4 Reasons to Turn Your Passion for Travel into a Career
by Lindsay Paige Stein
Original story published on EF Ultimate Break. Lindsay is a travel entrepreneur and Founder of The Roundtrip Collective, the first-ever program designed to help students to turn their wanderlust into their dream jobs. Lindsay has a diverse background within all facets of the industry, from managing PR for travel companies, writing about her travels for top publications, to running her own foodie travel blog. Her mission is to take her experiences and mold the travel industry’s future generation.
Since I was young, I’ve always been drawn to travel, but I had no idea that one day I’d be getting paid to visit new countries and help tell the stories of destinations around the world. Studying abroad in Prague during college is really what lit the fire in me to pursue a career in the travel industry, and it’s been a journey. After graduating from college with a degree in Mass Communications, I took my skills in writing, public relations, and social media, and combined them with my love for travel.
After completing several internships, building my resume, making connections, and continuing to showcase my passions through my blog, I was able to set myself apart from competitors in such a niche industry and land my dream job at a travel PR agency in New York City. After getting my foot in the door, I now have a diverse background within the travel industry for over five years, doing everything from managing the PR for travel brands, writing about my travels for top publications, and running travel influencer campaigns.
Fast forward to when COVID hit. It was a tough time for travel professionals and I had a gut feeling that this was my time to help make an impact. As I was grounded at home amid the pandemic, I needed a way to harness my creativity, share my love for travel, and pave a path forward for the next generation of travel industry pros. Spending countless hours scrolling TikTok and dabbling into some content creation for fun, one of my travel TikToks suddenly went viral, garnering over three million views and sparking conversations with curious college students and young professionals desperate to break into the travel space.
I launched the first-ever program for travel-obsessed students called The Roundtrip Collective, unlocking ways for them to turn their passion for travel into their dream job through online courses, one-on-one mentoring, access to industry pros, and more. The Roundtrip Collective’s mission is to ignite the travel industry’s future generation and create a community of ambitious students at a time when we all crave inspiration and connection.
Here are the four reasons why I decided to turn my passion for travel into my full-time career.
1. The storytelling aspect.
What drew me into this career in the first place was the ability to bring awareness to destinations around the world and help promote the life-changing experiences that travel brings. Whether it’s bringing an underrated destination to the forefront through my freelance writing or launching a new travel company through my public relations experience, travel is an ever-changing industry that never gets boring. Storytelling is a natural way to paint a picture and build a narrative to inspire others to get out and explore the world.
2. The travel perks.
Of course, when working in the travel industry the number one career benefit is—you guessed it—traveling! For my PR job, I plan and go on press trips where I bring journalists to experience our travel clients first-hand. Since I’m on both sides, I also get invited on press trips as a freelance travel journalist and it’s opened so many doors for me, allowing me to visit bucket-list destinations like Morocco, Maldives, Italy, and the Caribbean, among others.
3. I improved my communication skills.
Once my inbox started getting flooded with messages from college students asking about what I do, how they can work towards this career, and tips on how to get started, I knew I wanted to be a mentor to help others achieve their dream travel jobs. I was in their exact shoes and would have loved a mentor who has been in the industry for years and has the connections. I realized there are no real resources like this out there, so launching my Travel Career Course and seeing the success stories of my members and positive feedback has been everything to me.
4. The constant creativity.
Being in the travel industry gives me creative freedom and always sparks inspiration. The travel space has so much opportunity to showcase your skills through social media content creation, videography, creative writing, and more. It’s easy to be inspired when it comes to travel. Just thinking of the local pasta and wines in Italy or hiking through the lush jungles of Costa Rica immediately fuels my wanderlust and reminds me why I love it so much.
The travel industry is full of opportunities to flex your creative muscles and turn your wanderlust into a meaningful, exciting career. Waking up every morning knowing that I’m putting my skills to work and making an impact on a younger generation of travel obsessives is the best feeling—I wouldn’t have it any other way.
