A bloke who sacked off his job at Nando’s to travel the world for ‘free’ revealed how he managed to live a ‘dream life’.
Axel Dejean, 29, first started out as a waiter in the popular chicken restaurant where he eventually worked his way up to assistant manager and then customer relations. Despite successfully climbing the progression ladder, Axel didn’t believe he was fulfilling his ‘purpose’.
The Londoner had a travel itch that he longed to scratch so decided to take the leap and set his sights on trotting the globe. But, that can be costly.
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After spending five years at Nando’s, Axel juggled being a Travel Coordinator for group travel company WeRoad, which specialises in organising worldwide tours for solo travellers. For the role, Axel, who lives with his wife, was assigned a tour from a list of destinations with expertly made itineraries.
And the perk of the gig? He gets to experience the trip for free. But, wanting to make his side hustle a career, Axel quit his Nando’s job and landed the role for WeRoad’s UK Community Lead.
“In my previous jobs I’d often been stuck or uncomfortable,” Axel admitted. “I tried my hand at all kinds of things – affiliate marketing, hotel staff, sales and Nando’s was a great fit for five years and helped me to grow, but I wanted more excitement and alignment to my personal goals and passions.
“Now, working in the adventure travel industry, I am surrounded by like-minded, young, and bubbly people.
“In this role, I have never worked harder. I have never worked longer hours. However, I genuinely feel excited, delighted, and proud to be in my role. It is a contrast to where I was one year ago.”
“I would never be where I am today without the learnings from my previous roles. The skills I learnt at my previous company massively helped me during my application for this role.
“I’ve always loved exploring the world. I’ve been to 27 countries at 29 years old. It’s how I got the job with WeRoad.”
Axel bagged his first WeRoad trip two months after he started his Travel Coordinator role, and was amazed to find out it was to Peru.
In an ideal world, Axel admitted he would like to travel all year round – which is possible with his role – but he has to work around his lifestyle. The employees of WeRoad have an option to work remotely for a month from anywhere in the world, as well as offices in London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Milan.
They also have unlimited annual leave and can take at least one free WeRoad trip a year.
Axel said: “These perks 100% appealed to me. I’d love to spend a month in Brazil to improve my Portuguese. I’d need to make it work with my wife and her work, but it’s a massive plus.
“The unlimited annual leave is also a big advantage and takes some getting used to. I work some long days and weeks sometimes but that is offset by the unlimited annual leave allowance.
“At this stage in our lives, it’s so hard to make new friendships. Meaningful friendships. As much as the destinations are mind-blowing, the memories are incredible, it doesn’t beat the fact that you can share all of that with people who start as strangers, but can become lifelong friends.
“People think we travel for the destination. We don’t. We travel for the people that we meet, the friends along the way, memories we make, and remember them for the rest of our lives.”
