Lessons from a Quitter How Joe Hansen walked away from Big Law to travel the world with his family
For most of us risk-averse, type-A personalities, walking away from a multiple 6-figure career to pursue an entirely different career is a HUGE, scary step. Most can’t muster up the courage to even take that jump. But to leave such a “successful” career to just travel around the world with your family would make most of our heads explode. What if I can’t get a job when I get back? But what will we do for money? WHAT IF WE BECOME HOMELESS? You get the point. We’re crazy.
Luckily, Joe Hansen is a little less neurotic than the rest of us because he did just that. He walked away from his Big Law job, making a great salary and living in San Francisco, to travel the world for a year with his wife and 2 young children.
While traveling, he is pursuing his original passion of writing by working on his first novel, an apocalyptic thriller set in San Francisco. I love Joe’s story because he intentionally took this step without having everything buttoned up and planned out. As you’ll hear, he and his wife are taking one step at a time. He has back-up plans in case he needs to go back to being a lawyer but, otherwise, he’s realizing that everything is figureoutable...no matter what happens.
Here is what we chat about in this episode:
- What led him to law school and what his experience was like at a big law firm
- Why the big law firm life is not a realistic one
- Why he decided to travel the world for a year with two small children and how he prepared for it.
- How his coworkers were more supportive about his decision than Joe initially thought they would be
- How he’s moving through his journey without knowing exactly what he is going to do in the future
- Whether people can take a gap year or two and return to the law
- How they’re tackling world travel with 2 small children
- And so much more!
Where to find Joe:
- Website: www.backpackrugrats.com
- Instagram: @joseph_c_hansen
- Instagram: @paolabregneti
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