My real estate goals have been put on hold. Recently I was saving up money to put a down payment on a Residential Multi-Family through an FHA or conventional loan near where I currently live and work so eventually I wouldn't have need for a regular 9-5 job. Sounds fairly typical right?

But honestly, I don't like where I live or work. So I came to the realization I didn't want to invest into a property in that area that would tie me there or cause me to return to it.

While I was coming to this realization, I was also forming a new goal outside of real estate investing and that was traveling.

My new goal is to use the money I was putting towards a down payment of a property towards traveling abroad for a year or so. While building these funds though, I want to continue to build my Real Estate knowledge, preferably with real world experience.

Without investing into properties myself, I would like to know what jobs are out there for a young professional that will benefit my real estate career?

I have done some initial research and found jobs such as, property analysis and acquisition at major property management companies, site selection departments for corporations and government agencies,  mortgage writer for banks, an appraiser, real estate agent, and working as a sales rep at a brokerage firm.

I would welcome any other ideas, and comments on the jobs I listed and how maybe through your experiences, they were helpful (or harmful) to your real estate investing career.

I like the idea of traveling. In fact, one of my goals is to do so using RE to pay for it all. I would caution against blowing your wad to buy a fun trip (expense) and invest it to help pay for ALL YOUR TRIPS (asset). I think you are taking a short look at a long term strategy. I would think of getting a nice cash flowing property and then visiting a country that has a killer exchange rate: Czech Republic or Thailand come to mind. You still get your trip, you still invest in RE, and that same RE can help pay for your next, and next, and next ;) If you do it right, you may come back with more money than you left with!

Thank you for the response Bryan!
I agree that the strategy has a short-term view and spending so much money on a trip (or anything that's not an asset) does not seem wise.
My biggest issues are the lack of flexibility an investment in RE can cause and the time it will take to build up a portfolio to fund traveling, therefore prolonging the time when I can start to travel.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely RE investment strategies out there that offer flexibility and speedy returns, but I don't think as a new investor with limited cash they are as available to me. (If there are strategies like that, I'd enjoy learning more about them).
Thank you again for the post, you've really got my mind thinking of this is the best strategy for me in the long run.

Thank you for the response Bryan Otteson !
I agree that the strategy has a short-term view and spending so much money on a trip (or anything that's not an asset) does not seem wise.
My biggest issues are the lack of flexibility an investment in RE can cause and the time it will take to build up a portfolio to fund traveling, therefore prolonging the time when I can start to travel.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely RE investment strategies out there that offer flexibility and speedy returns, but I don't think as a new investor with limited cash they are as available to me. (If there are strategies like that, I'd enjoy learning more about them).
Thank you again for the post, you've really got my mind thinking of this is the best strategy for me in the long run.