It was sunny and the trees had just started to sprout leaves the day I quit my job to travel. As a contract administrator for a shipping company， I’d spent 2012 working in a windowless office in Washington D.C.—and while it was a great job for a 25-year-old， potentially even a good career， it was not what I wanted. I wanted to write stories and see the world.

The seeds of this decision were sown two years earlier， in 2010， when I graduated college and moved to Spain to teach English. I exchanged my university texts for kids’ books and spent my spare time travelling around Europe， documenting it all in my blog， Young Adventuress. I had no idea that the blog would eventually turn into a business that sustains me to this day.

After two years， my teaching contracts ended， so I said 1）hasta luego to my life on the Iberian Peninsula and moved back in with my parents to work a nine-to-five desk job in Washington D.C.， dealing with financial reviews， company deadlines， terrible co-workers and fax machines that never worked.

Writing， on the other hand， continued to make me happy. And during those two years in Spain， my blog had grown a large following of dedicated readers. I faced a tough decision： quit and pursue writing full-time， or play it safe and keep a good job.

While I felt guilty for wanting something different to the norm， I knew that returning to the world of writing and travelling was the right choice， and I began planning my next move straight away. This time， my goal was to move to New Zealand： the Land of the Long White Cloud. For Americans under 30， it’s a relatively easy place to get a yearlong visa. Not to mention， the country’s epic landscapes， 2）pristine wilderness and snowy mountains had captured my imagination since watching the first Lord of the Rings film a decade earlier. This goal kept me sane during a year of work， while I 3）squirreled away as much money as I could and wrote every day.

Every night when I came home from my desk job I would work on my blog. I spent a year building up the content， growing my social media following and setting up freelance writing contracts， so that I would have guaranteed paid work once I quit. Halfway through the year I took a week off and flew to Turkey on my first press trip to see if I would actually like travelling full-time and 4）traipsing around a new destination every day. A few months later I was invited to explore Jordan for a few weeks， and I knew the time had come to make the final leap. I planned out my trips for the rest of the year， booked my flights， set up freelance work and sold my car（my last strong tie to my old life） before setting off. The plan？ Fly to Jordan， where I made friends with 5）Bedouins under the stars in the Wadi Rum and ate more hummus and kunefe than I could have ever imagined. Then I road-tripped through some of the most remote parts of Iceland under the midnight summer sun. And finally， I hopped on a one-way flight to New Zealand.

It’s been almost two years since I quit my job， and I’m now based in Wanaka， a tiny town on New Zealand’s South Island. At virtually the end of the world， it was recommended by my readers as somewhere I might like to live. Tucked away next to the towering mountains of Mt Aspiring National Park and next to a pristine crystal blue alpine lake， it is one of the few places in the world where I see myself living long-term.

Since quitting my job， I’ve sailed off the coast of Italy and Greece； dived shipwrecks in Bali and Thailand； ridden horses across the high mountains of western Mongolia； slept under the stars on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef； and chased elves in Iceland. Not once have I regretted my decision to leave my job in Washington D.C..

My first year abroad was one of trial and error， with my business and work evolving month to month. Now the majority of my income comes from partnering with likeminded brands， helping to share their story on my blog and on social media. In many ways I work harder than I ever have before， but doing it on my terms makes it worth it.

Sometimes I wish for those regular paychecks， for the ease of turning off my computer at five p.m. on a Friday and knowing what will happen the next week， month and year. But then I pinch myself， look out the window at snowcapped mountains and remember where my choices have brought me.

My path has been far from linear， and it has definitely been a 6）rollercoaster of emotions， failures， freak-outs and learning experiences. Two years ago I wanted to see as much of the world as possible， tick items off a bucket list and collect stamps in my passport. Now I prefer to travel slowly， really dig in my heels and get to know a country. I enjoy going back to places I’ve been before and seeing them in a new light.

Through all this， I have achieved my goal of becoming a writer， blogger， Instagrammer， whatever you want to call me； I did it. I gave up a comfortable life to pursue personal happiness—hopefully proving that dreams really do come true， if you work for them.

我決定辭職去旅行那天，陽(yáng)光明媚，樹(shù)上開(kāi)始冒出了新芽。作為船運(yùn)公司的一名合同管理員，我的2012年就在華盛頓特區(qū)的一個(gè)沒(méi)有窗戶的辦公室里度過(guò)。盡管這對(duì)一個(gè)25歲的年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)是一份十分好的差事，甚至有可能是一份很好的終生職業(yè)，但那不是我想要的。我想寫(xiě)故事，想去看看這個(gè)世界。

這個(gè)決定的種子早在兩年前——2010年——就已埋下了，那時(shí)我剛從大學(xué)畢業(yè)，隨后便到了西班牙教英語(yǔ)。我以大學(xué)課本跟小孩子們交換兒童書(shū)，在空余時(shí)間游歷歐洲，我把這些經(jīng)歷都記錄在我名為“青年女冒險(xiǎn)家”的博客上。我從沒(méi)想過(guò)這個(gè)博客最終會(huì)變成一份收入來(lái)源，直到今天支撐著我的生活。

