Leave your 9to5 behind- Everything you need to find adventurous jobs for your adventurous soul! I'm able to fund my travels because I find jobs on the road.
To those unaware, I'm currently living and traveling in Australia on a Work and Holiday Visa. I just started travel blogging over the past few months and have to say I'm in love with it! My goal is to get as much information out as I can to other people with an interest in traveling. Details about these jobs, as well as jobs other travelers I meet do, and how to get a travel job yourself, are a bi
g focus with my Daily Grind Dropout stuff....Although you will also see a lot of other travel-related shenanigans and information too! Information on places, attractions, destinations, and funny stories along the way will also be put on here. So stay tuned if any of these things are of interest to you :)
I’ve struggled my whole adult life with trying to be a ‘responsible adult’. In the world I grew up in (as with almost everywhere in the world), there are standards and expectations on what things like “success” and “being responsible” and “being an adult” should be. In the US, it generally follows this format: high school -> college -> pick a major-> date someone seriously-> graduate from college-> get a job that turns into a career and plans to put in 20+ years with this same company-> get married-> buy a house-> have children-> buy a minivan-> have more children-> continue working in your career field and taking a couple vacations a year until your kids grow up and you retire-> do what you want after retirement. I realize that this is an extremely generalized idea, and that things have shifted more away from this format of ‘normal’ in recent years and generations, but I’d say it’s still a pretty widespread view of what’s ‘normal’. Especially in the Midwest. And although it works for a lot of Americans, and a lot of them are perfectly happy with their daily grinds, there’s also a large chunk of us that struggle with finding ultimate happiness in the above lifestyle. Quitting your day job to go gallivant around the world is most definitely not the 'responsible adult' road to take...But it's the road I wanted to do. So I finally found the courage to defy my normal, leave behind the 'responsible adult' life I tried so hard to fit into for a time, and travel and work on the road. I became a Daily Grind Dropout (or at least full-time, anyway!) in September 2016 by traveling the world and finding jobs on the road. My first country: Australia for a Work and Holiday Visa. Although I’m dropping my daily grind by traveling, it definitely isn’t the only path to becoming a Daily Grind Dropout- people leave their daily grind in all kinds of ways. Entrepreneurs, fine artists, freelancers, musicians, joining the circus…The sky is the limit. I’ll be seeking out all kinds of interesting people leading inspired lives, as well as my fair share of crazy places and situations, and will do my best to share the fun with you guys. You will be provided with plenty of success, blunders, advice, bloopers, valuable info, epic fails, how-to’s (and how-not-to’s), adventures, nailed-it’s, pretty photos, and shenanigans along the way. I will also write a blog post once a week that features other people leaving their daily grind in their own way- I have affectionately named them “Daily Grind Dropouts“. Make sure you check them out! Don't forget to check out my Instagram (@dailygrinddropout) for more on my photography, and my blog (www.dailygrinddropout.com) for more detailed stories and information.
07/02/2021
I feel like a bear coming out of a long, social media hibernation- except instead of going on an eating spree to fatten up after a long fast I’m doing just the opposite!
Shaking off a year of quasi-hibernation by way of a post-pandemic road trip…In retro.
I left Kansas in February with my new whip in tow (she held up like a champ- thanks !) to head off into the only great unknown allowable during a global crisis- a road trip to visit mother nature’s finest.
8 states and many adventures later, I have returned home and will be sharing a photo dump of the captures I was too busy exploring to post in real-time.
Courtesies of Covid, my job moved from office to 100% home based and I was fortunate to have a friend that has also been remote with her job. We took advantage of our newfound ability to be one with the wind- and spent 3 months road tripping around the Wild West.
We booked AirBnB’s between our long weekends off and explored some of the most beautiful outdoor havens I’ve ever seen- no better way to say bye-bye to annual winter depression and hellooooo to summer!
I could really get used to this whole snowbird thing- first stop: Colorado!
9 weird and wonderful jobs you never knew existed
If you're uninspired by the prospect of falling into a boring 9-5 graduate job, check out these weird jobs that will definitely spice up your daily routine.
Kansas Winter Blues are in full swing and man is the struggle real!
Lots of people stuck inside this weekend to avoid driving in bad road conditions! A little stir crazy but doing my best to take a cue from Lucy here and find my happy in the simple things.
Everything except sticking my head out the window- it's too damn cold for that 😳
02/15/2019
Keeping up with the winter wonderland theme I've got going here-
🚁 Here's a throw back to one of my favorite adventures!! Riding a helicopter up to get a bird's eye view of the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand was such a rush 😁 If you're heading to this area: big no-no of you don't add this tour to your list!
Anyone know the best way to become a boss mountaineer-glacier-hiking-expedition expert/ heli-skiier/snowboarder?! Is there an app for that?
It looks like a fun hobby, but here in Kansas it's a bit difficult to get that hands-on practice ⛷🏂
02/14/2019
Did you know... 💭
In Vietnam, saying the simple phrase "I love you" isn't so simple! I took this one of a couple celebrating their wedding on the river in Hoi An during my Vietnam trip. I wanted to include the Vietnamese version of dropping that L bomb in celebration of Valentines day, however they don't have one simple phrase for it due to the complex linguistics of Vietnamese.
