I was laid off abruptly two months ago. It was a foreign situation to me; I had always lined up a bigger and better position. I was a bit like a fish out of water: filing for unemployment, sprucing up the resume, going to all the job boards. With a mortgage and a 14 month old, it was constantly on my mind.
They gave me two months' severance, so that plus our emergency fund took a little of the heat off. I landed a job that, while not an immediate step up, has room for growth.
What was nice was the extra time I had after say a half day of hitting the job boards and applying, to take my daughter to the park or help out with errands. In the evenings, I was able to focus on getting my latest game released on the app stores, which launched right before I started the new job.
While I wouldn't want to repeat that scenario for a while, I'm grateful for it. It really opened up the possibilities of where I wanted to move next (career-wise and location-wise).
It sounds great in theory, but if you aren't careful, you will come back with less motivation and skills than you had before you left.
I lived in Asia for a few years as a digital nomad of sorts. My only means of income was freelance software development.
It only worked for me because I have excellent discipline, but most expats I met had a lifestyle of: drinking, partying, smoking weed, and not doing everything possible to not have a regular job. The long-term expats (more that 5 years) were a pretty miserable bunch a well.
While this is fun, it's a rude awakening when you have to come back to the real world and actually make a living and you have been left in the dust. I know a few people that had to move back in with their parents because they couldn't find work after their travel experience.
..and involving your kids? A bad idea. Many governments do not offer you the same protections and rights that you have in the USA. It's hard enough with couples, nearly impossible with kids.
The long-term expats (more that 5 years) were a pretty miserable bunch a well.
Yeah, what's the deal with this, anyway? It's something I've noticed as well.
The worst case seems to be US Expat Surfers living in Central America, preferably owning property there. None of those guys seem to have been surfing at all in the last month, but they're certainly quick to make sure you know you're not welcome intruding on their waves or taking up a table in their personal favorite bar.
I was actually considering setting up shop down in Nicaragua at one point, but that factor quickly put me off.
Check out the Expat Climbers you find in SE Asia for the counterpoint. Mostly nice folk leading pleasant lives in a pleasant part of the world and getting out on the rock all the time. Figure out what's causing the difference between those two groups and you'll have the secret to happiness.
> The long-term expats (more that 5 years) were a pretty miserable bunch a well.
i've known a lot of ex-pats. the ones who go overseas for real jobs do just fine. so do the ones that start an actual business, i.e. one that they have to work at least a couple of hours every day, while overseas.
of course you'll be depressed and crazy if you do nothing but dick around for 5 years. you can't really do that anywhere, home or abroad. not even if you have a trust fund (maybe especially not if you have a trust fund).
> But nobody will hire me after six months away...
> Not true. Nobody will hire you if you're bad at what you do and have terrible interviewing skills.
Instead of "...and have terrible interviewing skills," it should really be "...or have terrible interviewing skills." Being good at what you do and having good interview skills are very different things. I can't do much of anything with someone literally looking over my shoulder, or while being put on the spot in front of a whiteboard, but I'm 3.5 years into my career as a developer and doing just fine on the job.
After 6 months of unemployment, companies do start giving you glances. It's rare to get much more than that. Taking 6 months off can also put a big dent in your net worth if you have fixed expenses.
May be is just me, but I can't possibly enjoy a vacation knowing I need to get back to look for a job. I much rather negotiate with my employer taking 3 to 6 months off without pay to go travel, or 3 to 6 months part time. Not an option for everyone, but if you're good and you're in a company that values you that's a very realistic option. I have a small kid and soon a mortgage, so what I will probably end up doing is negotiate part time working remotely for ~4 months so I can travel with my family.
When I'm on holidays I don't want to think about money. If you don't have a job to go back to then how long your cash reserves will last is something you think about every time you pull your wallet out. Especially if you've got a mortgage, I imagine having kids would make it even worse.
> You're going to get blasted by 100 degree heat, power-wafted by smells of the most amazing street food one minute and an open sewer the next, assaulted with music from a thousand bars, and crammed into a tiny room overlooking it all with a fan that doesn't work.
