At the end of 2016 Joanna Reid noticed a shift in her mental attitude. She was worn out with her work as an event manager, unfulfilled and desperate for a change of gear.
Her family home was being sold, her friends were all buying houses and she had saved £25,000. But something wasn't right.
Joanna decided that her money would be much better spent on a six-month career break instead, travelling. Throwing caution to the wind, she told her boss her plans, moved in with a friend and began to plan her path around the world.
And it's the best thing she ever did.
The tipping point
Buying a house had always been a big life goal. All my friends were doing it and up until December 2016, I'd been religiously saving in the hope of doing a Help To Buy scheme. £25k to be exact. But despite saving more money than I ever imagined I could have, buying still felt like a moving, unrealistic dream.
Even if I could get on the housing ladder, it would only be through a shared ownership scheme that meant still paying rent and mortgage. It would mean most of my take-home salary eaten up by housing bills and barely any disposable income left for holidays and living my life. I thought 'what am I actually saving for? I'm only doing this because I feel like I should do it, not because I want to do it'.
Meanwhile, my parents split up, meaning they were moving out of the house I was also living in. Either I start spending more on rent and saving even less towards what was feeling like an increasingly unattainable goal, or…
So, there I was in December 2016, debating the life choices ahead of me. I'd just moved in with one of my friends temporarily, but I needed to find somewhere more permanent to live. I realised I wasn't happy with my job, but didn't immediately know what to do about it. Oh and I was also single, with no commitment to tie me down.
That's when I knew that I needed to go and do something fun.
I had always toyed with the idea of going travelling, but I'm not your natural traveller - I don't like living without my comforts and I was also really nervous about going by myself. But something just clicked and I thought, 'I need to do this'. I latched on to that thought and it stuck.
To me, spending all my money on a mortgage was far more scary than using it to go travelling. Investment-wise, I understand that a mortgage would be more beneficial, but I decided I'd much rather enjoy myself with the money that I earn. Travelling definitely didn't scare me as much as being financially tied down and having regrets did.
As soon as I returned to work after Christmas, I put in the request for a career break.
The importance of a support network
Luckily, my parents were pretty chilled out when I told them what I wanted to do. My mum in particular thought it was great for me to take some time out to do something for myself. My dad was more apprehensive, but mainly because of my personality, he didn't see how I was going to enjoy travelling, (which also spurred me on to do it more).
I did toy with the idea of leaving my job altogether if work didn't give me a career break. That scared my parents, because I worked for a successful company. But for me, that wasn't going to give me life satisfaction, I needed to work more at striving for happiness outside of monetary value.
The process
I knew I was eligible for a career break because I'd been at my company for 6 years, but I didn't know the ins and outs of how to request it, or who you needed approval from. So I spent some time on my work intranet and asked some of my close colleagues what they knew, to figure it all out.
I followed the official procedure rather than going straight to my boss, because I knew that way they wouldn't have a chance to try and dissuade me. I submitted the application and from then it moved pretty quickly. I asked at the start of January, did my official request in April and then left in the summer.
The trip
I decided to start my journey in Bali. It's a place I always hear people rave about, but after a week of partying too much and faking it to make friends, I almost turned around.
Lying in my 40-bed dorm room one day, my anxiety got the better of me; I booked a flight home for that night.
Thankfully, after lunch with some of my new friends, I was convinced to stay and give travelling another shot. Luckily I could cancel the booking for free, although I don't think I'd have boarded that plane either way.
From there, I paid some pretty serious money (around £2k) for a blissful yoga retreat at Zen Resort Bali. Returning to Bali with a friend I'd met, I soon got tired of the beach clubs, so we decided to head to Cambodia. Next up was an ethical 'elephant project', riding the bamboo train and even attending circus school. The Travel Bucket List was being ticked off rapidly.
Next, I travelled to Singapore, where I decided to treat myself to some amazing meals and beautiful hotels. If you live for an infinity pool shot, just one night at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is a must!
I had to come home for a couple of weeks after that for weddings and hen dos, but after a quick hiatus, I was ready for my next adventure. This time it was to Brazil, starting in Rio.
My fellow travellers were older and more my age here and I barely spent a minute on my own. We hiked, explored favelas, attended a local football match and drank countless caipirinhas and ate far too many steak dinners. It was bliss.
After Rio, I travelled to São Paulo, ilha Grande and Iguazu Falls before returning to the city for a couple more weeks with the friends I had made. It was probably the happiest I've been in years.
What I learnt
If I hadn't gone travelling, it would have taken me much longer to get out of my life rut and I think my mental health would have taken a turn. Especially as I already suffer from anxiety.
The biggest thing I got out of my trip is more self-confidence. The whole process made me really proud of myself. I realised that I am capable of more than I was giving myself credit for; I just need to go out and get it.
The trip has also made me much more willing to jump into new things. I'm leaving my full-time permanent job to do a six-month contract at a another company. I want to take a new career direction and I know the only way to do it is just go for it, jump into it and take the risk. I also did a course on floristry. Instead of being nervous and wondering 'what if I'm not good at it', I've just given it a go.
I'm definitely more ambitious to put myself out there, as well. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. At least now I know that I've tried.
I had saved a lot of money and knowing that I don't have any of that money left is alarming. But I will never regret going. I honestly can't think of a better way I could have spent that money. I can't remember the last time that I felt this positive about where I'm going and what I'm doing.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
