Today was a travel day – which means it’s a good day! I just got to my destination and as I got out of my car in Arkansas, it kind of gave me thought to writing this.
I want to talk about my job and how I’m able to go on trips to ride my bike at random places like Palo Duro Canyon, Bentonville, AR, and Colorado to name a few.
Essentially, I have a job where I get to travel 100% – and it’s nothing related to mountain biking or the outdoors. It’s a STEM job – that’s as much detail as I’m willing share right now. It pays me a regular salary while also paying for my living accommodations, food expenses, and also my car expenses. More details in the next section below.
If someone had told me I would get this job years ago, I would’ve said “Yeah right.” But here I am traveling for work. There is no private jet, or limos, or fancy valets… but it’s still traveling.
Will I continue working my job? Well… that’s part of the story below.
Contents
Storytime: How I Got The Traveling Job
Before reading on, I want to say that there’s nothing magical about how I got my job. I applied for it just like any other person would and I got selected. I have a college degree, I have some work experience, I put it all on a resume, I applied, I interviewed, and I got offered the job. I don’t have any cool or awesome tips to help anyone interested to be honest, other than to be super professional.
Also, I didn’t have any connections in the industry, I didn’t know anyone.. I wasn’t even working in the industry when I got the job!
Luck definitely played a role.
Here’s what led up to the traveling gig: Like so many others during the Great Recession, I was laid off from my STEM job after the economic downturn back in ’09. Talk about tough times. I had to move back home with the parents. If it wasn’t for my awesome parents I would have been homeless and without a roof over my head. Moving back home wasn’t really that bad. So thankful my mom and dad didn’t mind having us kids at home as much as possible. I helped out with food prep and house chores and some of the bills from whatever I could scrape up – it was like being a kid again.
Anyways, I was unemployed for a while – I won’t specify length of time, it’s too embarrassing.
I did land one job 6 months before I was offered the traveling gig. It involved doing something completely different from what I went to college for. I actually did well and was on track to move up quickly….moving up never happened.
That’s because one day I got a call from an employer whom I put in an application probably 5 or 6 months prior. They wanted me to come in for an interview.
I was shocked. I was pretty much ready to kiss my college education goodbye because after hundreds, if not thousands, of job applications… I never got so far as an interview after the Great Recession. They were the first ones to respond since I was laid off.
So yes, I went to the interview…. without expecting much.
Three months later they offered me the job. My mind was blown. I have no idea how that decision was made, but it would be the opportunity of a lifetime as well the offering of stability.
I accepted the job in 2012, and I have been traveling ever since.
I’ve been really fortunate; it’s a great job. I’m grateful because it changed my life in so many ways for the better: I met my fiance, I’m able to afford certain things, I see my work being used, it’s challenging, it’s for something bigger than me, and much more.
For the sake of privacy, I won’t reveal my employer, but here’s a hint: they’re one of the most secure employers around.
How I Take My Bike With Me
My employer allows me use my personal vehicle for travel and they help pay most of the expenses on it. There are limits of course, but a regular every day car like a pick-up truck, or a small SUV like mine, is perfectly fine.
Because I’m able to drive my own personal car to certain places I can also take whatever else my car can carry: bike rack, bike, roof box, a trailer if I wanted. Pretty much anything.
I have coworkers who tow travel trailers and even bring their families with them. I have a coworker who drives a Prius and calls it his money maker because it’s so reliable. Some have been doing the job for over 30 years – insane!
We have a region that we work in. For example, IF our region was in and nearby Florida we would never travel to Maine or Washington State. You get the idea. We’re never TOO far from home.
Since I work in a region, I’ll never be able to visit certain places like Moab Utah unless I plan my own riding trip out there (one day for sure!).
When I’m near a popular riding destination and I’m close-by for work, what I do is I’ll just set aside a whole weekend to ride. For example, I was working in Northwest Arkansas so of course I had to spend the weekend in Bentonville and ride the trails there! It would have been a shame not to. It was a solo trip, and one of my most memorable… so much ridiculous fun.
Wish I knew some friends to ride with though. That’s a topic for another day.
The Upsides to Traveling For Work
For the most part there’s a big sense of adventure. I’m able to see new things, explore new places, try new and different foods. Though, I don’t travel internationally. But I like it that way – being able to go home on a moment’s notice if needed is a good thing… to me.
All my expenses are paid for. I literally don’t have to have a home technically. For mail, I just use my parents address.
It’s possible for me to live in hotels and not have to worry about a house. No worries about a mortgage payment or property taxes/insurance, or even utility bills. Literally.
In fact, I lived that way for the first 4 years of my work travels. I was a free man – debt free, house free… it was great.
Then I met my fiance. So now there’s a house involved and all the expenses that come with it.
I made that sound bad, haha! But it’s actually really nice since there’s a place I can somewhat call my own now.
I learned how to manage my time better. I have to plan far ahead and make good use of my time to be productive. If I wanted to do anything outside of work, any side hustles, working out, riding my bike… it all comes down to how I manage my time. Thank goodness for technology and the internet, I really don’t think I could handle the traveling if not for being connected. No idea how my coworkers did this traveling gig 20 years ago.
