Drop everything and leave - the blue dream of any office employee. Leave the hated office, stupid tasks and drive away closer to the sea and the sun. An idea that has been cultivated for years and never comes to fruition.

Almost never. I did it. Almost done.

Emotions were many and different. And incredible euphoria and “oh, what have you done that”, and harmony with a calm feeling that this is how you should live, and many more.

For two years now, after returning from the "office dream", I have been living in Russia in a tiny town that did not even fit on the map. And only now, with full awareness and with a cold heart, I am ready to tell you how, why, where I left and why I returned, and what are the real motives for such changes.

How it all began

I started from a chic class A office on Kutuzovsky Prospekt straight to China. I didn’t prepare much, I just flew to Guangzhou on vacation and fell ill with the city. Of course, there were financial savings, but they were not needed. The next day, after arriving in China, I managed to get to work. But that's not what we're talking about.

The most difficult thing in moving was to decide, but I think that's the way it is in everything. And this is precisely the main reason that your dreams remain dreams, and someone else fulfills them, lives and enjoys them. To implement something global or not so, you just need to outline the ultimate goal and take the first step. And then you don’t even have time to look back, as you sit up to your ears in your dream.

I took my step into the void and circumstances began to line up around me in the best possible way. And, of course, I know examples when people took this very step, and everything turned out very, very badly. And if you ask the grandmothers at the entrance for advice, they will tell you everything in such colors that you won’t even want to move. Look for confirmation that nothing will work out or just do it - it's up to you to choose. But, without starting the movement, you will 100% stay in place.

Blue dream taste

Life in Guangzhou, between homesickness, was cheerful and cloudless. After working for six months in the office, I decided to finally free myself from all shackles and give up on finding myself, and at the same time see the world. Then life turned into a trip to new cities-countries with breaks for a couple of months.

It was amazing at times, funny at times, very sad and dreary at times, but overall incredibly energetic and amazing.

Outcome. Impressions 100%. 100% change.

Travel changes you forever. Your desire to change, to find yourself, to feel who you are and finally understand what you really want, changes you even more.

So you left to find yourself?

Ha, and here begins the most interesting, frank and what I don’t really want to tell you about. In fact, my motive, like the other 90% of those leaving, was completely different. But I did not want to admit it to myself for a very long time. And few of the emigrants admit this. And even more so, those who are now sitting in their office, looking for tours or an island where they could stay forever, are completely unaware of this.

The truth is that all these people, myself included, are just running away. They run away from themselves, from problems, from responsibility, from fears and truth.

After all, it is much easier to escape to the island than to admit that for a good ten years you have been doing something other than your own, that you are simply afraid to start doing what you love. After all, it may not work out, they may not approve, they may laugh. After all, most likely, you will have to start over and for some time feel more modest in expenses, you will have to learn new things and overcome fears and obstacles, you will probably have to change yourself and your lifestyle in order to become more effective. But why, if you can do everything according to an old habit, or, even better, leave it all and hide by the sea.

Only now, left alone on a journey, there will be nowhere to run, and all the same, all fears and problems will come out, and you will have to face them face to face.

This happened to me too. I ran away from disbelief in myself, from resentment against all men on the planet, from someone else's life in which I lived. Well, I flew to myself. And when you are familiar with yourself and your goals and dreams, it doesn’t matter where you live, and there is nothing left but to continue to create yourself.

What has changed life in another country?

On the one hand, everything has changed. On the other hand, I just found myself, learned to enjoy every moment and set my own goals. Well, that metropolitan baby, confident in its unsinkability, who five years ago bought a ticket to a new life, remained somewhere in the endless transitions between countries, borders and cities.

I found myself. And then she began to create herself. I understood what I wanted, and stopped the internal self-accuser. I forgave my former love, let go of all grievances, but most importantly, I forgave myself. I again learned to open my heart to everyone who comes into my life and acquired an unshakable positive outlook on life.

