Is It Possible To Do Real Expeditions Whilst Holding Down A Real Job?

Dec 10, 2015

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You don’t need to quit your job to do proper expeditions

Unclimbed Siberian Peaks in Two Weeks (Photo: David Tett)

A common message from “adventurers” is that to follow your dream you should quit your job and go on a grand adventure. For some, this will be an inspiration that motivates them to do just that. Great.

However, that only caters for a minority.

Most people don’t want to leave their jobs. It’s not practical or even desirable. There’s a risk that these people will be put off undertaking an adventure because they get the impression that it’s only possible if you commit to the traveller’s lifestyle and dedicate all your time to adventuring.

That is wrong.

Some more enlightened adventurers recognise this and promote a wonderful range of easy to access ideas for those working the 9-til-5. George Cave talks of ‘67 hour adventures‘ (the time between 5pm Friday and 9am Monday), Alastair Humphreys has pioneered the concept of miniature ‘microadventures‘ and Tom Allen memorably bought a bike and spent a couple of weeks cycling the length of England for the price of a round of drinks.

This is excellent. It’s a really positive message that’s had a huge impact and it’s something I try to echo at every opportunity.

So does that mean there are two options…?

Quit your job, do a big adventure, OR
Stay at work, do little adventures

No.

It is entirely possible to do real, proper, serious expeditions whilst holding down a regular, normal, bog standard, 9-til-5 job.

And if you don’t beleive me, just read these examples off the top of my head (additions welcome in the comments section below):

1. The Climbing Tax Man

Mick Fowler is one of the UK’s best mountaineers who’s made first ascents in India, China and Russia. He’s also a tax man who works for the Inland Revenue and does all his expeditions in his annual leave allowance. He squeezes in training by driving from London to Scotland and back on winter weekends.

2.Unclimbed Peaks in the Space of Two Weeks

Marc Bullock is a surgeon. In 2009 he flew to Siberia, drove into the mountains, hiked out to a base camp, climbed to the top of a mountain that had never been summited before then hopped on a horse to reverse the journey and was back to his patients within two weeks. A Siberian first ascent in 14 days.

3. Crossing a Desert on a Sports Tour

Ellie was travelling to Dubai with her ultimate frisbee team. Whilst she was in the Middle East she decided to extend her holiday to travel across the border to Oman. There, she and two team mates crossed the Wahiba Sands desert on foot. It took them three days. They had never been to a desert before.

4. Walking Across Patagonia with Qualification Leave

When my wife finished her training as a lawyer, she was entitled to take some time off work. It was unpaid but allowed us to spend four weeks attempting to cross South America on foot.

You’re probably not a lawyer who’s about to qualify but perhaps you’re eligible for a short sabbatical? Maybe you’ve just got married/worked 10 years at the firm/closed a really big deal or otherwise deserve some unpaid leave?

Or you could be about to change jobs? I’ve used the latter as an excuse for an expedition on three occasions: cycling the length of Scandinavia, trekking in Iceland and travelling around the world in eighty ways.

And even if you haven’t got one of those excuses, if you look at my adventure portfolio, every single expedition I’ve done since 2009 I have done with my wife, Laura. And during that time, with the exception of when we cycled around the world, she has always had a normal, full time, 9-5+ job.

[divide]

So, if you want to quit your job and travel the world then good luck to you. It’s a big step but I’m sure you won’t regret it.

And if you want to get that much needed hit of excitement through regular microadventures then that’s fantastic. I can think of few better therapies.

But…

If you want to have a normal job and an extraordinary expedition…

To have your cake and eat it…

Well, that’s quite possible too.

And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Comments

5 responses to “Is It Possible To Do Real Expeditions Whilst Holding Down A Real Job?”

Saadia Sharjeel

December 10, 2015

I am a mother of two and I love mountains. Before kids I have done some adventures but now that I am done with child bearing, I am ready to start taking my baby steps again. This time I am even going solo. People of course say that I can’t do it now that I have kids. But I mean to show them. I want my cake and eat it too….and eat I will.

Reply
1. Tim Moss
  
  December 10, 2015
  
  Excellent. You can definitely keep doing adventures after kids.
  
  Reply
Dylan Ben Haskin (@dylanbenhaskin)

December 11, 2015

Great read Tim! Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Tom Allen (@tom_r_allen)

December 14, 2015

An advocate of the devil would argue that all four examples here fit the description of “2. Stay at work, do little adventures”. But I think your point (which I couldn’t agree more with) is that there’s nothing wrong with that.

There is, I think, a valid parallel perspective that quitting your job is sometimes the only way to free yourself to do something that requires unlimited time and complete dedication. Cycling round the world, for example. You could spread it over the course of your life, 20 days’ annual leave at a time. But for many people who dream of cycling round the world, the choice really does boil down to quitting your job or not doing it at all.

Reply
1. Tim Moss
  
  December 16, 2015
  
  Thanks for your satanic input Mr Allen. In response, I would make three points:
  
  1. Although defining and ranking expeditions is silly, the devil’s description of six-weeks’ Himalayan mountaineering as a ‘little adventure’ is quite dismissive. Such a definition might include the first ascent of Everest.
  
  I think you might be suggesting time as a metric such that cycling around is the big adventure. That’s fine but each to their own. Others will prefer shorter, tougher, more remote expeditions and consider them to be the bigger adventures.
  
  2. Quitting your job may indeed be the only way for some people to free themselves. But my own experience is that, in many ways, being work-free is far more restrictive and often felt like a prison. I rarely had the money to buy a drink with my friends, let alone go on interesting expeditions.
  
  I think there’s a real danger of treating ‘having a job’ as some kind of compromise of ideals. It isn’t. Nor does it necessarily restrict freedoms more than not having one (and thus not having a wage/purpose/sense of worth or any of the other benefits that someone might derive from their job).
  
  Reply