I’ve contemplated about writing something like this for a long time, because I’m worried others would base their own journey on mine. One thing I want to preface is that everyone’s journey will look significantly different, based on your demographic, life goals, and tolerance to uncertainty. Please use this guide loosely. These are just resources and tools to equip you in making a better decision before you want to work remotely or quit your job. Being able to do this is a huge privilege and I acknowledge that. Not everyone can just suddenly upend their lives and go on a traveling spree, but I do believe that with some preparation, gumption, and guidance, we can all create the opportunity for ourselves to do so at some point. We owe it to ourselves to take a break and not be slaving away in a corporate job or stuck in a hamster wheel our whole lives.
As someone who’s done this earlier in 2020, many aspects have changed throughout the year, including the recovery of the pandemic and job instability in tech. However, I have not regretted anything I’ve done one bit. I hope that all Asian women have the opportunity to take a break, discover a new world outside, and better themselves in every single way.
Unlearning Your Beliefs—Life is Only Scary Because You Don’t Know What’ll Happen
If you’ve already gotten this far in life, then congrats, you’ve made it through a series of scary unknowns, situations, and tribulations. That means you can handle whatever you want, but you’ll need to learn how to tolerate uncertainty.
Perhaps one of the scariest things about quitting your job or moving away from home is that you’re doing it alone. Most friends or people I’ve met have voiced their concerns, so that’s why I encourage those interested to reach out to those who’ve done it before or to build a community before they head out. Read books, read blogs, follow those who have shared their stories, and read on Reddit—this helps you realize that what you want is not far from what you can do. It helps you feel connected and inspired to see how others are doing it. Unlearning your beliefs take time, but reading actual stories will show you that it can be done.
- The only certainty is uncertainty.
- Live in your bubble and you’ll never experience another world outside of it.
Identify Your Goal with This
Why are you taking a break or trying to move abroad? I want you to seriously sit down and ask yourself these questions.
In the beginning, thinking about traveling and leaving a job is exciting, but there will be times where you will feel lonely, regretful, and isolated (especially if this is your first time doing something like this).
Questions to ask yourself:
Why do I feel the need to quit my job or change my job to remote? What is the outcome I’m hoping for?
How much am I willing to spend on this trip? Will I be working or not working at all?
What would make me end this trip earlier?
What do I need to do to get started on this trip? Am I up for this challenge?
What would I be happy with at the end of this trip?
Identify your reasons to wanting to leave and if it can be formulated in different ways. Here are some interesting ways I’ve seen other friends do this travel experience:
- has a homebase in a new country, but travels once a month to a new city on a weekend
- moves to Taiwan to study Mandarin for a year to beef up her language expertise and only focused on this part of her life
- slow nomads / slow travels to country to country, spending time in a city for 3 months at a time before hopping to the next one
- bounces from city to city, maximizing time and energy to travel to as many countries in a year; this is fine if you don’t get burnt out from traveling logistics and love planning
- a remote worker who works out of her homebase, but occasionally home swaps with other friends or people online
- partakes in a paid program, like Remote Year, which organises trips on your behalf and connects you with other folks from the program so you don’t feel alone
- some who don’t have an end date to this traveling; they just continue going where the wind blows them
- some who had a defined end date like a year and would go back to a full time corporate after resting and traveling
Review Your Options: Quit Your Job OR Find a Remote Role?
So this is where a lot of people get stuck. Both are equally hard.
Quit Your Job If:
- If you’re burnt out, exhausted, fatigued, hating life and can’t get up for work sometimes
- If you’re in a toxic environment at work and it’s mentally taking a toll on you
- Subjective: If you have enough savings to cover your expenses for a year. I remember I had $10K USD in savings when I quit my job, but I also took on gigs and projects during the period to buffer my savings
Find a Remote Role:
- if you still want to work, but travel at the same time
- If you can’t afford to quit your job and need to work — note: remote roles sometimes will pay less
- if you want to continue your career, but want more flexibility in time and location
Not everything will happen overnight, but I recommend writing down the big milestones where you would do XX and then YY. For example, I remember telling myself that I would work at this company until May 2023 and then quit to go travel.
Set bumpers for yourself so you have something to work towards; if you don’t, you may feel overwhelmed and confused while grinding to no end. A lot of people hope to leave their job or finally go on this trip, but many don’t because they don’t allow themselves to pinpoint a date and make that firm goal.
How I Prepare and What I Bring While Traveling
- SafetyWing Travel Insurance – While I’m traveling, having travel insurance is a no brainer. Especially when you’re traveling to countries for hiking, sports, or anything more adventurous. I can sleep safe and sound at night knowing that I have insurance coverage in case anything happens. SafetyWing went through Y Combinator (W18), has raised venture-funding and is serving more than 200,000 happy clients while growing more than 20% monthly since launch February 2018. You can also check them out on TrustPilot to verify its legitimacy.