To each his/her own I guess but that doesn't sound appealing at all.
You can replace that sentence with similar ones about hiking the AP trail, riding your bike from Portland to San Diego or building the biggest slip n slide in your neighborhood and the authors argument holds though.
Most of the time I'm with the comedienne that said "Roughing it is when room service answers on the second ring". What you described sounds like hell. I would visit for the street food and then Uber it back to the .
Tangential, but I'm curious if people have any staycation ideas?
For peeps who aren't laid off but just want to chillax at home. Isn't traveling to some exotic location after all about switching your scenery, breaking out of your routine to give yourself permission for the unconscious mind free to wander, reflect and renew?
For instance, instead of going to Bangkok, for cuisine, the beach, nightlife and Buddhist temples, why not order something that you normally don't get at a Thai takeout menu and eat it at a place you normally wouldn't eat at, book a day-spa appointment at a local 5-star hotel instead of your local gym, go to a concert at a music venue you have been before (or other nightlife establishment you'd otherwise go to in SE Asia) and go to a local meditation/wellness center for sitting meditation or some other random place that induces meditation, reflection and all that "wanderlust" feeling evoked in traveling brochures. Try to schedule all of your appointments in a span of 3-4 days, give yourself permission to spend liberally as you'd at a normal vacation and resist the urges to do any of your usual routine you'd normally and take the following Monday or Friday off.
More specially, not necessarily as a Sunday routine to prepare and get in gear for the upcoming week; but what do you guys do after a major stress event, burn-out, in midst of existential crisis, post-breakup, the hangover cure morning after going on an alcoholic, drug-induced or emotionally-induced bender; is it as simple as getting a latte espresso fix at your Starbucks or does it have to be flying out to Bangkok for a 6-month recovery getaway?
Learn a fun instrument. buy a drumset, take some lessons from a good local teacher, have a blast. Once you get some basic skills, playing drums or electric bass with your favorite record is a huge amount of fun.
Or, learn to box or other fun sport. I've sparred with the author of the gawker article for many years every sunday.
> For instance, instead of going to Bangkok, for cuisine, the beach, nightlife and Buddhist temples, why not order something that you normally don't get at a Thai takeout menu and eat it at a place you normally wouldn't eat at
Another destination: India. If you are a female, then south India. You can stay at descent hotels in Bangalore or Chennai for $25/day. Another $20 per day for food. Watch how multinational IT companies treat their employees. Feel good about yourself and come back rejuvenated.
My destination recommendation would be Taiwan. Not quite as cheap as Thailand or India, but still very inexpensive. Eat some of the most amazing street food for a dollar per item; take super convenient, clean and cheap public transit; and hell, there's even cheap and good quality health care. Spend $20 to get your teeth cleaned and cavities fixed while you're there. You'll also meet some of the nicest people you'll ever know. It's like a cheaper, friendlier Japan.
I don't spend $20/day on food in Boston or Paris. Does it really cost that in India? Are my nationalist blinders on? Somehow I imagined that it would be much cheaper there.
My contract job ended abruptly recently and I'm now in this very situation. I put $10k away for an emergency fund to carry me through until my next gig. No children (someday!), no mortage/debt, no obligations. It's great!
While I personally decided not to travel as I've done a lot of that in the past couple years, I have tried to just relax and enjoy the time off. I've been spending time learning new languages and frameworks, working out religiously, eating healthy, and just going with the flow of life. It's been great for my overall happiness.
There's a quote that comes to mind after reading this article: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
You are not a good developer if you don't interview well, because by not interviewing well you just deprived that company of your skills.
Now that code is worse. And it's your fault. Had you done your job (interviewing) properly, that code would be better.
It's part of your job to show people how good you are.
It's sales, yes. You know your product (you) very well and know how it would help the customer. So make sure you get that message across. Go read some books about sales.
