Cubicle Escape: A Life Changing Trip Around The World

By: Jonathan from Montreal, now living in Mexico City

Camino de Santiago

I lifted my head only to be surrounded by thin plastic wall dividers that reduced my view of the outside world. It was at that moment that I listened to the voice inside me, “I’m done”.

I’ve always loved to travel. I began to realize this back in college when I applied to study abroad in Paris for a semester. Little did I know that it would be enough to spark my love of travel.  Now, I needed to be a traveler again. My new goal was to save up enough money to make it happen. At the time, I lived at home, which made it easier to save. It would take $10,000 to get me around the world and build memories of a lifetime. 

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Day after day, week after week, I busted my ass in my tiny cubicle telling myself, “just a little longer Jonathan. You can do it.” Every work related call was a struggle, every meeting a battle.  I hated selling replacement parts and moreover I didn’t feel like I was really making a difference.

Finally, the day came where I reached my goal. I walked into my boss’s office and told him exactly how I felt. The job was just not for me. After two years of being a Sales Consultant, I had had enough. My boss asked for a four-week notice. This request suited my timetable. I purchased my one way ticket to Paris for $454.19 and left three days after my last day of work.

As soon as I clicked “confirm” to book my flight, I felt a sense of relief, a weight lifted off my shoulders. I was finally doing it. There was no turning back now. I bought a 32 litre backpack and filled it with the bare essentials. Two t-shirts, two pairs of pants (which converted into shorts), five pairs of underwear, four pairs of socks, and standard toiletries. With that, I was ready for the greatest adventure.

Thailand

Travelers will agree that it is difficult to adequately sum up the bulk of what you see and experience but there’s no harm in trying. My travels began with the Camino de Santiago, an 860km walk that starts in the French Pyrenees and ends on the Northern coast of Spain. The voyage took me thirty-one days to complete.

People travel differently. My objective was to rip through as many countries as I could, rather than spend a bunch of time visiting one country. In short, I traveled from Montreal, Canada to Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Egypt, India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Western Australia before heading back to Montreal, Canada. 

My two cents:

·     Memorable Cities in Western Europe: Finisterre, Granada, Luzern, Interlocken,  Marseille, Prague, and Munich (purely for Oktoberfest)

·      Memorable Cities in Eastern Europe: Budapest, Split, Dubrovnik, Krakow, Belgrade

·      Egypt: The oldest place with the greatest history

·      Nepal: The best value of anywhere I travelled given mountainous scenery and cost

·      Thailand: Awesome beaches (Ko Lanta in particular)

·      Australia: Perth and surrounding Southwest Coast

Annapura, Nepal

Many people respond to my travels by saying, “Oh you’re so lucky” or “What I wouldn’t give to do that.” In life, there are talkers and doers. I promised myself that if I decided to do something, I would take action and make it happen. Now I am back to reality, after what I can only describe as the experience of a lifetime.

If you have any travel questions please feel to ask. I am in no way a travel guru but hopefully I can steer you in the right direction (jonathan.dipierro@gmail.com).