Photo Essay: Ditching the Cubicle To Follow Your Dreams
We reached out to the Matador community to find people who quit their jobs to pursue their passions in life. The result? Total happiness.
Let these people be your inspiration the next time you’re stuck gazing out the office window on a sunny day.
1. Alex Hackett just handed in his notice at a media marketing firm to bike across America (from San Francisco, CA to Boston, MA), raising money for the American Cancer Society while encouraging others to get out and live their lives. Alex and his buddy Evan plan to couchsurf and camp, sharing their story along the way, all the while honoring the memories of their mothers who were both victims of cancer.
2. Erin de Santiago left behind a 12 year legal career in California to move to Taiwan to be with her now husband, and to pursue her dream of being a travel writer and photographer. Erin met her husband through an online travel site, and then at a Las Vegas get-together in 2008. He lived in the Netherlands but was making the move to Taiwan, and Erin agreed to join him. Just a year later, they were married and fulfilling their dreams of travel, while Erin is making great strides to become published in such places as CNN (online and TV), and Examiner. Here they are exploring Taroko Gorge in Taiwan.
3. Keith Savage is a soon-to-be world traveler: his need for meaning and excitement finally outweighed the comfort and luxury of a nice salary. Come fall, he plans to travel 3-4 times per year for about a month at a time, all while having a wife, house and cats to return home to after each period. A compromise that works!
4.
Joel Ward is leaving one “dream job” for another. Currently he works on developing resorts around the world; but he’s tired of running from place to place, sitting in meetings and staying in hotels tailored to business travelers. In July, he’s taking the slow road around the world, starting in Europe and letting things develop naturally… and he’s doing it by bike. He plans to rent a room for a month or more at a time, set up shop and unload his gear, and cycle to nearby towns and cities to explore more extensively. This photo was taken in Angeles National Forest.
5.Carina Port quit her successful job as an editor because she could no longer stand the climate controlled office and daily boredom. Her profession of choice: chicken farmer. Carina says she’s already sunburned and thinner, and has written more in less than a month than she has in the 3 years at her old job. She started the chicken and organic vegetable farm with a friend, and they sell grass fed beef at a local farmer’s market. She’s even restoring an old house!
6.Allan Karl founded one of the top 50 digital advertising agencies in the USA. Then, as the economy tumbled, he quit. He sold virtually everything he owned, and rode his motorcycle around the world. He’s been gone three years, and covered 62,000 miles, 35 countries and 5 continents. He’s currently writing two books and spreading the word of freedom through public speaking. Follow him on Twitter.
7.From February 2007 to March 2008, Sean Aiken traveled around North America, working 52 jobs in 52 weeks for The One Week Job Project. Instead of pursuing a career straight out of college, he found a unique way to figure out exactly what he wanted to do. Anyone could offer him a job for one week, and all earnings went towards the ONE/Make Poverty History campaign: a total of $20,401.60. He tried it all: bungee instructor, dairy farmer, baker, firefighter, and more. Here’s Week 51, the Air Force.
8.A year ago, Daniel Nahabedian and a friend did the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. It was such a life changing experience that once he returned home to his well paid, stable job in the UAE, it never felt the same. Dan resigned four months later, picked up his camera and decided to leave for an unlimited period of time traveling around the world. He’s currently taking a short break to live in Thailand while working on his photography business, and his ultimate dream is to be a freelance travel photographer/blogger. He says, “The only person blocking the way of our dreams is ourselves.”
Community Connection
Have you quit your 9 to 5 job too, and in pursuit of your passions? Share in the comments below.
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23 Comments... join the discussion!
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Love it, love it! How inspiring!
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Man did I miss the boat on this one. You know my story! Not just ditched, but kicked outta the cubicle. My website is attached. Can I be an unofficial on this list? Kisses to Candice!
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P.S. Sean Aiken’s story is fantastic! What a truly inventive way to discover who you are. I should of done that oh, 20 years ago. LOL.
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love the pure, unfiltered, oak-casket-aged-at-sea stoke that pervades this post.
You can’t see me, but i am fist pumping for all the peeps following their dreams…!↵ -
Great article.
I ditched corporate Canada in 2000 and have never looked back. I have seen and done so many things that I would have only dreamed about if I had stayed in Canada tied to the job.
Walking away and seeing the world seems to be trendy these days. I wonder who is staying behind to mind the “store”.
:)
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Love the photo essay! Thanks for including me amongst these other amazing and inspiring stories!
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Great post Candice! Once again!
Thank you so much for the feature, very inspiring stories
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It’s good to know there are many of us crazies out there, My adventure starts in 6 months or so. I can’t wait
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I, Aye, left my “comfy with no so bad pay” job almost three years ago, my husband, Jack, tried to hang on to his by continuing on-line teaching, but the college denied the proposal so his contract will end w/ the college as of Summer 2010.. We call this “Bureaucracy = making the possible, impossible.” Still, we are relocating to Thailand with our 7 yo so that we may travel SE Asia slowly and at our leisure! Who knows where the wind will take us after Asia….
Meant to email you, but our little grand scheme of PURGING everything “and I mean, everything” kinda got in the way.
Excellent post and inspiring stories, Candice.
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Thanks for a great photo essay, Candice. One of the things I was pleasantly surprised by when I started planning this adventure is just how many people are already doing it. It’s nice to be part of a broader community, even if we’re spread across the globe!
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Wonderful photo essay!! It’s really liberating to do what you want and love, not what you’ve been told to!
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For some reason I find the chicken farmer’s story most inspiring
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Love these stories! Carina, I was so thrilled to read your update.
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Love everyone’s pics. Thanks for including me, and more power to everyone actively changing their situation for their own betterment!
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great idea and love the pics! my best friends and I just ditched our cubicle jobs and we’re leaving next month for europe. we’ll be blogging all the way! thefunemployedlife.com
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I love the chicken farmer’s story. Not exactly glamorous, but a reminder that ditching the rat race is about doing what YOU want to do with your life. Awesome!
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Ive been a stripper for the past six years and Im now embarking on spending the next few years volunteering around the world and blogging about it
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This article is so inspiring and proves that anything is possible. I especially love the One Week Project. Exposing yourself to different jobs benefits the traveler and also benefits a good cause
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Thanks Candice! What a great photo essay and I love to hear the stories of others, like me, who are a bit crazy. The chicken farming is going just swell.
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It’s a bold move leaving the security of the cubical, but chasing your dreams and passions is what living life is all about. We took the leap in 2009 and have loved every minute since…
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Wow this is such an inspiring article! I have just resigned from a really well paying and secure job to go and travel… I have a month till I leave and can’t wait, although sometimes I do question whether I’m making the right decision… this article made me feel confident in my choice though! Thank you!
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Great stories, but how on earth are you guys able to afford it? How do you sustain yourself while traveling?
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