I disagree. There are people that I know that might not interview well, but have a huge list of people that are willing to vouch for them, because they do great work.
There's the opposite extreme - go to Shentzen. Visit the shops that sell electronics parts. Take some factory tours. Meet people who are doing advanced electronics work in the back of a small shop. Buy a phone whose kernel was compiled three days ago. Get a sense of how stuff is made.
“One week of work in Shenzhen is equal to one month at the Silicon Valley”.
Taking six months or a year off and then jumping back into the work force was a lot different in (early) 2008 than it is now.
Edit: Tim Ferriss said (in 2007) that employers will be impressed and amazed if you tell them that you took a year off to travel. In 2016, I don't think you would get a chance to tell them about it.
I did it in 2015, didn't have any trouble coming back and getting a job last October. Definitely a lot of people sounded amazed and impressed during interviews.
Ugh, if you want to travel, then travel, but glorifying being a rich tourist in a poor country like it's some great calling that will cleanse your soul is obnoxious to me. I've traveled. I hate traveling. If I get laid off I'm going to read some books and practice painting.
I got laid off recently. I took two weeks vacation; one week to see some friends in a place I love, and one week just to myself, to get all the errands done that I never had time for when working at the demanding startup job. My mind wandered far in vacation land, and it felt great. Yet, I felt my conscience nagging me.
Because of that little mosquito-like feeling, I suspect that if I vacationed any longer, I wouldn't be doing my best in interviews now. To each their own, I suppose. The writer's long term suggestion really surprised me. Maybe I'm missing out on a feeling of true detachment and serenity? Hmmm.
> By 9 months [traveling], I'm pretty much ready to commit to a real job in a real office just so that I can start using my brain again.
I use my brain intensively while traveling. Lot's of brain functions are running at full throttle: cognition, language, problem solving, spacial, to name a few. I don't understand how can the OP feel that he's not using his brain while roaming the planet, specially developing countries where your day-to-day "templates" tend to apply the least.
I didn't really care for the tone of this piece and I think I'd have a lot harder time enjoying a vacation if I were worrying about the fact that I'd just been laid off.
Traveling is not for everyone, so it depends on your financial situation, but I do approve of the Africa recommendation. Absolutely loved southern Africa (South Africa up to Malawi).
I took this advice back in 2007 (I arrived at the conclusions he makes here on my own, one year earlier when the financial crisis was starting to emerge), but I didn't go to southeast Asia then, I went to Israel. And I met my future wife there for the first time. The year after that I got another job back in the States.
This is terrible advice. I've lived the digital nomad life the author describes and worked in the areas he names [1], and his recommendation of Bangkok's Khao San Rd as a nice place to relax is alarming enough to cast doubt on everything else he says.
Or perhaps he's just really into prostitutes.
Regardless, there's a kernel of good advice here: take the opportunity to do something crazy, something outside the norm when laid off. Write, build, draw, compete, whatever it is you love that your job prevented you from doing all the time. It'll be far more rewarding during and after your unemployment than drinking cheap beers in foreign cafes for six months.
Ah, but as I said in the article, Khao San Road is a terrible place to relax.
It is, however, a very in-your-face slice of Thailand, and it will put you quickly in contact with tons of backpackers who will steer you to the places you actually want to go in SE Asia. You can substitute Siam Square in 2016 if you prefer, as that feels about the same now as Khao San felt in 2008, apart from the glass hotel towers.
"Your trip will plan itself from there". But yeah, don't spend more than a night or so.
Yeah that stood out to me as well. Khao San road isn't the place you go to relax. However, I recommend going there during songkran at least once in your life.
[+] [-] mysterydip|9 years ago|reply
They gave me two months' severance, so that plus our emergency fund took a little of the heat off. I landed a job that, while not an immediate step up, has room for growth.
What was nice was the extra time I had after say a half day of hitting the job boards and applying, to take my daughter to the park or help out with errands. In the evenings, I was able to focus on getting my latest game released on the app stores, which launched right before I started the new job.
