Ditching the 9 to 5

The modern world is fast-paced and futuristic and always keeps you on your toes. But with modernism the ever-changing world has welcomed a grind culture. 9 to 5 is considered to be the way through life.

While some people might find 9-5 interesting but there are some people who contradict the same. The latter ones complain about the traditional 8hour work day which has become a classic staple for most job roles.

There are multiple reasons people are quitting their 9-5 jobs. Particularly among Millennials, more and more people are beginning to leave full-time employment. The traditional professional path of rising to the top of a firm is no longer the norm.

Instead, Millennials frequently view establishing their own business, working for themselves, or freelancing as the new norm.

Workers are craving more flexibility this is primarily the main reason why people are adamant about quitting their job. They want to be able to work from home, and they also want a sense of comfort, so they choose to avoid those lengthy commutes in and out of the office multiple days a week. More and more people are getting comfortable working remotely from home.

Majority liked the comforting setting of home office and so did Nikhlesh. As covid was diminishing, everything was going back to being normal. A lot of IT companies were reopening so gradually they started calling their employees back to work from office. But Nikhlesh found his comfort working from home. Eventually, he quit his 9-to-5 job to pursue a career that not only provided him with the comfort he was seeking but also gave him a sense of hope in the form of belongingness.

He started his freelancing journey in the travel industry as a travel photographer and a content creator. Although he had been travelling to the mountains as a tourist, going up north as a content creator was a hefty task, but as they say “Where there is a will, there’s a way”, he took up the challenge and rode up north. Adding stops on his way, his journey up north began from Delhi. He travelled from Delhi to Shimla, taking breaks on the way he went to Spiti. On his way to Spiti, he took some beautiful videos which we often see on Instagram reels. From Spiti, he continued his journey to Manali and finally concluded his journey in the footsteps of Ladakh – the bikers’ paradise.

We asked him about his experience “I covered the Manali to Ladakh stretch on my bike. It seemed difficult at first but once I hit the road I didn’t look back.” He was joined by a group of 6 people who rode to the same route. Manali to Ladakh is a 10 hours journey which they split into two sets of 5-5 hours. Although it was a 10-hour journey, it took them two days to finish off this exciting and thrilling ride.

The weather around the time he visited there was very beautiful, but as always, beautiful things come with a lot of hardships and so was the journey of Nikhlesh. The roads which led to the destination were terrible, for a journey of 10 hours, it took him about 8 hours off-roading through the roads, crossing the water paths filled with rocks and pebbles all the way.

Not only did they face these hardships while travelling but they also faced a landslide and had to take a halt and wait until the roads were cleaned and operating again. Luckily, the dhabbas in the nearby area accommodated them until the roads were cleared. They could then proceed further with their next stage of the journey. The farther journey was more difficult as there were technically no roads but the view compensated for all the terrible routes. It was very scenic he adds, the trip was not at all comfortable but he recommends taking that trip anyway. Nikhlesh was skilled and had been on many exciting adventures. He has travelled to Spiti 11 times and Ladakh 5 times. Thanks to this experience, he was made the leader of the 10-hour journey.

The journey was as we saw, full of difficult rides and hardships, but still, his love for content creation made him continue it anyway, along the way he made reels. As he progressed in this field, his content became more visible. Brands started reaching out to him after checking his Instagram content. As a part of his brand deals, brands now usually assign a destination and then he travels to the destination to make targeted content. The trips are very unusual and spontaneous and they rarely go according to plan, but he loves every part of it.

Many would find this switch from 9-to-5 to a more unstructured work-life very intimidating mainly due to it being very impromptu. But the thrill of doing something new, be it climbing up a new mountain or setting up a new office/factory for your start-up if it is something you love, it’s worth all the difficulties.