I QUIT my job to travel…

“Just quit your job and travel the world!!”

I see this advice EVERYWHERE.

And honestly? As someone who actually quit her nine-to-five to become a full-time travel creator…

I think it’s terrible advice.

There. I said it. 😛

Your job is NOT your enemy.

I know. The desk feels suffocating. The Monday meetings feel pointless. But before you dramatically hand in that resignation letter, hear me out.

Your job is giving you SO much right now 👇🏽

💰 Money: Real, consistent money you can save and put toward building your content on the side. Every trip you take while still employed? That’s an investment. Treat it like one.

🧠 Structure: You’ve seen how teams work. How a business actually runs. People who skip this and jump straight into being their own boss? They struggle. A LOT. You already have that knowledge, don’t throw it away.

⏰ Time management: Right now you’re juggling a full-time job AND creating content on the side. If you can make it work NOW, you can definitely make it work when travel is your full time thing. Consider it free training 😌

🙌🏽 Paid leaves: Combine them with long weekends. You’re literally getting paid by your employer while going on trips. If that’s not a hack I don’t know what is 😭

Okay but here’s the part nobody warns you about.

Here’s what “traveling the world” ACTUALLY looks like when it’s your job:

You finish an 8km hike. Legs are deadd. Soul is tired.

And instead of ordering room service and passing out…

You sit down, organise every clip from the day, sort folders, maybe even finish an urgent brand edit.

Because you’re not getting paid to travel. You’re getting paid to create content while traveling.

Those are two WILDLY different things.

I love it…genuinely, I DO. This works LIGHTS UP MY SOUL. But not everyone will. And you won’t know until you actually test it. Ideally while you still have a safety net 😬

So what should you actually do?

🌍 Try remote work first: Before quitting, shift to a remote role if you can. It teaches you how to build your own routine and stay accountable when nobody’s watching. Solo content creation feels lonely in the exact same way, better to figure that out before you’re in the deep end.

💸 Don’t quit without a cushion: I had 6-7 months of expenses saved AND was already earning from content before I left my job. You don’t need the same numbers…but you should be creating consistently, seeing real results, and earning something before you take the leap.

Quit when it actually makes sense. Not because the internet told you it was time 😌

Building something real and sustainable is a lot of unglamorous work that nobody posts about.

Late nights organising clips. Chasing brand payments. Replying to emails from a hostel bed. THAT is the reality 😂

Take the leap. Just make sure you’re jumping toward something and not just away from something.

Before we get into your question, i want to get to know YOU!

genuinely want to know who’s reading this 👀

Now let’s get into your question of the week 👇🏽

Unpacking Your Question 💌

Honestly, I RARELY use the big platforms unless I’m booking something super standard, like a famous museum or a classic tourist activity.

If you want real local gems, here are my 2 go-to moves 👇🏽

1. Find LOCAL creators 📍

Search your destination on Instagram or YouTube (like “Bangkok”, “Lombok”, “Mexico City”) and find creators who are FROM the city. Local creators usually know the hidden spots and the smaller tour operators doing the most immersive experiences.

2. Use AI to do the digging for you 🤖

I’ll literally put the following keywords in Claude (research mode ON): “locally-owned”, “highly-rated local operators” and “culturally immersive” → this gives me the perfect list of websites I can check out and book through!

And if you want to go deeper, my Travel Hacking course has 30+ hacks to save money on flights and stays, plus tips for finding OFFBEAT experiences

Try this for your next trip and let me know how it goes okay?

One Cool Thing I Did This Week 💕

Every Tuesday, I head out with a small group to hand out food to Homeless people in Cape Town ❤️ And honestly… it hits me EVERY time. The area I live in feels so SAFE and glossy, but just a little away, you can see the REAL struggle. This is my little way of staying GROUNDED, reminding myself what’s real, and giving back in a way that actually matters 🙏🏽 About 12–13 of us get together and we hand out around 100 bags with food + basic essentials to help someone get through the day.

That’s it for this week’s Unpacked…see you next Wednesday with something new to unpack 👋🏽

Lots of love & sunshine,
Aakanksha