The girl who gave up her job on Wall Street to pursue her passion for traveling around the world
Abandon Wall Street
“When I was a kid, I was always the one who excelled in everything that I did,” Irvin, 31, tells CNBC. “At school, I always got excellent grades in all subjects, always held the position of class officer… I was always bound by the desire to get a high paying job and follow what my parents did. . My parents both work on Wall Street.”
This New Jersey-born girl got her first internship when she was just 16 years old, working for Morgan Stanley. “I always envisioned myself being that Wall Street girl,” she says. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012, her childhood dream came true: She moved to New York to work as a financial analyst. However, she quickly realized that “there aren’t many work-life balances” while working on Wall Street. “I started to really yearn for a part of my personal life,” she confided.
Irvin used her limited vacation time to travel abroad, but she also once said, “I can’t see the world in two weeks myself.” In her two years on the job, she saving about $1,000 a month to take a year off from work and travel the world “I knew I would regret it if I didn’t… I was young, single, childless, which made the easier it gets,” she said. “The longer you wait, the more reasons to stop you from taking action.” She officially quit her job on Wall Street in 2015.
Irvin and boyfriend Alex. Source: CNBC
That planned one year turned into two, then three, and now Irvin lives in Rennes, France as a full-time travel blogger. Her travel blog, “Kesi To and Fro”, has almost 15,000 followers on Instagram and is Irvin’s main source of income. She lives with her boyfriend, Alex, who completed his master’s program at a university in Rennes. The couple met in 2018 while working on a boat together in Croatia.
When passion makes money
Irvin started her travel blog six years ago as a way to save memories from her trips to introduce the places she’s been to. When the Covid-19 pandemic raged, she decided to make money from this blogging platform. “After about four years of constantly traveling the world, I knew I needed a job as a way to exercise my brain and also challenge myself,” she recalls. “I invested in blogging, first taking a $500 blogging course. After completing the course, I knew I would take blogging seriously.”
As a travel blogger, Irvin makes money through many channels such as co-branding, collaborating with brands to promote products. Irvin estimates she gets paid between $300 and $2,000 per collaboration. Other sources of income include trips t organized by her; do marketing and make money from advertising on her website. “Right now I don’t make a lot of money from those last two categories, but my main task now is to increase the marketing and advertising revenue for my blog,” added Irvin.
Before monetizing his blog, Irvin relied on his savings and worked on a boat in Croatia, Greece, and Thailand. Now Irvin is making about $1,000 a month from her blog, so she doesn’t have to bear the burden of money anymore. “I am building a sustainable and comfortable life in France as a travel blogger,” she shares. “Work has given me more confidence to live in different places and still earn money. This is really my main career.”
Scientific way of spending
Rennes is home to many universities with about 60,000 students, so finding a home at the beginning of the school year is not a small challenge. Irvin and her boyfriend find a home on Airbnb for $405 (including utilities) per month.
Irvin saves money by limiting going to restaurants to work as hard as cycling. She spends about $152.25 a week on food, and most of it eats at home. “I split the meal with my boyfriend to save a little more money,” she says.
Overall, Irvin compares: “living in France is cheaper than living in New York City.” Irvin still uses his US phone number and pays about $55 per month. Irvin estimates she spends about $323 per month on Travel and Entertainment – including parties, concerts, and $150 per month on bar night entertainment.
Next destinations
“I’m still figuring out what a normal day would be like, because I’m still exploring the city,” Irvin said. “One thing I like about Rennes is that it has a smaller city feel, so I don’t feel overwhelmed.”
She continued: “Usually, I would wake up, have a cup of tea, have breakfast in my apartment or find a coffee shop, then I would cycle to a coffee shop and try work. In the afternoon, I often have to send emails to clients, create an advertising platform or lead a group of tourists.”
Irvin says it’s important that she and Alex always eat together in the evenings. Irvin also likes to go to free events, listen to music to make new friends.
Irvin shared that her biggest difficulty right now is adjusting to life in France, namely that she does not speak French. “I have been studying French for seven years, but my French is still limited. Really don’t know too much, that’s probably one of the reasons why I enjoy living here.”
Irvin’s tourist visa only allows her to stay in the country for 90 days, so she is in the process of applying for her long-term visa. That process requires proof of income (earning at least $75 a day for 365 days) and a bunch of other paperwork like: a scan of Irvin’s passport, her birth certificate, a letter of intent her destination of stay, health insurance, proof of accommodation, proof of finances and credit card statements.
Irvin will soon return to the United States to apply in person as documents must be submitted to the French embassy or consulate in the applicant’s country of residence. She is optimistic that her visa process will go smoothly because she has an American passport and is a freelance entrepreneur. “I’m not trying to make money in France, I’m just working here for myself,” she said.
Currently, Irvin has about $100,000 in his checking, savings, and investment accounts.
As for her next stop, Irvin said she’s considered moving to Germany, Alex’s hometown, or to Guatemala, one of her favorite countries. “I’m ready for impromptu adventures,” she said excitedly.
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