Plus, I was able to save up a good chunk of change for other investments since my living expenses were so low. Yes, I could easily buy a much nicer carbon bike than the budget bike I’m riding as of right now… but I have other financial goals I’m trying to meet. If I can meet those goals, that will be the first present to myself. And, of course, I would write about it here!
Besides, it’s not the bike… it’s the rider!
The Downsides to Traveling for Work
I don’t have what they call “time freedom.” I’m still under the clock for work. I can’t just get up and go ride the nearest trail at 8am on a workday because, work calls. I really envy the lives of guys like The Singletrack Sampler or Seth’s Bike Hacks or BKXC where they just travel and ride all day every day and make videos. Life seems so stress free and simple.
Anyways, quite simply traveling is not as amazing as everyone thinks. But I guess if I never had the chance to be where I am today I would think otherwise.
Here’s the thing: I don’t get to pick and choose where I go. I’ve also been to, literally, places like the middle of nowhere rural Nebraska. So as cool as some of the places I’ve been to, there’s also just as bad places out in the middle of nowhere.
Time away from home. This one is the hardest. I have coworkers who have kids and they go home every weekend. I have a fiance that puts up with where they end up sending me for work – but she doesn’t like it. There’s things to do at home, and I can’t be there.
Time spent traveling. A lot of time is wasted driving or flying. One can only be so productive. I have podcasts playing and ebooks to read.
Not being able to do things around the house, so when I do go home… I’m just swamped with household chores when relaxing is usually on my mind.
Gradually, you lose touch with your friends. This is an extension of the time away from home. Friends realize you travel and that you’re not around to go to happy hours, and potlucks, and movie nights, and some weekends you just want to be at home. They mean well, but you’re just not in the loop anymore. You slowly lose deep connections. Again, if it wasn’t for the internet and social media it would be terrible.
Fatigue. Finding time for things – this leads to some sleep deprivation when trying to fit everything in. Driving fatigue takes a toll on the mind and body since being aware, attentive, and unimpaired is pretty important. My longest stretch in one day was approximately 750 miles – I was dead. I pushed myself way too hard on that one back in my early travel days. I only stopped for gas. Never want to do that again.
It’s not all glitz and glamor.
Do I Like My Job?
It’s definitely the best job I’ve ever had, but at the same time it can sometimes be frustrating (aren’t ALL jobs like that).
The problem is that it’s a job. And with a job I’m under certain constraints that are typical of ANY job. It’s those constraints that make me feel trapped. Shackled. Time freedom is not something I have, and it bothers me even as I write this at midnight because I at this point would much rather be able to wake up at 9am then 7am. See what I mean by the fatigue?
I can’t ride my bike at 8am on a Tuesday morning… I have to be at work. Sometimes I don’t have the determination to ride after hours either because I’m so exhausted from a day of work.
Get what I’m getting at?
So as much as I want to try something different for myself, it’s hard to step away from the stability of this job and the finances that comes with it.
It’s definitely up in the air.
I’ve done a lot of good things while traveling and learned so much. I’m very grateful. But there are frustrations in the back of my mind.
I think it’s the millennial syndrome – maybe I should coin that phrase and write something about it.
Will I Continue Traveling For Work Forever?
I’m super thankful and consider myself pretty lucky. It’s definitely been an amazing adventure so far. But absolutely I cannot travel forever. I cannot make a career out of traveling like some of my coworkers who have done it for over THREE decades.
The downsides to traveling for work, like I mentioned above, will definitely get amplified over time. It’s coming.
I’m looking to make a move, but find it very difficult to give up what I have. My next move needs to be overwhelmingly better for me to make the change.
What’s My Ideal Lifestyle
I can think of three things that would make my ideal lifestyle possible:
- Time freedom so I can do it whenever I want
- Financial freedom so I can get almost anything I want for my lifestyle
- Location freedom so I can go anywhere
All three MUST to be achieved to give me the ideal lifestyle.
In fact, all three would allow me to live ANY lifestyle. If I wanted to travel all 50 states and ride the most popular trail in each state, if I want to live out of a van/RV, if I want to move to another city, if I wanted to stay up until the wee hours of the morning and wake up late, if I wanted to work out twice a day, if I wanted to go to explore and travel popular places during the offseason when it isn’t crowd (I love that)… those three things up there, if achieved, is what would give me the ideal livestyle.
I long for it.
But nope, I have to be at work at 8am in the hot and humid hell of Louisiana (just an example) … it totally blows. I can only imagine how amazing it COULD be in Colorado, or New Zealand, or Whistler. It’s sad actually. Depressing in some ways.
What I’m Doing to Achieve the Ideal Lifestyle
I’m taking action.
I have aspirations to be a real estate investor and the biggest investment of my life was recently made.
I also have aspirations to make an impact through an online business.
I’ve read a lot of personal development and business books over the years, and everything points to building a successful business in order to achieve what I want.
Conclusion
Mountain biking is therapeutic. I love the sport and I’m too invested with all the bike stuff I have. I’m still riding years after buying my budget bike, which means I like the sport AND need a new bike.
Not many other activities gives me “the wind in my hair,” being outdoors, fresh air, scenery, exercise, sense of thrill and adventure all at once.
Except maybe snowboarding… it’s very close.
Life is swell while I’m traveling right now, but it could be better.
I’m lucky. I know that. But that’s how I get to travel for free and ride.
RIDER UP.