My journey from a full time corporate job to starting a travel company

Ever since I quit my full-time, stable, corporate job, I have received a lot of messages like these:

It has been 1 year since I quit my job and I am ready to answer all the questions!

Before we jump to questions, let's understand the timeline of events. From getting the job, to discovering 'travel', quitting the job & everything in between!

Sep'19: Started working as a decision analytics associates at ZS in Pune.

Mar'20: COVID lockdown happened. Luckily, I was on leave from work & was already in Dehradun (my parent's house).

Dec'20: After living the same life in Dehradun for ~8 months, I booked a 1 way ticket to Goa. This was gonna be my first ever solo travel experience. I will write about how this adventure happened in a separate post (drop your email in the subscribe section at the bottom to stay updated 😃)

This trip changed my life.

It might sound too dramatic but imagine this... Me, in my early 20s, going on a solo trip to Goa. This was before solo travelling became cool on reels. I had no idea what to expect. My plan was to take the next flight back home if I get scared or feel lonely.

However, that did not happen. Instead I ended up living in Goa for A WHOLE MONTH!!

This trip brought in the realisation that I knew nothing about the world, that I have been living in a bubble my whole life.

I was getting exposed to different experiences, people from different walks of life, people living alternate lives. I even discovered new genres of music. I learnt that people take a break from work/school to just travel (such an alien concept to me back then). I also had my first travel love story. Where you meet someone, travel with them, live your best lives & then fall out of it as soon as the trip is over (with one of you heart-broken, obviously 😜)

Dec'20 was when I discovered 'travel'

After coming back home, Dehradun life didn't feel like I was actually living. It felt boring, there was not a single day when I wouldn't talk about Goa.

My stories inspired my brother & his girlfriend (now wife) to take a similar trip. And well, they fell in love with travelling too.

The travelling bug had caught on to me. I would travel for a few months, stay at home for a few months, save money & travel again... All this was possible because offices were still remote & I could travel with work. I was a digital nomad.

During this time, I would share my travel stories on IG. The posts inspired folks including colleagues, friends, family to travel as well. The stories were also helping people to plan their trips. A lot of times, my friends would tag along on my trips. Friends who wanted to go on trips but didn't want to go solo & wanted to go with someone who already knew the place.

Unknowingly, I became the inspirer, helper & enabler for other people to travel.

Motivation to quit

Messages like these felt like I was making a difference. After all, I was introducing people to travelling, to the world that changed my life. I wanted to bring it to more people. So this became my life's mission: to help & inspire more people to travel.

With a full time job, it was getting difficult to allocate time & energy to my mission. I knew I had to quit this job.

But quitting that stable job isn't the easiest thing to do, right?

So whenever I thought about it, thoughts like these took over:

'I'll quit after the next bonus'

'I'll work for a few more months, have some more savings before I quit'

'I should wait for the next appraisal cycle'

But my mission was bigger than making PPTs for a client who didn't even care.

As per my estimate, I had savings to last for at least 6 months. I read somewhere that you should have a runway of 6 months which made me feel a little stable. And I started thinking like:

'If not now, when?'

'The more you delay, the harder it gets'

'Will the savings be sufficient ever?'

In Jan'23, the company forced me to move back to Pune. I asked for an extension but I could only get a few months. I dreaded going back to the city life, paying hefty rent.

After all, I had discovered a much better life. I would go for hikes or beach dips before office. I was used to living more around nature & less around buildings. I was breathing clean air, drinking good water, eating good food.

This was when I decided to quit. It was the tipping point.

I didn't know what I would do next. I wanted to not do anything for first 2-3 months. I wanted to travel without work, spend more time with my thoughts. I also believed in the concept of doing nothing, getting bored & in the process getting creative ideas.

By this time, I had a little bit of social media presence already. A part of me believed that I will have more time to create reels & I can be the next influencer. That didn't happen :P

The last resort was 'if nothing works out, I can get a job after 6 months, job market is difficult but it is not rocket science'

Disclaimer: I had an added advantage. I was living rent-free with my parents in Dehradun. I had zero responsibility of my family since they're quite stable.

In Apr'23, I resigned from ZS! I was to serve a 2 month notice period. I was in Rishikesh at this time.

Fun fact: I got my first ever promotion call in Rishikesh in Dec'21.

A few days later, while talking to a friend, I mentioned 'I think I can organise trips for other people, I already have a little bit of social media presence & people might want to travel in my style'.

However, I was very skeptical, I had questions like:

'Why would anyone join my trip?'

'What if I am bad at it?'

But my friend gave me the push, helped me post a story about it & things got rolling.

I picked a long weekend for this trip. And the location was Rishikesh since it's close to home, I knew it well & even if no one signs up for the trip, I don't have to plan my travels in advance.

2 random people & 3 friends joined the trip. Surprisingly, the trip went very well. It gave me a direction on what I could be doing after the job ends.

Guess all good things happened to me in Rishikesh? :P

The motivation to do this long term is greater than ever now. Our trips at The Modern Nomads have enabled people to take solo trips, changed lives.

I would never go back to consulting or join a corporate firm again. This is way more fulfilling than the regular paychecks.

I don't wanna live my life any other way.

Can't measure the impact in terms of numbers. But here are some of the wins of The Modern Nomads:

Conclusion:

To end this post, I would just like to add that while most people don't have the financial stability & can't afford to quit their jobs or take a break from work. If you're someone who has that kind of freedom, then you should definitely give it a try.

Take a sabbatical, give some time to your thoughts, travel, explore different things, you might just find yourself in the process.

It is definitely difficult, it will feel weird to wake up & not know what to do, your friends will be occupied on weekdays, you won't have a lot of people who you can relate & talk to. But it is all worth it!

Thanks to these folks, The Modern Nomads started!!

I served my notice period & Jun'23 was when I officially became 'jobless'

In a way, when I had resigned from the job, I didn't know what I would do. But I took action on that one idea of organising a trip & it worked out. Before the job actually ended, I had some direction. I wasn't 100% certain about it but I knew this is start of something.

End of story!

Now, back to questions:

How do you feel that now those regular pay-checks don't come at the end of the month?

Definitely miss them sometimes. I am more conscious about my expenditures now (no reckless spending).

Thankfully, the savings are not exhausted yet. I am able to earn a little bit from the trips that I host. It is nowhere close to the salary that I was getting but the work is fulfilling so can't complain.

Do you see yourself doing this long term or would you go back to consulting?

I definitely want to work in travel space long term.

I have found my ikigai in travelling:

I love travelling, the world needs it, I can be paid for it & I am pretty good at hosting trips.