Finanigans Q&A - James Ransome on real-life education and his decade of travelling the world
I hope that most of us can agree that continuous learning is a good thing. And it's much easier to learn from experiences of other people, both their successes and mistakes. Ideally, we can also learn from people who are very different from us. Otherwise, we get stuck in echo chambers, hearing our own voice again and again.
With that in mind, I thought of doing occasional Q&A sessions to share interesting and, hopefully, valuable stories.
This week's Q&A is with a good friend of mine, James Ransome. We chatted about his unusual path to education, and overall learnings from nearly a decade of work & travel around the world. Enjoy!
So I know that you decided quite early on to skip university. Was it a conscious decision? What's you take on real-life vs classroom learning?
Yes, I decided to skip university as a 19-year-old because I was uncertain about what I wanted to do; ultimately, I was unsure about myself and my place in the world. I believe classrooms can provide us with the academic knowledge we need to start specific careers. In my experience, though, the majority of real-life learning happens outside of the classroom.
Instead of going to university, you spent the last five years as a permanent traveller. How did that idea come about?
I spent 3 months in South America and 3 months in South East Asia in 2011 and 2013, respectively. During these trips, I was 'bitten by the travel bug' so I made a resolve to work towards the goal of travelling on a more permanent basis. Then in 2015, I left for India in what became a 5-year exploration of living, travelling and working abroad.
You didn't have much savings at the time, right? How did you manage to finance your travels? What are some of the key learnings from that experience?
Right, much of my early 20's was spent working as a personal trainer in the UK. After arriving home from Asia in 2013, I decided to save more intensively so I could quit my job to travel long-term. For 18 months, I cut back spending on luxuries and nights out and used the extra cash to build a travel fund. I also sold my car and the majority of my possessions to add to the fund. In total, I saved around £9,000. Key take-away from this experience would be that living below your means isn't as difficult as it may seem at first. I realised that for true contentment, I didn't need half as many of the material possessions as I initially thought. Plus, I was healthier due to cooking at home more often and reducing my alcohol intake. All in all, a rewarding experience!
I know you went through a range of different experiences during your travels. Volunteering, teaching, farm work, meditation and silent retreats, to name a few. Do you think these experiences helped prepare you for the rest of your life? Do more people need this real-life knowledge?
I can only speak for myself, but for sure, these experiences taught me valuable lessons and helped shape my personality. Interacting with such a broad diversity of people from different cultures helped my social skills immensely. I became a more tolerant and understanding person. The difficulties associated with work & travel in less developed countries, as well as manual labour in unforgiving conditions, has increased my ability to overcome adversity in other areas of life. Also, staying on meditation retreats for extended periods has considerably improved my mental and emotional wellbeing. It's given me a practice for life to help manage stress and become more compassionate.
You have now decided to go to university and study to be a physiotherapist. Walk me through that decision?
After so long travelling from one place to the next I felt it was finally time to put down some roots. Turning 30 this year, I realised I'd satiated my desire for travel. I'm still hungry to learn and to develop a specific area of expertise. I feel I'm now ready to challenge myself in an academic setting. The past decade has allowed me to gain valuable life experience and consider the career path I truly want to take. My enthusiasm for human movement, health and wellbeing has convinced me that physiotherapy is the career for me. I'm confident that studying at the University of Liverpool is the next step towards becoming a chartered physiotherapist, and I'm very excited to begin!
If you could sum up all your travels into one learning – what would that be?
Love everybody and tell the truth :)