Do you ever crave adventure? Are you ready to travel the world but you feel like your 9- 5 job is holding you back from the life you’ve always desired? Well this interview might be the motivating piece to change your life style. This week we are featuring an exclusive interview with travel blogger Christian Byfield from Columbia. Christian has over 140,000 followers on Instagram and is making a living just by traveling the world. How? Find out below!
He tells us a little about his history and the change that led him to his dream every day. Christian has also done a Ted Talk about his life. Check out this link (https://youtu.be/Gx7JhrLekl8) if you’re interested in hearing more of Christian’s experiences! (Link is in Spanish).
Here is the Full Interview:
What initially inspired you to quit your job and travel the world?
Many things inspired me to travel. However one thing really changed my mind. I was working really long hours. I used to be a night banker after I was a management consultant. I used to work until midnight and it was my father’s 60th birthday and I wasn’t allowed to attend my father’s birthday because according to my boss, I was not the owner of my time. So, I didn’t go to my father’s party because I was at the office. That was the main turning point in my life.
How do you make a living traveling and how did you pick this specifically?
My trip took 754 days and every 3 days I was sending my blog to Avianca’s airline editors. After 2 years they started liking it so I started to write for Avianaca magazine about different destinations around the world. That helped my Instagram to grow. Then I became the expert of a local TV channel for traveling, which continued to grow my Instagram following. Tourism offices around the world noticed the Instagram and began calling me. This is how I make my living now – a combination of sponsors and countries hiring me to promote their tourism.
Through travel you have witnessed some amazing opportunities in life. How do you think you have changed as a person throughout your years of traveling?
Traveling changed my life completely. Once you start traveling your mind really opens. You stop judging people and you stop judging stereotypes. I believe traveling is the only thing you can do that makes you richer. Now, I think I’m a very down to earth person. I came out thanks to the trip, like I analyzed my life on how I was acting and how I was full of fears according to the society I grew up in. It changed my life. Traveling is my job but I still love it. I am very happy with this lifestyle!
Top 5 craziest experiences… Go!
One of my favorite experiences was in Uganda, seeing the silver back gorillas. Being with 19 wild sliver back gorillas just chilling in the jungle is very special.
My second experience is flying over the blue hole in Belize. You take a small aircraft and you fly around 40 minutes until you reach the blue hole. You stay in the aircraft while flying very close to water surface and the blue hole for about 30 minutes. The color of the ocean is very beautiful.
The third was scuba diving in Malpelo, Colombia, one of the most beautiful spots to dive in the world – a national park as well. In one dive, you are able to see about 300 hammerhead sharks. We also saw 4 whale sharks, dolphins, and turtles. The animals are very friendly because not many people fish them, so they are not afraid of humans.
The fourth experience would be diving with bull sharks in Fiji. It’s a dive where you go underwater for around 20- 30 minutes with more than 200 bull sharks. It’s a very exciting experience with lots of adrenaline pumping through your veins, but totally worth it. They feed them so the sharks get a little aggressive but it’s something very life changing.
The fifth experience is visiting Papua New Guinea and living with one of the native tribes for a few days. They keep their culture and have not yet adapted to the modern world. You can learn so much from them!
What is your best advice to others who want to travel but are struggling to give up their structured life of work for a life of the unknown?
My best advice is to give it a try; stop complaining and stop wining about something – just act accordingly. If you can’t travel around the world, travel around your country. If you cannot travel around your country, travel around your city. The key is to start, otherwise nothing will happen. Keeping your life in auto pilot means nothing really happens at the end. Get out there and travel!
Instagram – Christian Byfield Travel
