A woman who quit her job as an investment banker built a new life traveling the world on her own

In March 2012, Kristin Addis quit her job as an investment banker in Southern California.

Before she left, she'd been earning six figures a year, including her commission. However, she remembers, she wasn't happy with her lifestyle. 

"It was hard for me when our paid time off was only 14 days per year," she tells Business Insider. "We'd go to the office puking our guts out because we didn't want to use our vacation time being sick. I felt back then like even if I wanted to, in that 14 days, I wasn't really allowed to take it all at once. I felt like 'What is this money worth if I don't have the opportunity to spend it on what I want?

"I thought there had to be more to life than that."

So she set out to find it.

Less than a year later, Addis bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok, planning to travel overland through Southeast Asia. Since then, the now 29-year-old has largely stayed on the move, documenting her journey through her blog, Be My Travel Muse, and sharing the expertise she's gathered in her book, "Conquering Mountains: The Guide to Solo Female Travel," produced with Nomadic Matt's Matt Kepnes.

Addis spoke to Business Insider about her post banking life: What it looks like, the reality of working on the road, and how she affords it.

SEE ALSO: 16 people who are living the dream without spending a fortune

Addis, who had lived in Taiwan when she was 21 to study Mandarin, started her trip in Southeast Asia because she'd read a traveler could get by on $1,000 a month, a sharp drop from the $3,000-$4,000 a month her California life cost.

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 In China.

"I had been saving for years," Addis remembers. "It was between putting money into buying a condo or traveling." She managed to accumulate around $20,000 in cash, plus about $60,000 in retirement funds, which she says she won't touch until it's time to retire.

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In Hvítserkur, Iceland.

"I've never had debt other than school debt," Addis says. "I won't spend money I won't have, and I don't want to dip into funds meant for later. If I couldn't make being a travel influencer work, I would have gotten a job before I touched my retirement savings."

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In Ásbyrgi, Iceland.