A Review of Anjali Sareen’s ‘Quit Your Job & Travel The World’

Anjali Sareen, the author of Quit Your Job & Travel the World: The Complete Guide to Making Your Dream a Reality, is a writer and full-time traveler. Last year, she road tripped across the United States, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Cuba, and this year has plans for other parts of Latin America. In recent years, many of us have seen people like Sareen, maybe old high school friends, suddenly up and leave and go traveling around the world. And we wonder: how do they do it?

Sareen isn’t traveling just by living off of her savings – she’s living a new lifestyle that combines remote work and travel, and it’s one she believes is possible for anyone seeking to escape the routine nine-to-five world. Quit Your Job & Travel The World is a thorough resource for anyone who has dreamed of this life but has no concept of how it would be possible.

The guide reads almost like a self-help book written by your best friend, personal trainer and career coach, giving practical advice and encouragement in a conversational tone. Once Sareen shares her own journey to a nomadic lifestyle, the remainder of the chapters can be divided into three sections that guide the readers throughout the timeline:

• Concrete steps to prepare for the move within three months, including selling and donating assets, organizing your personal life and explaining to friends and family
• Resources for making a living on the road, which describes ways to work abroad, either stably or remotely and practical considerations in addition to the nitty gritty of actually living, including accommodation, transportation, budgeting and visas
• Resources for personal life on the road, including making friends, dating and hooking up, nutrition and fitness, among others.

She urges her readers to be mindful about their decisions and self-evaluate whether or not ditching a “traditional” life is really the best option for them. I argue that this is the most helpful aspect of Sareen’s advice: it’s realistic.

Throughout the book, Sareen lists helpful websites and applications for research, organization and hacks that help to simplify one’s life. She also urges her readers to be mindful about their decisions and self-evaluate whether or not ditching a “traditional” life is really the best option for them. I argue that this is the most helpful aspect of Sareen’s advice: it’s realistic. In an age where everyone seems to say “Just quit your job and GO!” without communicating the weight of such decisions, Sareen encourages her readers to weigh the pros and cons and truly reflect. She successfully communicates that transitioning to a traveling lifestyle isn’t the solution to all of your problems at home. The guide doesn’t feel like the author is trying to sell you something; rather, readers get the sense that she wants them to live a life that they can authentically thrive in. Most comforting, Sareen is her reader’s biggest ally – she often reminds them that they can contact her via email, and she even shares her personal mobile number.

While Quit Your Job & Travel The World is an invaluable resource for many people, it is best suited for young professionals with stable jobs but who have little experience traveling, let alone traveling abroad. She details alternatives to the traditional way Americans travel, and in the process debunks many travel myths that are present in U.S. rhetoric. For example, she gives alternatives to staying in hotels, which is something that those not familiar with travel might not have considered. However, for someone who has already lived abroad or has traveled extensively, the advice may not offer new perspectives.

Sareen not only gives intricate practical details on every step, but coaches you through the emotional aspects of the transition.

The guide has other pitfalls, but these don’t necessarily take away from its ultimate goal. Unintentionally, this guide is mostly U.S.-centric, so those residing in other countries may need to tweak some of the offered advice appropriately. And, although this resource is largely based on Sareen’s personal journey, it gives few examples and background stories from her own life or other famous bloggers, which can be seen as both an advantage and a disadvantage. Often it reads like a cut and dry resource guide, offering straightforward and objective advice. While this makes the guide easy to read, simply naming and explaining resources make have little relatability with readers with little understanding of working and traveling abroad. For example, for someone who has never traveled it may be difficult to envision that changing time zones and finding good access to internet are challenges while working. These are things that someone in a stable job has never had to consider, and could be better illustrated with specific examples from the author’s own life.

Despite the minimal flaws, Quit Your Job & Travel The World is a great contribution to the growing market of resources aimed at encouraging people to seek the life they desire to lead, whether that be through travel or simply making decisions for their own wellbeing, not that of society’s. This book is an excellent starting point for those considering transitioning from the “traditional” nine-to-five job to working and traveling remotely. Sareen not only gives intricate practical details on every step, but coaches you through the emotional aspects of the transition.