How I quit my job to travel: The financial writer

[prasad1]

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In 2004, when I was at one of the lowest points of my life, I decided to go to India.
I'd never visited India; I’d never even been on a long-term trip. I was emotionally fragile, and at 45, I was at an age when more rational people would be thinking mostly about settling down and playing it safe. But I knew I had to go. I was trying to recover from a deeply entrenched depression brought on by a series of devastating losses, including both my parents, and the only thing that had helped was yoga. Three classes a week eventually turned into teacher training, which lead to a desire – a compulsion almost – to visit the country where yoga was born. It felt like my life depended on it.
So on 5 December 2005, I boarded a plane bound for Delhi – leaving my life in Toronto and my job as a freelance financial writer behind. My return ticket was scheduled for six months later.
Though irrational and counter-intuitive, it's still the best thing I have ever done. But it required some planning.It took 11 months from the aha! moment to lift-off. I sold about one-third of my belongings, moved out of my apartment and into a small sublet, temporarily gave my cat to a friend and saved as much money as I could. Rather than continue my freelance work from abroad, I finished all my contracts before departure; for once in my life, I wanted to be free to just be, without the responsibilities of a job or assignments. Meanwhile, I lined up a one-month yoga course and a two-month volunteering stint to work with Tibetan refugee children in Dharamsala.
By the time I left Toronto, I was as ready as I would ever be. Which is to say, mentally, not at all. As we descended into Indira Gandhi International Airport, I had no idea what awaited me, no idea what India would look like, no idea how I would be able to handle six months of travel in such a different and challenging place.
But then I landed – and the adventure began. I was met at the airport by an old acquaintance who invited me to stay in his family's home in South Delhi. They welcomed me and helped acclimatise me to India. I felt very lucky to have such a soft landing.
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India changed me. It gave me hope, inspiration and a new start in life. Thanks to my travels, I developed the attitude that every incident I encountered was meant to happen; everything and everyone was my teacher. I began to view my life as if I were going on a quest – an approach that helped me accept the losses I had experienced.
I left behind both my depression and a career that I’d found boring and unfulfilling. Instead, I began pursuing the career and lifestyle of my dreams.
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As I write this, I am getting ready to leave for my seventh trip to India. I'll again be crisscrossing the subcontinent in search of adventure, stories and the feeling I love best –that I am truly experiencing my life and doing what I was meant to do.
BBC - Travel - How I quit my job to travel: The financial writer : Adventure, India

 

[renuka]

I guessed at much it must be a White female who will quit job to travel etc!

Mostly suffer from depression and then take a sudden drastic decision and feel they have a different calling in life..then adopt a totally new eastern mystic life style and sing a different tune.

They are just not facing the harsh realities that made them depressed in the first place but masking their true feelings by a new found life.

Either way they seldom find contentment. They always choose some less developed South Asian country to bond with not becos they love the country but seeing poverty and suffering they indirectly feel a bit better becos they feel someone else is worse than them.

Its a psychological way to feed the ego and not feel so bad for their own depressed state.

That is why the exodus of depressed white females to India.

They wont stay in their own country becos there is not much poverty or suffering to witness there and everyone else seems better off than them..so it will add to their depression!

Depressive Opportunists I call such people.

 

[krish44]

there is a saying in hindi' andhomein kana raja' meaning among the blind one eyed becomes raja

those who are pressured in US and western societies head for india where they find millions disadvantaged and that makes them feel they are better than them in most

ways.this is so unlike their own country where they are not well off materially. so they have a sense of self satisfaction.

they might even work for a cause here which might help some poor category.

we can definitely absorb these in india.

india will benefit

 

[mkrishna100]

They always choose some less developed South Asian country to bond with not becos they love the country but seeing poverty and suffering they indirectly feel a bit better becos they feel someone else is worse than them.

I do not know about that aspect but one thing I found with many western women who visit India especially Rishikesh etc is that it is much cheaper to spend a major part of their year with their meager savings than in some European or Scandinavian Country. In fact one western women humorously told me in Rishikesh that for what she earns in USA she would considered in the Below Poverty Line category but she enjoys much better life here with the same money and also the medical expenses is quite cheap .In short India is cheap ,rest of things like spiritual interests ,escape from depression etc etc varies from people to people and I do not want to generalize the same

 

[renuka]

I do not know about that aspect but one thing I found with many western women who visit India especially Rishikesh etc is that it is much cheaper to spend a major part of their year with their meager savings than in some European or Scandinavian Country. In fact one western women humorously told me in Rishikesh that for what she earns in USA she would considered in the Below Poverty Line category but she enjoys much better life here with the same money and also the medical expenses is quite cheap .In short India is cheap ,rest of things like spiritual interests ,escape from depression etc etc varies from people to people and I do not want to generalize the same

Dear Sir,

Once my mother and I met a white lady touring India and the lady expressed her disappointment that India is changing.

My mum asked her what did she mean by it and she replied that previously life was slow in India and there was less development and when one visited India one could feel like one was going back in time but now its developing and the feel of an ancient India is not there anymore.

My mum did not like what she said and told her "India cant stop developing just becos you want to take a holiday"