At some point in time, as simply and obviously as when I was about to leave for China, I realized that it was time to return. But that's a completely different story...

Masha Shults, 28 years old

Visited 31 countries. She lived for several months in China, Germany, India, Italy, Moldova, Georgia, Chile and Indonesia. Copywriter and journalist, works remotely.

About the first trip

In 2010, my brother went on a long business trip to China, and I went to visit him for a month. On this trip, I realized that there are a huge number of countries and places that are different from the usual European world. Then I worked as a full-time manager - I coordinated the work of copywriters and could not leave for a long time. But I really wanted to explore this new world. I agreed with the director that I would work as a copywriter remotely. He was surprised by my voluntary demotion, but he agreed.

In 2011, I went to China with a one-way ticket. I had ten thousand rubles in my pocket. With me were now a former young man and a friend. I worked every day for three or four hours. For half a year we traveled to many countries: China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, we were in Hong Kong. It was an amazing experience, and I realized that everything is much easier than it seems. As soon as you leave, you understand that this is life, all these countries, everything is in your hands. If you do not have a remote job, you can get a job on the spot. If you don't know English, it's easy to learn while traveling - that's how it was for me. The most important thing is to leave.

About South America and the robbery

For the last two years I have been traveling with my boyfriend Andrei. Shortly after we met, we went to Sicily for 2.5 months. This is an amazingly beautiful place. The people there are very open and we have made many friends. We even met Jon Bon Jovi's cousin, Vincenzo Bongio.

After that we flew to South America and lived for three months in Chile. The plan was to go to Peru, buy a van there and drive around the entire continent, but on the intercity bus on the way to Peru, we were robbed. They took everything: things, documents, cameras, laptops. We only had a credit card without money, two phones and Andrey's clarinet. We were very lucky, and our friend from Airbnb allowed us to live with him in Chile for free, while we resolved the issue with documents through the Russian consulates and collected money for the return trip. It was necessary to collect about 270 thousand for two - this was done thanks to relatives and friends. It was a very difficult time, but two weeks after the robbery, we learned that the bus we were supposed to take upon arrival in Peru fell into the abyss. Only five people survived. So I'm really grateful to those guys who robbed us.

At the end of 2012, I got sick with typhus in India, and it was three weeks of real hell. In Chile, we survived the earthquake of magnitude 6.7

About future plans

For two months we restored the documents, went to Pridnestrovie, and then went to Georgia. It is impossible to convey in words the atmosphere and beauty of Georgia, now it is one of my favorite countries. From there we went to Asia.

Now we have been living in Bali for the third month, and soon we are going to Malaysia to celebrate Andrey's birthday. We made a lot of friends there. It was in Malaysia that I realized that the most important thing in traveling is not nature, not good food or alcohol, but the people you meet. In any country there are those who are close to you in spirit - and vice versa.

In May we return to my native St. Petersburg. We want to spend a couple of years there, reconstruct the dacha, open a restaurant with my brother. And, of course, to travel, but not so far and for a long time. We think that we need to buy a car and travel around Europe. And we also want to go to Kenya for a couple of months, when the money and time appear.

Over time, in any journey, you begin to miss home and loved ones. I still miss the Russian weather and the change of seasons: when you don’t see rain for months, it seems like an anomalous situation. I want to put on warm clothes, walk around the city, and then rush home to warm up.

About difficulties and extreme situations

The robbery in Chile was serious, but not the only difficulty in my path. On our very first trip in line to board the Philippines, we learned that without a return ticket we would not be allowed on the plane. We bought tickets right there and flew to the Philippines with two thousand rubles for three. We settled in a cheap hostel in a parking lot, where neighboring rooms were rented by the hour, and sometimes gunfire could be heard nearby. Passports were given to the reception as a guarantee of future payment for housing. There was nothing to eat, we went to a place where the homeless were given some disgusting food in a bag: rice and gravy. In this way, we managed to live for three weeks until the salary came. We didn’t actually see the Philippines, because we sat in the hostel all the time and wrote articles.

