Guillaume, a 29-year-old salesman, should have gone on a trip around the world for almost a year from August. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he had to postpone this project, which was very close to his heart. He testifies and tells how the health crisis has made him more pragmatic.
“Going around the world is a project that I have had for a very, very, very, long time. everything. It was the right time, because at the beginning of March, I had reached the end of the professional experience I was in. I also recently became single, so I no longer had the forced to agree with someone on when, how and where. I had planned to leave in August for 10 months because I wanted to be back in June 2021 in France.
On the one hand, because it’s the moment when I will be celebrating my 30th birthday – I thought it was nice to go around the world for the last 10 months of my twenties – but also because I have a friend who getting married. My plan was to start with Sri Lanka, then go to India. It was my only unknown because it’s the first time I’ve traveled alone and it seems to be a country that leaves no one indifferent: I could fall in love with it and spend several months there, or hate it and leave after a week.
Little by little, I started to think that maybe a January departure was better
Then, I had planned to go to Nepal, with the idea that it would be a buffer zone, without very specific plans, knowing that I know Southeast Asia rather well. The goal was to leave around Christmas for New Zealand, where I wanted to spend 5 weeks, before going to Mexico. From there, the idea was to go down Central America, limiting planes as much as possible in favor of buses, or even boats. Ideally, I wanted to end the trip in Colombia or Ecuador. In short, I wanted to have a global trajectory, without major constraints.
Luckily the only thing I had booked was my outbound flight to Sri Lanka. I had also renewed my passport and applied for an international permit; nothing very engaging. When my professional experience ended, I told myself that I was going to prepare my trip ignoring the Covid-19. For me, it was going to be good for an August start. Then, little by little, I started to think that maybe leaving in January was better.
I think the return to normal will be around spring 2021
As I’m on the move, I wondered what I was going to do in the meantime, so I thought about volunteering: I wanted to give, since I was going to receive throughout my trip. But, finally, last month, I realized that the situation was really not ideal and that it might be possible to go in January, but only as part of a classic vacation. Going from one country to another showing white paw each time could be complicated.
So I set off on a new job search, giving myself the luxury of being selective. In my mind, I plan to postpone my world tour for at least 18 months. On the one hand, I think that the return to normal will take place around the spring of 2021: I assume that nothing is impossible given the unprecedented situation in which we find ourselves. In addition, I am obliged to demonstrate a certain pragmatism in relation to my work. I don’t see myself going to a company, staying there for only a few months, and then leaving.
I’m very disappointed but I try to put it into perspective as much as possible
Originally, the idea was to remain as free as possible; It’s always like that. It is in this state of mind that I chose to look for a job. I would live very badly to fix myself a new date of departure so that it is shifted again and that I know another disappointment. When I found out that my trip had fallen through, it was fine, since I got into the dynamics of looking for a job, going for interviews… But the job market is difficult to access right now.
In fact, when something did not materialize, it sent me back to my world tour. In these moments, I said to myself: ‘it’s ugly, it was my project, I wanted to do it, to live it’. There is an accumulation of several things: I found myself single when it was not my choice, then the end of my job turned out to be a new project that fell through, and then the trip… I’m super disappointed, but I’m trying to put it into perspective as much as possible: I left my job, but I’m unemployed, it’s not as if I was attacking my travel savings. It could have been a thousand times worse, in the end there is nothing serious: as it is really close to my heart, I will leave one day. I try to stay optimistic and take a step back. Then, I am in good health; this is the main”.
We were able to get in touch with Guillaume thanks to the network of world traveler.
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