2. Airalo E-Sim Cards – Have you tried an eSIM? Before I used to arrive at airports and buy physical sims. Now I can do it all on my phone before arriving into the new city. I have an iPhone 15 plus if that helps. You can get USD $3.00 off your first eSIM purchase with Airalo. Use code EMILY5926 when you sign up or at checkout: https://ref.airalo.com/SZDP
3. My Lululemon Everywhere Belt crossbody bag – I adore my black crossbody bag. It was roughly $30 USD but it holds so many of my items, including my passport, wallet, pads, hair ties, and chapsticks. While it looks small, it packs a lot. I am a big fan since it’s quite inexpensive and I wouldn’t cry if I lost it; I could just buy another. Additionally, if you can hold it close to your chest, no one dares to steal it. Many of my friends like it because of its simplicity, convenience, and easy to use features. It’s very on-the-go chic.
4. Cell Fusion Korean Sunscreen – my Korean American friend recommended this sunscreen to my boyfriend and me. She has impeccable, flawless skin and takes good care of herself, so you can’t go wrong with this sunscreen. It does leave a somewhat white cast, but I can feel it shielding my face away from the sun. I am a huge fan of it, and we’ve gotten bottles of this sunscreen from Yesstyle and when friends go to Korea.
My Favorite Ways to Find Housing or Subleases
- My friend Amy started her own marketplace for rentals and housing. What was a small group for her friends became a more extensive platform for her friends and 2nd/3rd degree connections to homeswap, homeshare, and rent out to other people. You can check out the units at Amisplace.
2. Join Asian Wander Women Travel Community, an online facebook group meant for creative and entrepreneurial Asian women. Yes, I’m biased because I’m one of the cofounders, but I’ve also found great housing in this group. We highly vet and monitor our users, and there have been multiple home exchanges and swaps. It works out really well, especially since we see each other as a sisterhood. We are more inclined to open our homes to each other than random strangers on a facebook group since we’r all connected in some way. The Asian woman community is smaller than we know. You can join our Facebook group here or even email us at hello@asianwanderwomen.com.
3. Let your whole network know that you’re going to be traveling and what you need help with. I found that this helps a lot. Sometimes, you never know who in your network knows someone else. I’ve seen friends post on Instagram, Facebook, or just generally in places where their friends can see their post and help share. I’m more on the paranoid side when it comes to travel, so I’d prefer living with a friend’s friend over a complete stranger on the internet.
4. Check out hostels or different co-living groups. I would even recommend joining nomad, travel, or niche groups you can join online to see what others are recommending or sharing. I definitely do my own research, but also love taking tips and recs from other friends who have gone through the same process.
Be Financially Savvy and Aware of Your Spending
I figured out my spending habits quite quickly when traveling. I realized that I wouldn’t mind living on couches, inexpensive hotels or airbnbs. When living abroad, we almost tend to forget that money is still real; a lot of us will spend like it’s monopoly money and not feel the actual weight of the spending. Just a caution since I saw this happen with some friends. If you’re interested in having a budget, you can use a Budget Calculator or just google to find one you can use.
I did like spending money on experiences or activities though. There goes that saying, “You can have anything, but not everything.” While you’re not working, it doesn’t make sense to go crazy on a splurge; that means you’ll have put yourself at a disadvantage, especially things that could derail your travel plans earlier.
If you’re still working, I would recommend continuing to save where you can and investing if possible. One of the things I wish I did was just work remotely more, so I could squirrel it away and save for when I go back to the US.
How I Keep Up With my Finances
- I track my overall networth using EMPOWER – they have free tools for you to calculate your NW entirety, see all your accounts in real time, and set up a retirement plan. I love using this app, and track my NW on my phone.
- I move a % of my income / earnings each time I get a paycheck. When I had a full-time job, I would allocate at least 40% to a retirement or investment fund. Now that my income is less consistent, I will allocate a portion over to my investments depending on the total amount of what needs to be paid or how much cash I want to hold. This will vary from month to month. Even if it’s like $20, I still try to make sure I’m investing.
Dating for Singles: Finding Love in a Hopeless Place
Dating was interesting to say the least. If you’re going on this adventure and reading my blog, I suspect that you’re single and not attached to anyone since you’re taking this leap of faith to go out and explore. Totally okay if not, but the majority of my readers and followers are.
I won’t sugarcoat dating for you, but it can be a strange experience when you’re traveling abroad. I’m sure you can sleep around as much as you want, but for the love of God, please use protection because you don’t know where these people have been. As women, we need to protect ourselves and our health. I’ve heard too many stories of my girlfriends catching something just because they had a one night stand; don’t be one of those statistics.