At the end of 2012, I got sick with typhus in India, and it was three weeks of real hell. In Chile, we survived a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. The pictures on the walls rattled, everything swayed from side to side, it was very scary. And on March 22, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck Bali. We were awakened by tremors, but unlike Chile, it was not so scary.

Travel is not to be feared. People are divided into those who like this life, and those who do not need it all. Everyone lives the life they like, and it makes no sense to turn everyone into travelers.

Roman Godikov, 29 years old

Visited over 40 countries. In 2016, he traveled around the world in 87 days. Makes a living consulting on budget travel with her Waking Travel. Round the world for 2 salaries.

About the beginning of the journey

It all started five years ago. At that time, I had never been abroad, but I often traveled to music festivals in Russia. One day I came across an event in Europe on the Internet that was 99% suited to my musical tastes. The tour to this festival was organized by a guy from St. Petersburg. I got excited about the idea and immediately applied for a passport and a visa. My first trip was to Belgium and Latvia. I really liked the countries themselves, and the festival, and this feeling of freedom. Budget carriers, buses - no complexity and huge costs. I came back and a month later I went with a friend on my first independent trip to Germany and Amsterdam.

About the geography of travel

The thirst for travel grew. I very quickly took off all the holidays, even exceeded the limit. And when at work they didn’t let me go on another trip, I resigned without regrets and immediately left for a month and a half to the warm countries of Europe: Italy, Spain, Portugal.

After that there was a trip to Asia for five months. Asia really hooked me with its splendor and nature. Paradise beaches, volcanoes, uninhabited islands, architectural structures - all this is incredibly beautiful. In addition, Asia is much easier and cheaper to travel than Europe. There I tried both hitchhiking and couchsurfing.

Then there was a trip to India for a couple of months and a sudden idea to tour around the world. I completed it in March 2016. Warsaw - Bangkok - Kuala Lumpur - Palang - Hong Kong - New York - Boston - Frankfurt (Cologne) - Warsaw. In 87 days, I spent $949, ​​$626 of which was on flights. Low-costers, hitchhiking, couchsurfing, a tent and a sleeping bag with me - my round-the-world trip was as close as possible to the budget and capabilities of the most ordinary person.

Most of my travels started with a photo on the Internet and the words: “I don’t care where it is, I’m going there”

About earnings

After each trip, I returned home and got a job in the IT field for several months in order to earn money for the next trip. While traveling around the world, I started leading a group where I advised people and helped them find cheap tickets. Gradually it became my main income. I won’t say that this money is enough to live in my native St. Petersburg, but I can easily afford to live in Asia and South America.

About the reaction of others and the absence of barriers

Most of my travels began with a photo on the Internet and the words: "I don't care where it is, I'm going there." When you see a beautiful picture at another point in the world, and then you get there yourself, you understand that there are no barriers. This lifestyle gives an incredible feeling that everything is possible and any goal is feasible.

There are also difficulties: the hardest thing to get used to is instability, because you constantly change the place and people in your environment. My friends accept my way of life, but strangers can start a conversation about a career and settled down. Most often, these are people over forty years old who do not understand that in the age of globalization, you can travel and earn money remotely, working for yourself, and not sit within four walls in the office.

I live the way I want. In addition, I help other people to travel more by sharing my knowledge.

I ticked off my personal list: I surfed the best surf spots in the world, climbed the Himalayas and climbed the Andes, stood in Times Square, visited a glacier, saw all the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, wandered the Sahara and salt flats in Bolivia. Now I want to quietly travel to the places that I liked the most. And, of course, explore new countries.

Sofia Zolotovskaya, 31, travels with her son David, 5

Traveling began in November 2015. Before that, they lived 3.5 years in Thailand and 2 years in Vietnam. In each country and city spend at least a month. Sofia teaches English and guides about the journey.