兩年后，我的教學(xué)合同到期了，因此我告別了伊比利亞半島上的生活。我回到父母身邊，在華盛頓特區(qū)做一份朝九晚五的辦公室工作，應(yīng)付財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告、公司期限、糟糕的同事，還有那臺(tái)永遠(yuǎn)不能正常運(yùn)作的傳真機(jī)。

另外，寫(xiě)作仍然讓我感到快樂(lè)。在西班牙的兩年里，我的博客多了很多忠實(shí)讀者。我面臨著艱難的抉擇：放棄工作，全職寫(xiě)作，還是邊工作邊寫(xiě)作，讓生活有保障些。

雖然與普通人的差異讓我感到內(nèi)疚，但是我知道回到寫(xiě)作和旅游的世界才是正確的選擇，于是我馬上開(kāi)始計(jì)劃下一次的出行。這次，我的目的地是有“長(zhǎng)白云之鄉(xiāng)”之稱的新西蘭。對(duì)于一個(gè)30歲以下的美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，申請(qǐng)新西蘭一年簽證是很容易的。更不必說(shuō)，這個(gè)國(guó)家讓人驚嘆的美景、原始的曠野、覆蓋皚皚白雪的高山，對(duì)我有多大的吸引力，十年前看過(guò)第一部《指環(huán)王》后，我便深深愛(ài)上這里。這個(gè)目標(biāo)讓我在一年的工作中保持神志清醒，期間，我努力存錢，而且堅(jiān)持每天寫(xiě)作。

每天晚上下班回來(lái)，我都會(huì)寫(xiě)博客。我花了一年時(shí)間建立博客內(nèi)容，使博客粉絲數(shù)量增加，并簽訂自由作家合同，這樣我才保證了辭職后有一份有報(bào)酬的工作。半年后，我請(qǐng)了一星期假，飛到土耳其進(jìn)行第一次新聞采稿之旅，我要看看我是否真的喜歡全職旅行，每天都去不同的地方閑逛的生活。幾個(gè)月后，我被邀請(qǐng)到約旦進(jìn)行為期數(shù)周的體驗(yàn)探索，我知道是時(shí)候完成最后一跳了。我為這年剩下的日子計(jì)劃行程，訂機(jī)票，安排好自由作家的工作，出發(fā)前賣掉我的車（我最后一條維系舊生活的強(qiáng)韌紐帶）。計(jì)劃進(jìn)展如何？先是飛去約旦，在瓦地倫沙漠的星空下認(rèn)識(shí)了貝都因人，在那里不可思議地吃了很多的鷹嘴豆和庫(kù)內(nèi)費(fèi)甜品。我還在冰島夏夜的陽(yáng)光下一路乘車去到那里最邊遠(yuǎn)的地方。最后，我搭上單程飛機(jī)到了新西蘭。

我辭職至今已差不多兩年了，我現(xiàn)在在新西蘭南島上的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)——瓦納卡生活。那里幾乎是世界的盡頭，是讀者給我推薦的地方，他們覺(jué)得我會(huì)喜歡這里。隱藏在阿斯派靈山國(guó)家公園里的巍峨高山旁，與原生態(tài)的碧綠高山湖相毗鄰，這是一個(gè)讓我渴望長(zhǎng)期居住的少數(shù)地方之一。

辭職后，我在意大利和希臘出海游船；在巴厘島和泰國(guó)潛入沉船；在蒙古西部騎馬橫跨高山；躺在澳洲的大堡礁上看星星；在冰島追逐精靈。我從沒(méi)為辭去華盛頓特區(qū)工作的決定后悔過(guò)。

我在國(guó)外的第一年在嘗試和出錯(cuò)中度過(guò)，我自己的事情和工作都在逐月推進(jìn)?，F(xiàn)在，我主要的收入來(lái)源是一些與我想法相似的品牌，我的工作就是在我的博客和社交媒體上分享他們的故事。從多方面來(lái)看，工作比從前更辛苦，但這是為我自己而做的，我覺(jué)得很值得。

有時(shí)候，我會(huì)想要定時(shí)發(fā)放的工資，想要能在周五下午五點(diǎn)關(guān)掉電腦，而且知道下周、下個(gè)月、明年的工作是什么的輕松感。但這時(shí)我會(huì)掐自己一下，看看窗外積雪的高山，想想我的選擇讓自己到過(guò)哪些地方。

我的人生道路并非直線型的，必然會(huì)有劇烈的情緒起伏、失敗、驚慌、不斷學(xué)習(xí)的經(jīng)歷。兩年前，我希望盡可能多看看這個(gè)世界，在目標(biāo)清單上打勾，收集護(hù)照上的印花?，F(xiàn)在，我更喜歡慢慢地游覽，花時(shí)間真正認(rèn)識(shí)這個(gè)國(guó)家。我很喜歡重回我走過(guò)的地方，并以新的眼光去欣賞它。

經(jīng)歷了這一切，我實(shí)現(xiàn)了自己的目標(biāo)，你可以稱我為作家、博主或圖片分享人，反正我做到了。我為了追求自己的幸福，放棄了舒適的生活——希望這能證明夢(mèng)想真的能成真，只要你努力去實(shí)現(xiàn)。