Feature photo:Jakesmome. Above by author.

I GAVE BIRTH to my first child 18 months after returning from a year-long round-the-world trip. Both experiences dramatically changed my life. Travel, particularly travelling alone, is one of the most daunting – and rewarding – things I’ve ever done.

It’s scary, expensive and time consuming. Sometimes I wondered why the hell I signed up for it, but in the end, I was glad I did it. The same goes for the plunge into parenthood.

There are plenty other parallels between the two.

Packing

From the moment you make your list of what to include in your hospital bag, your life as a parent centers on packing. Diapers, wipes, snacks, toys. And while the traveler’s mantra is “pack what you think you’re going to need, then halve it,” the parent’s becomes “pack what you think you’re going to need, then triple it. And don’t forget the wipes.”

Gadgets

My favorite part of travel is the gadgets: pocket knives with eighteen different attachments, a cutlery set that clips together and compresses itself to the size of a matchbox. As soon as you have your first baby, a whole new world of gadgets opens up. Fold-up changing pad and plastic sippy cup with snack compartment attached, anyone?

Advice (Usually Unsolicited)

How many times have you been on the receiving end? You’re going to [insert well-known tourist destination here]? Don’t bother, it’s totally ruined. You should go to [insert slightly less tramped country here]. That’s the real [insert travel experience].’ Once you have children, advice hemorrhages from people’s mouths at an even greater rate. Now, it’s ‘Oh really, you let them watch TV? You do know it stunts their growth and turns them into career criminals?’ You learn to ignore what you don’t need and incorporate what works for you.

Meeting New People

Travelling alone, you have to ignore your butterfly stomach and just say hello to a total stranger. What you find is everyone is in the same boat, and most times you’re welcomed with open arms. Walking into your first mother-baby group, your nervous system will jump and bump with the same intensity. And again, you’ll be delighted to meet others who know exactly what you’re going through. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself sharing intimate physical details of which even your gynecologist is unaware.

The Immune System

Ever slept in a hostel where you suspected the bedding hadn’t been changed in a month?

Photo by Mckaysavage

Ever sipped from a beer mug you thought frosted but turns out it wasn’t? These all stand you in good stead once your kid starts toddling through your local park, picking up pieces of garbage, cigarette butts and even dog poo that they then give to you with a smile.

In all these ways, travel has made me a happier parent. When you find yourself lost and alone in Phnom Penh after dark or cooking meals on a camping stove from the few ingredients you have on hand, you soon learn not to sweat the small stuff. You learn to decipher what is truly a big problem and what is something you can accomplish easily by relying on your own ingenuity.

Photo: Ben Brown

When I returned from a long travel break, my initial enthusiasm to get back to work faded around the time I landed myself a shiny new job. It was much more prestigious and better-paid than the one I had given up to go traveling, but once the novelty of it all – wearing a suit! Drinking vending machine coffee! Free email without a two-drink minimum! – wore off, I found myself unable to get motivated.

This is not an uncommon reaction. Many people can’t take reentry into a work routine and end up leaving the country again within a few months. But if this isn’t a desirable or viable option, don’t despair. Your travels have not rendered you terminally unable to hold down a job. Here a few steps to help get your head back into your work:

Swear yourself off travel for a year.

Don’t plan another sabbatical. Don’t even plan a two-week vacation. A long weekend here, a week’s trip within your home country there, is fine, but nothing more ambitious than that. It’s important to get focused, and stay focused, on where your home is.

Make a five year plan.

Don’t worry if this does not center wholly, or even mainly, around work. It’s fine if it involves more travel or another sabbatical. But it will show you where your current job fits in with your wider plans and, hopefully, make it seem worthwhile.

Ensure you have a life outside of work.

Photo: chatirygirl

If friends have moved on while you were away and your social world is no longer what it was, work can take on a disproportionate significance in your life. Get out there and meet like-minded people, just as you did when traveling, and you’ll soon end up feeling refreshed and looking at your job with new eyes – even if it’s just as a way to pay the bills.

Keep the souvenirs at home.

Resist the temptation to decorate your office with that Thai wooden fish mobile or use a shot of yourself scuba diving as your screen saver. It will not – and believe me I know, because I tried – motivate you, inspire you, or help you concentrate.

It will merely distract and depress you, and will serve as a talking point to every visitor to your desk – which will result in you spending every coffee break chatting about what you could be doing if you hadn’t come back home and got a job.

Who’s the new guy?

After you’ve settled into your new job, or settled back into your old one, take some time to assess what skills or qualities you now have, which you didn’t before your travels. Then work out how you can employ them in this post to ensure you do an even better job than you would have before. It will make you see travel less as something you do instead of, or as an escape from work, and will help you start to knit the two aspects of your life together.

Community Connection

For more on long term travel and how it can affect your career, check out How to Make Travel Look Good on a Resume.

For those interested in making a career out of travel, please visit MatadorU.