About moving to Thailand

My life changed when I went on a tour to Pattaya. Once in Bangkok, I realized that this is my place and I needed to be here.

I returned to Russia, curtailed all my teaching projects and moved to Bangkok to virtually nowhere. The first few days I lived on couchsurfing. By an amazing coincidence, I stayed with a man who, like me, taught English. Thanks to this, I learned how to find a job and stay in Bangkok. I got a job as a teacher in a private kindergarten. Back in Russia, I applied for TESOL: this certificate makes it possible to find teaching jobs at universities and schools around the world.

Traveling with a child is like jumping into the abyss

About Vietnam and the decision to travel

I lived in Bangkok for 3.5 years, during which time David was born to me. This is a big city, it is not easy to live there with a child. The weather is constantly hot and humid, continuous inconvenience with movement. Gradually I got tired of it all. I wanted a more measured and healthy lifestyle, a change in the weather. So when David was two years old, I started looking for a new place. I considered countries where it was possible to find a prestigious job and the standard of living would be comfortable for us. Through acquaintances, I found a university in Vietnam, and in November 2013 we moved.

Since the birth of David, I was alone with him and, of course, I felt fear and insecurity. Traveling with a child is like jumping into the abyss. But as soon as I started earning more in Vietnam, I began to dream about it. I saved up money and for another six months I mentally prepared for the fact that I would leave a good job and a stable life and fly somewhere with a child.

The more often friends asked if everything was all right with my head and why I couldn’t sit in one place, the more I realized that we really needed it. I didn’t know and don’t know how long our trip will last, what kind of travel plan we have and how many countries are ahead, but even then I realized that this is our way - to live part of life on a trip.

About geography and features of traveling with a child

The first unfamiliar country was Cambodia. After that, we went to India for six months, then to Nepal, returned to Vietnam, and now we are in Bali. We try to travel slowly to capture the atmosphere and energy of the place. We spend at least a month in each country and city.

David is a very friendly and open-minded child. When we go somewhere, we often make acquaintances and new friends thanks to his sociability. It seems to me that it is even safer for a woman to travel with a child. When she is alone in an unfamiliar country, she attracts a lot of attention, and when they see a child nearby, everyone thinks that her husband is somewhere nearby.

The most difficult thing about traveling with David alone is to survive the road. These are bags, fatigue, change of time. But David has a routine even on the road. If, for example, he wants to sleep, he will sleep on me. And the second difficulty is adaptation to a new place. From a Muslim country you enter the Buddhist world, and from there to a socialist country. Different people, culture, customs and even food. Such a global change causes difficulties in the first week, but once you settle in, you begin to feel that you have lived in this place for a very long time. This feeling of home came very quickly throughout our journey, except for one place - the city of Srinagar in the state of Kashmir in India. The population of the city is 99% Muslim, and the attitude of men towards women is very unpleasant. During my stay in Srinagar, I experienced heavy looks and harassment. We stayed there for two weeks and ran away.

About future plans

David is bilingual, and so far I have plans for distance family education in Russian and a second education in English. Over time, we will find some interesting school of Waldorf or Steiner pedagogy so that he has socialization, friends, a regime.

Before Bali, I studied with only one student all year, because I wanted a non-working travel regime. But there are a lot of Russians here, and for me it was an opportunity to test my teaching skills on people of my culture. While I work with students, David goes to an excellent Russian kindergarten where the child's opinion and wishes are respected. I stopped spending savings, and we live quietly on the money that I now earn.

We plan to spend another month and a half here, and then we will go to India. This will be the Ladakh region - a very beautiful place where unplanned acquaintances often take place, you can feel the real spontaneity of life. What's next - time will tell. Russia, Europe, America - I do not choose a place on purpose, I simply obey the desire to go. In all countries, amazing meetings are taking place that reveal themselves and David to me. He and I became relaxed, open and more loving. Our mother-son relationship blossomed during this time.

