Giving up my business to go traveling

[bobajob]

After some advice, I recently came back from a month long trip in Thailand and absolutely loved it, I decided to go there after splitting up with my ex girlfriend and finding it difficult. Since coming back though I've realized how much I actually dislike my life where I live and I'm desperate to go traveling again. The only thing holding me back is the fact that I've got a business, which is extremely difficult to run and very stressful, where I employ 4 people and earn a lot more money than I ever would if I were to be employed doing the same thing. I'm 32 and money shouldn't be a problem for at least a year if I were to go traveling but the loyalty to the friends I employ and the fact that I probably wouldn't earn as much if i were to come back and do the same thing is what's holding me back. Just wondering if anyone else has been in the same situation and can offer some advice?

[DancingFool]

Is it something you can run remotely and travel back and forth. As in oversee your business, then be gone for a month or two and back again? Is hiring someone to manage things day to day an option while you take more of a general oversight role and final say type thing?

[j.man]

I'm likewise a little dumbfounded as to why it's all or nothing. Is there anyone qualified to take on extra duties for more compensation while you're gone? I mean I don't know your business or how uniquely complex it is, but I'd have to assume some form of temporary help would be attainable considering you claim to be very much in the black with it. Do you plan on being completely off the grid where you wouldn't have any oversight at all?

[melancholy123]

Yeah, is there a way to do both rather than selling your biz? My husband and I ran our own successful biz for 21 yrs and in the end we closed it up rather than sell it. It's a specialized field and tho he would have trained a new owner, we were not successful in finding the right person. So we closed it up, sold our farm, and moved on. Hard at the time, for him not me, but he is so glad he did it. We moved to where the weather is better and bought a beautiful house and put money in the bank So for us it worked out well. We do have a part time online biz that keeps us occupied and keeps the bucks coming in.

 

My advice to you is to figure out how to live your dream your way. At 32 you have loads of life left in you and you should be doing the things you want, namely travel at the moment. As you get older your desires and circumstances could change, so you adjust as you go.

 

Dont put this off and then one day you are 50 or are too sick to do the things you wished you'd done. Find a way to make it happen.

[mustlovedogs]

What kind of business do you run? Could you consider expanding to other international markets and using this traveling as a springboard?

[Wiseman2]

If you can go to Thailand for a month why not just take some more vacations?

After some advice, I recently came back from a month long trip in Thailand and absolutely loved it. I'm 32 and money shouldn't be a problem for at least a year if I were to go traveling but the loyalty to the friends I employ and the fact that I probably wouldn't earn as much if i were to come back and do the same thing is what's holding me back.

[bobajob]

Thanks all for the replies. Obviously getting someone in to run it is something i have thought about but its whether i can find that someone and whether i'd actually want the stress of it all whilst i was travelling. I'm pretty fed up with the stress of it at the best of times. I work in the construction business and so do a lot of sub-contracting which i'm pretty sure would mean the main contractors would look elsewhere (they were pretty annoyed when i went away for a month) if i were to go. Selling the business is also an option but again its dependant on someone wanting to buy it.

[Lisii]

I have a friend who works in construction (own company) he works 6-9 months of the year (depending on contracts) and shuts up shop and travels for 3 - 6 months. Employees are on contract and it suits them too - he's very lucky.

 

No one can tell you what's best for you, as only you know whats in the bank and what your health is like. There is the grass is greener thing too..

 

Personally I wouldn't do it, only as we never know what is around the corner - in saying that I'd never say no to a good holiday and travel.

 

(my parents retired at 42, they were bored after a year of travel and just wanted to be home... they started another business and instead traveled 2 months of the year)

[catfeeder]

We all look for ways to capture the magic of a vacation into our lives upon returning from one. If abandoning our job or business to spend our savings down to the ground to go play some more was a wise idea, we'd all do it.

 

Find ways to train a #2 person to handle more of your responsibilities so you can travel more. Incorporate others into your business and test delegation over time. Sure, mistakes will happen, some of those will be costly, but if you consider those costs the price of learning for all involved, you can build them into your budgets in order to earn more freedom. You'll sacrifice some profits, but you've discovered that the lifestyle change they will buy you will be worth it.

[Beelost]

Haven't you thought about combining travel and job. We met with my husband when I was 29 and he was 31, it was in NZ. The case is we both wanted to see NZ but had no money for a travel. So I went there as a volunteer, was getting some pocket money for teaching english to the children of immigrants. And my husband got a job at a wharf reconstruction via [url=" So he got his dream come true, working and enjoying the seaside. He save some money, bought a few cheap fishing boats and started his own business renting the boats out. So we currently live in ZN, also invited a few our friends and provided them with a job. Having friends doesn't mean living only for them.