While I wouldn't want to repeat that scenario for a while, I'm grateful for it. It really opened up the possibilities of where I wanted to move next (career-wise and location-wise).
[+] [-] chinese_dan|9 years ago|reply
I lived in Asia for a few years as a digital nomad of sorts. My only means of income was freelance software development.
It only worked for me because I have excellent discipline, but most expats I met had a lifestyle of: drinking, partying, smoking weed, and not doing everything possible to not have a regular job. The long-term expats (more that 5 years) were a pretty miserable bunch a well.
While this is fun, it's a rude awakening when you have to come back to the real world and actually make a living and you have been left in the dust. I know a few people that had to move back in with their parents because they couldn't find work after their travel experience.
..and involving your kids? A bad idea. Many governments do not offer you the same protections and rights that you have in the USA. It's hard enough with couples, nearly impossible with kids.
[+] [-] jasonkester|9 years ago|reply
Yeah, what's the deal with this, anyway? It's something I've noticed as well.
The worst case seems to be US Expat Surfers living in Central America, preferably owning property there. None of those guys seem to have been surfing at all in the last month, but they're certainly quick to make sure you know you're not welcome intruding on their waves or taking up a table in their personal favorite bar.
I was actually considering setting up shop down in Nicaragua at one point, but that factor quickly put me off.
Check out the Expat Climbers you find in SE Asia for the counterpoint. Mostly nice folk leading pleasant lives in a pleasant part of the world and getting out on the rock all the time. Figure out what's causing the difference between those two groups and you'll have the secret to happiness.
[+] [-] beachstartup|9 years ago|reply
i've known a lot of ex-pats. the ones who go overseas for real jobs do just fine. so do the ones that start an actual business, i.e. one that they have to work at least a couple of hours every day, while overseas.
of course you'll be depressed and crazy if you do nothing but dick around for 5 years. you can't really do that anywhere, home or abroad. not even if you have a trust fund (maybe especially not if you have a trust fund).
[+] [-] pmiller2|9 years ago|reply
> But nobody will hire me after six months away...
> Not true. Nobody will hire you if you're bad at what you do and have terrible interviewing skills.
Instead of "...and have terrible interviewing skills," it should really be "...or have terrible interviewing skills." Being good at what you do and having good interview skills are very different things. I can't do much of anything with someone literally looking over my shoulder, or while being put on the spot in front of a whiteboard, but I'm 3.5 years into my career as a developer and doing just fine on the job.
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mathattack|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] moises_silva|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] flukus|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Zelphyr|9 years ago|reply
To each his/her own I guess but that doesn't sound appealing at all.
[+] [-] kasey_junk|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] technofiend|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] noname123|9 years ago|reply
For peeps who aren't laid off but just want to chillax at home. Isn't traveling to some exotic location after all about switching your scenery, breaking out of your routine to give yourself permission for the unconscious mind free to wander, reflect and renew?
For instance, instead of going to Bangkok, for cuisine, the beach, nightlife and Buddhist temples, why not order something that you normally don't get at a Thai takeout menu and eat it at a place you normally wouldn't eat at, book a day-spa appointment at a local 5-star hotel instead of your local gym, go to a concert at a music venue you have been before (or other nightlife establishment you'd otherwise go to in SE Asia) and go to a local meditation/wellness center for sitting meditation or some other random place that induces meditation, reflection and all that "wanderlust" feeling evoked in traveling brochures. Try to schedule all of your appointments in a span of 3-4 days, give yourself permission to spend liberally as you'd at a normal vacation and resist the urges to do any of your usual routine you'd normally and take the following Monday or Friday off.
Anyways would love to hear other people's staycation ideas or Sunday routines, similar to this: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/timestopics/series/su... http://gawker.com/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-new-york-tim...
More specially, not necessarily as a Sunday routine to prepare and get in gear for the upcoming week; but what do you guys do after a major stress event, burn-out, in midst of existential crisis, post-breakup, the hangover cure morning after going on an alcoholic, drug-induced or emotionally-induced bender; is it as simple as getting a latte espresso fix at your Starbucks or does it have to be flying out to Bangkok for a 6-month recovery getaway?