Travel teaches trust and acceptance of events as they are. It reveals in everyone the talents and desires that were once suppressed. To be honest, life feels completely different. You feel like you're living right now!

I decided to travel in March 2015, but I did not plan to leave for a long time and far. I have never hitchhiked or used couchsurfing. Having traveled several countries, I realized that I could go around the world. For two years I have visited Asia, South America and now I have returned to Russia.

Stereotypes prevent people from going on a trip: “it's expensive”, “I can't survive without knowing the language”, “I'll have to sleep on the ground”, “I'll lose my job”. In fact, everything turns out to be much simpler. The main thing is to leave the house with the right mindset.

The first thing to understand is that there are many more good people in the world than there are dangers. It just so happens that you will be treated well abroad just because you are a traveller. Everywhere people are very hospitable. The stories the locals tell teach you how to relate to others and what really matters in life.

There is nothing easier than crossing borders, a visa can be obtained in a neighboring country, and the documents for this are always the same. IN in every country, if you search properly, you will find people with knowledge of English and this will be enough for you to travel.

Surprisingly, living while traveling is even cheaper than living at home. When you settle somewhere, you have a lot of expenses for entertainment, clothes and rent. I had a budget $5 per day, they left only for food, everything else was free. I looked for lodging for the night through couchsurfing, and hitchhiked. In addition, very often the locals simply treated me as a guest.

Yes, if you leave your home, you will lose your job. But this problem is easily solved. You can earn money freelancing, if the specialty allows. It is not difficult to find a permanent job on the spot even without a language. If we talk about the countries of Asia or South America, the European appearance opens many doors.

Family is not a hindrance to go around the world. I have friends who travel with a one year old child. Only the format of travel changes, they live in a certain country for as long as the visa allows and move on.

You can travel. It starts to get boring after about a year and a half. At one point, you just get tired of a lot of dynamics in life, you want to slow down a bit, because you can’t change cities every few days all your life. At some point, I realized that the people around me taught me a lot, I had an impulse to create.

The beginning of a journey is always an escape. People leave for another country either out of despair - when it is so bad that they no longer have the strength, or out of strength - when you go to see the world by a strong-willed decision.

Any trip around the world begins with small steps. No need to immediately take a ticket to the other end of the planet. Go to a neighboring country to understand how much money it takes to live, whether you can negotiate with people, how hitchhiking works. After that, you already need to make a decision: to return home or continue on your way.

It is enough to take one backpack with you, which will contain documents, credit cards and a minimum set of clothes. Everything you need can be found on the spot. There is also an esoteric moment: everything you need will come along the way. Perhaps this is the payment for your courage in striving to know this world.

On the way, you begin to appreciate simple things: a sense of security, slippers, sour cream, which is not found in most countries of the world. Living in greenhouse conditions and familiar surroundings, you run the risk of remaining a greenhouse plant and dying at the first draft. You need to take responsibility, not be afraid to radically change something in life.

* The material uses photographs from the personal archive of Pavel Andreevsky

You never had the urge to quit. No, not just do away with anything, but quit everything altogether. Start a completely new life. Move to some other country. The choice here is huge, countless countries. But how to live there without knowing any language without having a profession. If there are means of subsistence, then this is good, but if they are not. I have money for a ticket and for life, let's say I live for a month, and then what? To remain homeless in a foreign land? Not a very good alternative. What if in that other country you are lucky, there will be a job and even love? It would be just wonderful, once you know what it will be like that. I want to go to Jamaica, it seems to me that it will be great there, maybe it will even be easy there for a while and maybe even manage to find a job as a loader there, I will be poor but make ends meet. What do I have now? I have a lot of things: acquaintances, girlfriends, sometimes even a little money, I have an apartment and I live in it alone, I have Internet access, why I can’t be content with this, why I definitely want to drop everything and run away from it all. I wouldn't tell anyone, I would do it in secret. Then I would send a letter to my parents and very close friends. But they will never understand me, they will condemn and perhaps consider me crazy. But I'm not crazy, I just miss my life, I want to live in romance, not to know what will happen tomorrow, but to live for today.
I need to think about what awaits me here and there? I study at a very good university, already in my third year, if I finish it, then I think I will have a job, I will receive very good money. After I start a family, but no, it's too early to think about it. But I'm sure it will be very stable here, the only trouble that can happen is my expulsion from the institute, but I think this should not happen. And if I drop everything and leave, at first I will be happy as long as there are means of subsistence, and then what? Is it worth it to think about what will happen after? As the saying goes, live like it's your last day. All this is strange. But I think I have already decided everything for myself, I need to carry out my plan and go in search of a better life, maybe I won’t find anything better, but maybe I’ll find happiness ...

