BRB GUYS - I'm travelling

So I finally did it. I took the leap. I quit my job and decided to take a break to travel around before re-entering the workforce. People have asked me time and time again why I quit and why I decided to leave a place I have made home for the past two years. Sure, I did not live a life of luxury in the most expensive city in the world, but I had a job, shared a nice private flat in a quiet neighbourhood, a good handful of friends, and a happy and fulfilling relationship. Why abandon it all for unemployment and travelling on a budget?

Isn't Singapore just so purdy?

As I’ve begun to embark on my travels and tell more and more people why, the more I look into my choice. It all boils down to a conversation I was having with my cousin. As is normal for yuppies in their mid-20s, we were having wine and discussing the woes of work. It was then when my cousin told me something I would never forget: “You know what cousin? There is a difference between being comfortable and being happy.” It dawned on me that although I had friends, a relationship, and a career, the feeling in my gut still told me this wasn’t the right city, the right career path, and that I deserve to chase after something that would make me happy.

Fearful of remaining a bum after graduating high school and university, I rushed into my career choice. Jobs are few and far between right? So I had to take what was available. At least that was my opinion in the past.

It seems, like myself, a lot of other 20-somethings think of their twenties as a time to keep mucking around until reality smacks them in the face. Sure, there are the ambitious and the successful, but there are also those who are either stuck in a dead-end job, a career path they hate, or doing nothing at all. We are happy to be comfortable. Being happy is too risky. In a day and age where the economic climate has all of us recent graduates struggling for a foot in the door in the workforce, we seem to approach life with an unnecessary averseness to risk.

I was stuck in a job that had no prospects, no challenges, and pretty much no promise. So I did it. I quit my job without any idea of what the future holds. I will go and travel around Asia, meet new friends and old, splurge on holidays, budget on others, and explore my career choices, but most importantly I will do this because it makes me happy.

So I urge others who are not yet happy: don’t be afraid to pursue it because comfortable is not good enough.