Leaving my job to travel didn't go as planned. I was too hasty — and the job market has been tougher than I thought.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a transcribed speech with 34-year-old Jay Wallace, from England. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I got excited astir the income satellite erstwhile I landed a recruitment occupation successful 2013.

I spent years successful income roles, some arsenic a self-employed income contractor and arsenic a institution employee. I truly enjoyed talking with radical and making income that straight correlated to my earnings.

I started a caller job arsenic a self-employed income contractor successful June 2023, but rapidly became frustrated with the role. As a contractor, I'd archer the institution my disposable hours and they would stock income leads with me. I'd marque income and get committee for products installed.

I felt I had excessively overmuch state and not capable clarity. Because I couldn't archer whether I was succeeding, I felt similar I was failing.

After 3 to 4 months of frustration, I decided to permission the occupation successful March 2024.

I didn't truly cognize what to bash next. I'd ever wanted to go solo traveling and I besides had a escaped program successful caput for caller concern ventures successful contented instauration and coaching.

But chasing state didn't crook retired the mode I'd hoped. I've since struggled to navigate the occupation market and find enactment that I tin bash to enactment myself portion gathering up my concern and YouTube Channel. I recognize I near my occupation excessively hastily.

Spending clip overseas didn't spell to plan

I'd considered leaving income earlier successful 2020 due to the fact that I nary longer felt challenged. But COVID felt similar a atrocious clip to beryllium moving careers.

When I left my job successful 2024, I planned to walk a fewer months successful Southeast Asia, mostly surviving disconnected my savings and passive income from an concern spot I partnered with my begetter connected successful 2020.

I hoped the little outgo of surviving successful Thailand could assistance dramatically trim my bills portion I worked connected my concern idea.

The escaped program was to enactment much clip into the YouTube transmission I'd been moving for a fewer years and besides facilitate immoderate benignant of coaching business.

Thailand wasn't arsenic I'd expected. It was bully for astir 2 days, and past I sat determination thinking, "What americium I doing?" It was lonely — I'd near my household and my woman down to travel.

I wasn't successful the close headspace to tally a business, truthful I ended up coming location aft a fewer weeks.

Back successful the UK, the occupation marketplace has been tough

I went done a play of existent darkness. My past income relation knocked my confidence, I'd failed to find state successful Thailand, and past felt similar I'd failed my narration erstwhile I came back.

I wasn't mentally successful a bully place, truthful I wasn't making a concerted effort to turn my YouTube channel.

I inactive had savings due to the fact that I'd travel location earlier than expected, but I didn't privation to spell backmost into sales. I enjoyed manual enactment earlier my income career, truthful I started applying for commercialized jobs.

The marketplace was much hard to navigate than I expected. When I was younger, I moved easy from occupation to job. I don't cognize if it was my property — I was successful my 30s, trying to bash commercialized enactment — oregon the existent economy, but I applied for hundreds of jobs and lone heard backmost from a handful.

By the extremity of 2024, my savings were coming to an extremity and I needed much income than my spot was providing. I recovered a occupation astatine the Royal Mail station work successful precocious 2024.

Previously I was trying to find a caller career, I'm present focusing connected paying my bills truthful I person abstraction to turn my transmission connected the side.

I'm moving 5 days a week done an bureau arsenic a postman. I marque little than I did successful sales, and consciousness similar I person to enactment weekends due to the fact that it pays more.

I'm successful a overmuch amended spot than erstwhile I went traveling. I was putting a batch of unit connected myself to beryllium successful. Now, I've learned to instrumentality that unit disconnected and bask exploring antithetic avenues.

I'd see going backmost into sales, but I've realized however important assemblage is to me. As an contractor, you walk a batch of clip connected the roadworthy oregon alone.

I was excessively rash erstwhile I decided to discontinue my job

With hindsight, I was excessively hasty quitting my past income position. I should've tried to get immoderate clarity from the company, truthful I felt happier successful the role.

Being self-employed, I had capable wealth and clip to physique my coaching concern and transmission alongside working. I could person waited until my concern income matched my income income and past dilatory transitioned.

Before leaving sales, I saw truthful galore radical making contented connected societal media astir quitting their jobs, saying it would each enactment out. Lots of creators were encouraging radical to spell full-time connected YouTube and pointing to their ain courses connected however to marque that happen. I didn't cognize their backstory, similar however they financially supported themselves.

It made maine deliberation quitting and starting a concern would beryllium easier than I recovered it.

If you're committed to leaving your job, there's thing stopping you from moving connected your CV and oregon applying for interviews portion employed. If you're starting a business, enactment connected it successful the evenings and connected weekends.

In my experience, the accent of not having wealth acold outweighs the accent of being successful a occupation you don't like.

I privation to pass others to truly see what they're doing earlier they perpetrate to quitting their job. There's a batch of online contented retired determination that tin marque you judge the writer is greener connected the different side, but it isn't ever true.

Do you person a communicative to stock astir quitting your job? Contact this newsman astatine ccheong@businessinsider.com