P.S. Everything written is quite reliable, and if someone is tired of everything and he is ready to go with me to this crazy world, then I will be glad. I do not promise that we will find happiness, maybe it will find us. Write to me and maybe we will go on this journey through life together ...

I didn’t touch the blog for a week, I wanted to quit everything, especially since I was leaving for 3 days. But then I realized that I was using my trip as an excuse not to write anything. I began to analyze. What is happening, why do we often experience such a feeling - “and burn it all with a blue flame!”. And that's what happened.

3 reasons why you want to quit everything

1. Hanging out with people who don't approve of you.

When you are focused on achieving some result, you burn with some idea, you start a new project, a new business, a new occupation, you feel the wings behind your back. And so you begin to communicate on this topic with friends, with relatives, with parents. And someone supports you, says - "come on, it's a normal idea, everything will be great", etc. What do you feel? Of course, even more enthusiasm. And when you suddenly hear “Well, what are you thinking again? Did you fall off the stove? There are a million like you, and you think they are waiting for you there? and everything like that. Naturally, we feel somehow hurt, and even embarrassed. Especially if this loved one speaks out of love for us, because he "wishes us well." You know, I had similar cases in my life, and every time I received a negative assessment from my relatives, I lost a little interest in a new business, and in the end it came to naught. Then, when I tracked it, I learned to resist it. I immediately figure out who can tell about myself and my ideas and plans, and who should not. My naivete has faded with age. Plus, I've learned to fight back.

2. Spraying

Life is very diverse (fresh thought, haha))). Suppose I set a goal for myself - to put my body in order, and for this I decided to take up dancing. I made a plan to achieve the goal. How to do it, I wrote here. But of course there are other things in life. And then, if you do not follow the plan, but do it from time to time, spraying occurs. It's the same as on a hose, from where a stream of water comes out, we put on a divider, and the water pressure is not at all the same, the range is also. Here we are already busy with dozens of other things, but we do not achieve our goal, and then we feel remorse. This is why planning is so important. The plan helps to concentrate efforts and not be scattered.

3. The habit of living like everyone else

It's like driving in a deep rut on a road that has already been ridden by others to such an extent that it's impossible to pull over to the side of the road and take another road. We are used to working for hire, it is terribly convenient and safe. Go to work at 9 to 18, do what is written in the job description, get money, not very big, but enough to live on, and that's it. We also often follow the stereotypes of such a plan “they still have a dacha, and we need it”, “they still go on vacation to Turkey and we will go too”, “everyone wants to buy children's videos in Vieva and we will buy it” and so on. We often live following someone else's goals, and thus living a life that is not our own. What could be worse than this? And it often happens that, setting global goals for ourselves, it becomes impossible for us to follow the usual track, and we are faced with a choice - “to be or not to be?” . Getting out of the comfort zone is both scary and necessary if we want to achieve something of our own in life. So let's follow these 3 rules and we won't get lost on the path that leads us to our goal.

1. Communicate with people who support us
2. Have a clear program to achieve the goal
3. Break stereotypes of thinking, get out of the comfort zone, get out of the rut.

And if, nevertheless, you succumbed to this “quit everything”, then just notice it, get back on your path, do at least something to achieve the goal, and you will see that you feel better.