I find peace in knowing that this is genuinely the right phase of our life to be doing this. We are older and smarter travellers at 29 with good experience navigating different countries as we have travelled a fair bit together throughout our relationship. Furthermore, we are not on a shoestring budget so we can do more than we would have done had we done this a decade ago. And most importantly, we are doing what makes us truly and viscerally HAPPY. To us joy lies in jetting off to the other side of the world. To someone else it is something completely different. I just think we should be given the space to spend our time on earth as we please. 

If there is one thing I’ve found myself doing since 2020 is deeply questioning my life’s purpose and everything that comes with living a life that is so authentic and true to me. I vowed to not waste my life since I lost someone in my family when I was 17 and feel compelled to live out my wildest dreams now, at 29 and thereafter. I feel like I’m definitely keeping that promise! 

The last few years Adam and I have felt on the precipice of drastic change to our living situation and lifestyle. We have no dependents, no debts and have really honed in on the things we love to do together – travel, be amongst nature and celebrate the present moment. 

Here’s to our new life chapter….

Until next time,

Lica xoxo