Dating Online
Popular apps that people used included Hinge, Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, and Tinder. I’ve found that more serious daters were on CMB and the ones who just wanted to have fun were on Tinder. Have your pick!
In my experience, online dating abroad got old fast, especially since I was still dating with intention and hopefully finding a lifelong partner. In places where there’s a high expat concentration, you can guarantee that there’s many folks experimenting, trying to “find” themselves, and can’t commit because they may be hopping off to the next city. I have friends who have found love in surprising spaces, but also have gotten their hearts broken when dating men who weren’t ready to commit and wanted to see what’s out there. I shifted my perspective and realized that there is value to dating; just like exercise, it’s important to do reps and figure out what you want in your partner. Each terrible date got me closer to the man of my dreams.
Imagine settling down with one guy because he looks good on resume, but turns out he’s a terrible father and holds very different values than you. Don’t rush into things, but see it as an experiment to figure out who you want as your future partner in crime.
One good thing that came out from dating different types of men was that it brought me closer and faster to my boyfie.
Through trial and error, I began to understand what were my non-negotiables in a relationship and what were huge big red flags. I got to understand the way I wanted to be loved, what qualities was real or fake, and what was important to me in a partner and in building a future together.
Funnily enough, once I decided to head back and focus on myself, stay put in one city, and root myself in San Francisco, I met an amazing man and partner on Hinge. He had all the qualities I deemed were important and aligned with my values. While some have found love on airplanes, in new countries, and in cafes, I would just say to keep an open mind and not look for the end game. Love comes when it wants to come, but I suspect it arrives when you begin to love yourself first.
Advice for Couples and Families
There are families and couples who have done this too! This is not limited to single people as well.
Here are some examples I’ve seen:
- CEO of a SaaS tech company relocated from Australia to Singapore with his family while building up his startup
- a DINK couple who travels around the world with no current lease in place; they just live out of airbnbs
- an entrepreneur who lived in a van with her husband and eventually settled down in Portugal once she became pregnant
- a family who lives and sails on a boat though all of them have an unwritten rule that if anyone wants to quit the journey, they will root down in one city
- a family that moves from Miami to Taiwan and is part of World Schooling, an educational movement that allows families to travel together while incorporating an education that allows children to interact and experience the life around them
Here are a couple examples who are inspiring and you can learn more about their story here:
Nellie Huang (@wildjunket) – a travel writer, blogger, and Lonely Planet Author who travels with her family (daughter and husband)
Mind Your Safety Please
Yes, I am a paranoid traveler at times so these are the things I’ve done to keep myself safe:
- Have a copy of your passport and ID – I have a copy of important documents in case they get stolen or disappear. This is for your own protection in case you get stuck in another country or cannot access your forms.
- Let the US embassy know where you are when traveling to a new country – I always share with the US Embassy where I am at all times. This gives them a heads up and they can notify me of any travel issues, bans, or dangers. Learn more here.
3. Share details of your trip with someone back home or that you trust. In case you go missing, at least someone will have an idea of your whereabouts and where you last were. I would share google sheets with friends and family that detail where I am, including accommodations, who I was with, where I was exploring, etc.
4. Be wary of those who seem overly friendly and who ask unwarranted detailed questions about yourself. I know it’s bad to seem this paranoid, but if they’re asking really specific questions about who you’re traveling with, if you’re by yourself, certain detailed things that you normally don’t tell others, just be aware. Always follow your gut instinct.
5. Be savvy and do your research in advance – read up on which neighborhoods you should avoid, what types of petty theft or crimes to be aware of, and the advice of other women who have traveled to the same place you’re heading to. This equips you with knowledge and knowledge is power.
in Taipei, Taiwan.
If You Spend Your Life Living for Others, Will You Have Really Lived?
One of the things I’m thankful for is that I didn’t succumb to societal pressure and just settle down at the time that was convenient for me. I’m 30 now and I did not settle down with just anyone when I was younger to be “on track” to get married, have kids, and root down. I lived life, with freedom and exploration. I was the happiest when I was in my late 20s and now early 30s. I was happiest as my authentic self because I was true to me.
I’m turning 31 in a few weeks and I’ve been reflecting a lot on these past years. I truly lived life the way I wanted, including taking the chance to live and work in Singapore, to build my own business and travel community, and to explore the boundaries of what I could accomplish. Not to say that I couldn’t have done it with settling down, but I allowed myself the grace, the time and space to figure things out on my own. Everything was on my own timeframe, my expectations, and my preference. By becoming the best version of myself through exploration and travel, I grew into someone who could love and find love. By taking my time to work on myself (inner work and mindset), I was living my good life.
Live for yourself, and live it well.
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