In 2010, Karen Sargent and Paul Farrugia had $15,000 of savings burning a hole in their pocket.
At first, they thought they would buy a flat in London, where they were living.
However, Sargent remembers, "We'd daydream about traveling, and we decided the money was better spent on travel." Instead of putting a down payment on a home, the couple left their jobs — Karen, a business psychologist for a business training company, and Paul in retail — to spend a year traveling from London through Asia by land.
"Six months into our trip," Sargent says, "we realized a year would not be enough."
They ended up traveling for 18 months, and today, they've built a life that allows them the best of both worlds: half the year in a London flat and half of the year spent abroad, a lifestyle they chronicle on their website, Global Help Swap, and on their Instagram. They spoke with Business Insider about how they've made it work.
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"In those 18 months, we just loved the sense of freedom," says Sargent. "I always wanted to be self-employed, but I was afraid of not earning a lot of money."
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New Years Eve 2012, Sydney Harbour, Australia
However, traversing Europe, Russia, and Mongolia by train, the couple found themselves meeting a lot of people who were of limited means. "With such a small budget, we were poor financially as well, but realized that money doesn't make any difference with happiness," Sargent says.
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"When we came back, we both felt freer," she explains. Looking for a new job, Sargent came across a position as a senior psychologist in Dubai that she knew "would be perfect for me — and my heart sank. I knew I had to try being self-employed."
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See the rest of the story at Business Insider