It depends on the gender of the person you're expressing your feelings to, as well as their age in relation to yours on top of what kind of relationship it is- the words you would use for a boyfriend would be different from the words for a family member etc.
I'm actually not big on doing things and stuff for this holiday, because I'd rather avoid the ridiculous crowds, lines, and wait times...But who can hate on a holiday all about letting the important people in your life know how much you love em?! 😍
So here's a list of how to say "I love you" in 14 other languages, with a photographic representation of ❤ from Vietnam.
Happy Valentine's day world!
Dutch: Ik hou van jou (ick how fan yow)
Finnish: Mina rakastan sinua (mee-na rah-ka-stahn see-noo-ah)
French: Je t'aime (Zhuh tem)
German: Ich liebe dich (Ick leebuh dik)
Greek: S'agapo (seg-app-oh)
Hawaiian: Aloha wau ia 'oe (a-loh-ha vaoo ea-ah oh-eh)
Italian: Ti amo (Tee ah-mo)
Japanese: Aish*teru (ay-she-tay-ee-roo)
Korean: Sarang hae (sa-rang-hey)
Mandarin: Wo ai ni (Wuh eye nee)
Portuguese: Amo-te/eu te amo (ah-muh-tuh/oo chee ah-moh)
Romanian: Te lubesc (tay you-besk)
Spanish: Te quiero/te amo (Tay key-aero/Tay-ah-mo)
Swahili: Naku penda (nah-koo pen-dah)
Swedish: Jag älskar dig (Ya ell-scar dey)
01/17/2019
"Don't compare your behind the scenes to others' highlight reel"
Speaking of highlight reel, how gorgeous was this view?! Best of all, it was in Australia of all places. I wonder if the above quote rings as true when it's my current couch-sitting-behind-the-scenes making me jealous of my own adventure highlights? 🤔
This ski trip I went on with via at was such an epic weekend, really hoping to squeeze in another ski trip soon!
Although my shattered that took a tumble down the mountain with me may not have the same sentiment...Hence the lack of photos I have from the actual skiing parts of the trip 😂
01/16/2019
The only time it's ever acceptable to get dumped on... is when it's a huge load of snow 😁
🌨
❄
12/24/2018
Kansas City plaza lights!
I know I spend a lot of time away, but KC really is a pretty place.
Did you know: The plaza architecture and design was inspired by Seville, Spain?
A friend of mine recently traveled to Seville and told me that she saw Kansas City souvenirs...All the way over in Spain.
Pretty cool huh?
@ Plaza Area, Kansas City, Missouri
12/12/2018
Vietnam is such a beautiful country.
When you walk down the streets, they bustle with vendors and townspeople and kids and tourists and backpackers. Every street is adorned with thousands of vibrant lanterns. The greens are lush and the entire place just buzzes with energy.
There is also trash everywhere, and the smell of the mouth-watering food in the air is intermixed with wafts of days-old spoiled garbage. The streets lack the street cleaners we are accustomed to in The West, which has a striking effect on the visual cleanliness of a place while exploring by foot. The sidewalk real estate is 100% occupied by motorbikes, crossing the street is a gamble for your life, and you're approached a thousand times a day by locals selling anything and everything. From (deliciously) flavored peanuts, to 'real' silver anklets, to a surprisingly huge variety of American snacks.
Yes- American snacks.
Everywhere you turn: Pringles, Reeses, Doritos, and all the other scourges of the unhealthy American snack world.
As is the norm with traveling through third world countries as a westerner, Vietnam is chock FULL of sales masterminds. If you can imagine the college students that work in The Buckle and times their persistence by a thousand- you still probably wouldn't even be close!
These bringers-of-American-snacks are at every turn and seem to have an endless supply of death-by-Atherosclerosis. I didn't find it weird that there were so many hawkers, but I did find the abundance of particularly American junk food very strange. What a random thing to see in Vietnam!
As much as I loved the entire experience of adventuring the cities, my trip to Ha Long Bay was arguably the best part.
The serenity of sailing through the islands with other travelers, breeze in our hair and sea mist on our skin. A perfect little break from having to resist the temptation to purchase all the things you don't need from the local townspeople... without feeling like an ass.
Just as the boat anchored in preparation for a day of soaking in the sun while swimming in the emerald green waters- away from the rest of the world...We look over and see this nice lady.
Offering us a plethora of American snacks.
Does anyone remember the movie Wedding Crashers?
*I will fiiiiiindddddd youuuuuuuuuuu*
Not even the boat dwellers can escape the snack ladies- doing their part in keeping traveller's munchies at bay!
And I wouldn't have it any other way. The beauty in this place is found in the contrast between all of it's 'glitter' and it's 'warts'.
My only complaint is that the snacks on offer are from The States...Can't we get some Vietnamese junk food up in here?
07/02/2021
11/19/2019
03/12/2019
02/24/2019
02/17/2019
02/15/2019
02/14/2019
01/17/2019
01/16/2019
12/24/2018
12/12/2018