[+] [-] pcsanwald|9 years ago|reply
Or, learn to box or other fun sport. I've sparred with the author of the gawker article for many years every sunday.
[+] [-] jasondebo|9 years ago|reply
This reminds me of Huysmans Against Nature - a great book! https://www.amazon.com/Against-Nature-Joris-Karl-Huysmans/dp...
[+] [-] billy8988|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lifeformed|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] solvedit|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eljimmy|9 years ago|reply
While I personally decided not to travel as I've done a lot of that in the past couple years, I have tried to just relax and enjoy the time off. I've been spending time learning new languages and frameworks, working out religiously, eating healthy, and just going with the flow of life. It's been great for my overall happiness.
There's a quote that comes to mind after reading this article: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
[+] [-] MrPatan|9 years ago|reply
Let me say that again:
Interviewing well is part of your job.
You are not a good developer if you don't interview well, because by not interviewing well you just deprived that company of your skills. Now that code is worse. And it's your fault. Had you done your job (interviewing) properly, that code would be better.
It's part of your job to show people how good you are. It's sales, yes. You know your product (you) very well and know how it would help the customer. So make sure you get that message across. Go read some books about sales.
Get good at interviewing.
[+] [-] Sumaso|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fidla|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dandare|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yitchelle|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Animats|9 years ago|reply
“One week of work in Shenzhen is equal to one month at the Silicon Valley”.
[+] [-] dasmoth|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jimmydddd|9 years ago|reply
Edit: Tim Ferriss said (in 2007) that employers will be impressed and amazed if you tell them that you took a year off to travel. In 2016, I don't think you would get a chance to tell them about it.
[+] [-] jacalata|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brookside|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] overgard|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] keyboardhitter|9 years ago|reply
Because of that little mosquito-like feeling, I suspect that if I vacationed any longer, I wouldn't be doing my best in interviews now. To each their own, I suppose. The writer's long term suggestion really surprised me. Maybe I'm missing out on a feeling of true detachment and serenity? Hmmm.
[+] [-] ojosilva|9 years ago|reply
I use my brain intensively while traveling. Lot's of brain functions are running at full throttle: cognition, language, problem solving, spacial, to name a few. I don't understand how can the OP feel that he's not using his brain while roaming the planet, specially developing countries where your day-to-day "templates" tend to apply the least.
[+] [-] emodendroket|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] donretag|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wyclif|9 years ago|reply
So I think this was good advice for me.
[+] [-] thesmallestcat|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] j4pe|9 years ago|reply
Or perhaps he's just really into prostitutes.
Regardless, there's a kernel of good advice here: take the opportunity to do something crazy, something outside the norm when laid off. Write, build, draw, compete, whatever it is you love that your job prevented you from doing all the time. It'll be far more rewarding during and after your unemployment than drinking cheap beers in foreign cafes for six months.
1: http://j4p3.com/the-digital-nomad
[+] [-] racl101|9 years ago|reply
I was thinking the same thing
I would never go to Bangkok unless I was interested in hookers , which I'm not.
I would take the opportunity to try something different.
Like smoke a weed, workout, work at a burger joint as a burger flipper and date my daughter's best friend.
[+] [-] jasonkester|9 years ago|reply
It is, however, a very in-your-face slice of Thailand, and it will put you quickly in contact with tons of backpackers who will steer you to the places you actually want to go in SE Asia. You can substitute Siam Square in 2016 if you prefer, as that feels about the same now as Khao San felt in 2008, apart from the glass hotel towers.
"Your trip will plan itself from there". But yeah, don't spend more than a night or so.
[+] [-] techolic|9 years ago|reply
No prostitution found... but it's probably my radar was low or I wasn't their target customer.
[+] [-] taneq|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheOneTrueKyle|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pragmatic|9 years ago|reply