A few times over the years I have felt lost whilst we’ve been travelling. Have you ever felt lost? Where you start to think “why am I here? What am I doing? Is this all there is?!”

Some of you will be thinking; “Alan you aren’t travelling properly! If you can get bored on a two week holiday then you are doing it wrong!” And you are probably right. It is easy to fill up a two week vacation with sightseeing trips, dinners out, tours and reading books on the beach.

The times I have felt lost are on longer trips of one month or more. The first ever mini-retirement we took was after our wedding in 2013. For our honeymoon, we decided to take 6 months off and experience the world. I couldn’t wait another 30 years until retirement to do something like this so I parked my growing business (eeeek) and Katie took a sabbatical from her corporate job and off we went.

We headed to Costa Rica (where we met) and had an amazing first week or so until things started to slow down. Nothing seemed to happen. ​

​I kept repeating “nothing happens here” and I was getting frustrated. One particular morning we had organised to go out with our friends at 9am. We were up, ready to go, we had even brushed our teeth. We sat in the kitchen waiting for them, reading our books.

10am came and went. 11am came and they stirred from bed. We hadn’t left the house by noon and I felt like we were wasting our time. I could feel my life slipping away…..

We shook things up and went to Nicaragua and went to yoga classes and learned Spanish. After a few more weeks, I had the same feeling. “Nothing is happening here!” I became restless and bored. Moving country didn’t fix the feeling it just put it off for a few more weeks.

I started to feel lost. We were travelling, seeing and meeting people but was that enough? What was our purpose for travelling?

Looking back, the highlights of our travels, the moments that made us happiest and gave us the best friends, were when we chose to give, not just experience.

• Puerto Vallarta: We reached out to the Facebook Digital Nomad group and, with Taylor’s help, ran a talk on financial independence. That 90 minute session led to lifelong friends and a sense of community.
• Buenos Aires: We did the same for the Buenos Aries Facebook Digital Nomad group, met Lilly and Angela, and ended up with weekly dinners, Vanguard account setups, and a live audience for Rebel Finance School. We knew no one when we arrived but through the act of giving we made friends and laughed for hours together.
• Bogota, Colombia: Helping Dani and Fabi set up Rebel Business School Colombia has been one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done. Seeing the school help Venezuelan refugees and victims of armed conflict build new lives is truly inspiring. My business partner Simon even flew out to join us, and I’ve fallen in love with Bogotá and Colombia.

New for 2026:
We’re still working with Dani and the Rebel Business School Colombia team, and this year they partnered with InDrive to help women build businesses and create income. The energy and impact at these events is why we keep coming back. I even ended up delivering tiny a few parts of the workshop in my dodgy Spanish!

Maybe you could find a purpose beyond just travel while you’re on the road.

One friend we met in Thailand volunteered at an elephant sanctuary. What would you enjoy doing?

Maybe you could volunteer half a day to help a charity? Maybe you could go to a local group meet up and meet digital nomads? Maybe you could visit local Toastmasters groups if you are into that sort of thing? Maybe you could help someone in some way?

The expression “if you help enough other people get what they want in life, you can have anything you want in life” has driven me for years – and now I’ve found a way to do it while travelling.

Two of the biggest human needs are to feel like we’re contributing and growing. You don’t have to be travelling to find purpose. You can find it at work, in your spare time, in your town, or even in your football team. Your life will be richer for having a purpose- whatever it is.

The valuable lesson: You’ll feel infinitely happier if you have a purpose. And the secret? It doesn’t matter what the purpose is – you get to make it up.

Here’s how we travel with purpose and some ideas for you. Please treat it as a menu of ideas and remember you don’t have to do anything. If you are on your two week detox from work then please lie next to the pool, read a book and enjoy a good drink!

1. Support local businesses and entrepreneurs
   Skip the big chains. Eat at the family-run café, buy your souvenirs from the market stall, and book your adventures with local guides. Your money goes further and so does your impact.
2. Volunteer – formally or informally
   You don’t have to sign up with a big organisation to make a difference. Sometimes the best impact comes from just rolling up your sleeves and helping out where you see a need. Whether that’s at a local event, a community project, or just lending a hand to someone you meet.
3. Share your skills
   Got a knack for spreadsheets, storytelling, or starting businesses? Offer to teach, mentor, or run a workshop. Sometimes the best gift you can give is knowledge that helps someone build a better life. We have built life-long friendships around the world doing this!
4. Attend local meetups or community events
   Find the digital nomad group, join a language exchange, or pop into a Toastmasters meeting. You’ll make friends, learn something new, and maybe even find a way to contribute. Attending an English speaking Toastmasters club in Tokyo was one of the highlights of our trip to Japan, especially hanging out in the Izakaya afterwards!
5. Learn and use a few words of the local language
   Even a simple “hello” or “thank you” opens doors and shows respect. Bonus points if you can order coffee or crack a joke! Sidenote – we tried to explain the joke “be careful of spooning, it might lead to forking” in Spanish and it didn’t work, we left our friend SUPER confused!
6. Support social enterprises and charities
   Buy from businesses with a mission, donate to local causes, or help promote their work. Every little bit helps. Supporting Dani and the Rebel Business School Colombia team has been a highlight of our travels!
7. Travel slowly and stay longer
   The longer you stay, the deeper your connections. You’ll see beyond the tourist trail, build real relationships, and have a bigger impact. Slow travel is a completely different experience.
8. Document and share positive stories
   Use your platform, big or small, to highlight stories, experiences and the good stuff happening in the places you visit. Shine a light on what’s working.
9. Be curious and open-minded
   Ask questions, challenge your own assumptions, and learn from every encounter. The world is full of surprises if you’re open to them.

How do you wake up each morning? Do you wake up full of joy and excitement ready to get on with the day, drawn from bed with a passion to make a difference and do things?

Or do you wake up, hit snooze, pull up the covers and dread getting out of bed?

Purpose can be the difference between being driven, happy and full of energy and dreading the week, wishing away the hours and praying for the weekend. If you are praying for the weekend, if you are dreading Monday then something in your life is not working.

Want to see what we’re up to in 2026? Check out our latest plans and adventures here.

Want to get involved? Learn more about Rebel Business School Colombia or drop us a line if our paths are going to cross around the world!

What’s one purposeful action you’ll take on your next trip? Share it below, or better yet, go do it and tell us what happened!

Sending you huge love from Bogota, Colombia,

Katie and Alan