I like to travel. Who doesn’t? I also like my career. I feel it has improved since I’ve travelled, and when I think about it, there are a few ways it has improved. For those of you who have travelled, you may feel the same way.
Sometimes the Little Things Don’t Matter
After leaving the country and going somewhere foreign, regardless of where it is, I have realised a few things: I realised that the world really is quite big, and there’s more to it than just the city I live in. Even though I live in a large Australian city and see the other cities in movies and on the news, that concept is easy to forget.
There are all different kinds of people, all different kinds of places and sights to see in the world. When I travelled to a few places (I haven’t been to many), I realised that some of the things in my career or in my workplace don’t really matter that much. It made me realise that I don’t need to push so hard on some things or that some things don’t matter.
This doesn’t mean that I should lose all care for my work. Not at all. What I mean, is that there are many small things that happen in our daily lives that don’t really matter when we think about it. Is your next door neighbour’s desk messy? It doesn’t really matter—it’s a small concern. Is your team not filling out the comments or details on a bug tracking system in the way you’d like? Perhaps their method is still effective, and maybe it doesn’t really matter. Focus on the bigger things and do them well, and if smaller things bother you, try not to worry too much about them.
There’s Always a Different Way to Do Something
The cities we live in often solve problems in the same way, and tend to do things the same in each instance. When you’ve travelled to other countries, you’ll find other people and other cities have different ways of solving the same problem.
For example: public transportation in the big city. New York has an underground rail system called the subway and London has something similar. If you go to Melbourne, however, we have overground rail and light rail (called trams), and Sydney has both an overground rail and an above ground monorail. Each of them have their pros and cons, but the point is that there is a single problem and multiple ways to solve it. Other cities may have completely different ways of solving problems.
When I came back to my job, I realised that there is a need to think about different solutions to problems. This could be a large problem, such as how to architect the system to meet the requirements, or other problems such as how to transmit data from one place to another in the most efficient method possible. Sometimes the first solution that comes to mind isn’t always the best one, and it’s worth taking the time to think of alternatives.
It’s Important to Be Motivated
I’ve seen some pretty great things while I’ve been travelling. I haven’t been to many different countries (only seven, I think), but the desire to travel to more places gives me the motivation to work. It’s not really a direct result, where working better = more travelling. Instead, the better I work, the happier that clients and employers will be, the more money I’ll get paid, which gives me the freedom to go travelling.
Travelling is one of the motivations that I have to work, but it’s not the only one. Doing a great job for the client is right up there. However, I can imagine that many of you like to travel as well, so you should try to channel that as motivation for your work.
When Things Go Wrong, It’s Important to Stay Calm
Before we travel, some of us plan where we are going and what we’re going to do, to some extent. Sometimes it’s planned down to the day; others plan generally where we want to go. Some of us just take off somewhere and see what happens.
Regardless of your approach to travel, things will inevitably go wrong. I’ve never met anyone who has been travelling and not had some kind of unfortunate event or something go wrong with their trip. Luggage being lost, flights being cancelled, hotel bookings not being made, cars breaking down, the list goes on.
One thing I’ve learnt from travelling is how to stay calm when things go wrong. This, actually, is probably the most important thing that travelling has taught me. Whether it’s being stuck in a convoy of buses for three hours because there’s been a once-in-a-decade flood in the middle of Egypt, or being caught in the Malaysian airport unable to fly home because of a problem with your visa, any problem you have in your travels can be a learning experience.
Take a deep breath, think about the solutions, talk to people if you can, and try to work out what needs to be done to get something made right. It’s taught me how to remain calm in non-travelling situations like traffic on the way to work, or dealing with difficult people at work.
Well, there’s a few of the lessons that I’ve learnt while travelling which have helped my career. Hopefully they’ve been helpful for you too!
