On the Tenth Anniversary of Quitting

[Sven7]

I have been down this road before. But what I realized was, when you quit work to go find the "deeper" meanings of life, it is very easy to convince yourself that you are actually making progress when the opposite may be happening.

What I also realized when I did get back to work (and satisfying work at that) was all the philosophical stuff took a back seat and that was not a bad thing.

Uncertainty imho doesn't correlate very well with long term happiness.

[mmcdan]

At the risk of sounding Zen, the philosophical stuff taking a backseat is the progress. Even if you wind up in the same place doing the same job as before, there was progress if you no longer wonder 'what if'. It's when you believe that the grass is greener on your side.

[shawnjan8]

Amazing story - I applaud the intestinal fortitude. I have long though about doing this myself. I have travelled quite a bit more then any other 24 year old that I know, and while I love travelling, I also love too many things about home to become a permanent traveller. I love the adventure of travelling and meeting new people, there is also tons of value in long term relationships with family and friends, and those are things I could never give up. Satisfying the travel bug while still maintaining strong long term personal relationships is hard!

[Iterated]

I love reading things like this and it inspires me to travel and be different. However, as much as this appeals to me and I want to quit and travel, doing something like this is definitely a career wrecker. That and student loans are my biggest hindrance.

[josscrowcroft]

As someone aged 25 - who is really just beginning on the exact same journey, and feeling the freefall a little strongly - this couldn't have come at a better time.

Fantastic piece!

[eliben]

Very good piece of writing. Describes a feeling that many people share without admitting, IMHO.