Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

[temp_-_]

I seem to read so many comments on discussion threads in which individuals encourage others to "Quit your job! Travel the world!", which often comes across as shallow and even flippant to me, given that the advice is so easy to extend but the action itself can quite be difficult for one to do, whether due to concrete reasons or any personal reservations.

So, my question: those who have traveled for an extended period of time, either instead of working or by finding a new way to work, what was the experience like? What were you able to do? How did you choose to budget? What moved you to this decision, and how was the process of finding work again after your travels, if applicable? If you were to do it all again, what would you do differently?

[kosma]

Strange how all the stories here are positive & cheerful. I did the very thing two years ago, mostly due to peer pressure and reading too much HN, and it was a disaster. I didn't meet any interesting people, had no exciting adventures, tasted no great food, had no job opportunities, and pretty much only existed, lived in crappy hostels, drank bland coffee and burned all my cash reserves. I came back tired, broke, lonely, sick and with a fleeting feeling that there's something seriously weird about my complete inability to connect with people & navigate the unknown. It did open many new doors on my road to self-discovery, but if I were to go on such a trip again, it would have to be a vastly different arrangement.

Stepping too far out of your comfort zone can result in anxiety and paralysis instead of the much desired change. Try it if you want, but don't be too surprised if it ends up in a big disappointment. Contrary to what the cheerful startup crowd may want to to think, it's not for everyone.

[cylinder]

I think travel as a universal solution for everyone and every problem is clearly overdone.

Having said that, I'm assuming you are introverted. You probably would have had a better experience traveling in a pair with a highly extroverted friend who can break the ice with other people for you then bring you into the fold. Just a thought.

[j_lev]

Yeah, I just finished writing mine and was thinking the same thing. The bad points for me were 1) I completely decimated my savings, 2) I had no health insurance and didn't realise why this was a bad thing, 3) I got frustrated at times with the fact that "van-dweller with no fixed address" is not apparently a draw card with the ladies.

Fortunately "inability to connect with people" wasn't an issue for me. But I stayed out of the big cities for the most part, and a clean-shaven face and mischievous smile can go a long way in getting conversation started.

[orthoganol]

> it's not for everyone.

True, it's heavily dependent on whether that person is into 'adventuring', i.e. enjoys stepping out of their comfort zone, enjoys changing up their lifestyle, and seeks out those challenges.

I have had a blast, met up with developers in the cities I stayed in, advanced my career by finishing projects for my portfolio (also worked remotely), went on constant dates via online dating in the local countries (many of which turned into at least people to hang out with), and just overall made many new friends, locals and xpats alike who I still keep in touch with, not to mention cultural immersion which broadens minds (depends on the country you pick). I've done this in major cities in South America, Spain, Japan, China, and Vietnam. 3 months abroad, 9 months at home, repeat.

People should read your post and assess what kind of person they are, but I would be afraid that you might discourage people who would succeed in having an incredible experience. Your response seems like a lot was your personality and hangups which got in the way - and you are right, it won't just automatically work for everyone, it takes a type of person.

[mistermann]

I had a similarly unrewarding experience. However, one of the biggest gains from my journey was having done it and removing the mystery of "what if?"

Now, if I encounter hard times, feel in a rut, etc, I know that for me, leaving it all behind and traveling the world (which would be incredibly costly, never mind impossible due to commitments) is not the answer.

[bewe42]

My experience was not that bad but I would do things differently next time. What I realized was that I do enjoy traveling and living in new cultures but I hate being a tourist. I loathed staying in hostels and having to meet new people constantly. Also going from city to city felt routine after a while

Next I'd rather stay in one place and do something there. Eg attending a language school or do some work.

[elwell]

> drank bland coffee

That one hit where it hurts.

[golergka]

Thanks for sharing your experience. People too often try to paint a pretty picture in their online interactions, especially if everyone else seems so "positive & cheerful"; comments like yours are very important to give some perspective, and I appreciate it a lot more than some fantastic travel story, carefully edited and photoshopped.

[bruceb]

Good to read a different point of view. Traveling is great but sometimes it just seeing cool stuff and is not life changing.

[rukuu001]

No, it's not for everyone. Stepping outside the comfort zone is, by definition, uncomfortable.

What works for me - I get better at going outside the comfort zone the more I practise, but I need a 'safe' place to recover in between. That can be anything from a night on my own in a hotel with hot water, flushing toilet etc, to going out drinking with people who speak my language. Whatever works for you.

[zcase]

Did it have to do with where you went? How would you do it differently next time?

[cedricd]

I quit my job for a year and did this with my wife. We didn't work while traveling -- it would have been too hard / distracting. This might sound odd, but traveling takes as much time as a real job -- the amount you spend just figuring out where to go next and what to do is significant. If you want to work while travel then your best bet is to taking a break from travel and live somewhere for a little while. It's not a bad way to go but it's not what we did.

One interesting thing is the amount we spent for a year of travel was slightly less than the amount we spent simply living at home. If have saved enough where you can spend a year without salary then you can afford to do it.

A few recommendations -- don't plan ahead. You can't. Just plan the first place you want to go to and go from there. You'll have ample time to figure things out and be open to changes in plan. A corollary to this is that if you plan on spending less than 5 months traveling then you may not be able to travel quite that way. It takes a few months just to get into the swing of things.

Lastly, don't stretch your budget thin just to hit an arbitrary length of time. Spend what you need to and leave a few months earlier. You won't enjoy yourself if you have to scrounge for every dime. I'd see people stay in super nasty places for $5-10 / night in places that had simple, clean, and comfortable places for $15 / night.

[mistermann]

Reminds me of a buddy I travelled with in Thailand - we had split up for a while and then reconnected on some island, he's sleeping in a real dump, mattress on the floor, squat toilet with no TP, rats walking around, for like $10/night. Literally the next bungalows over were maybe $16 per night and VERY nice. About 10PM that night he changed his mind and came and slept at my place.

[afarrell]

> don't plan ahead

Don't take this too far though. Otherwise you might end up at some dude's house in Kilkenny trying to determine if he's going to let you crash in on couch or if he wants you to sleep in his bed. Or you might end up walking from Juno to Omaha beach hoping that you can hitch a ride with some Canadians back to Caen.

[golergka]

> don't plan ahead

You must have a passport of some country which has pretty good visa agreements. For some of us, traveling the world requires sitting in a lot of embassies first.

[sciguy77]

This is great advice, thank you. I backpacked through Europe with my best friend and we tried to do too much in too little time. As you said, there's a lot of value in taking it slow and making decisions based on how you feel, rather than what you think you "should" do.

[seekingcharlie]

I've been a "digital nomad" for the last year. I left my full-time job in Australia & headed for Berlin & just picked up a few casual consulting gigs via Dribbble (I'm a designer).

I quickly realized that I really enjoy slow traveling - staying in places for 2-3 months & trying to keep a normal routine. I work full-time now, pretty crazy hours, but I generally move somewhere new every 3 months. I spend a few months of each year in SF & the rest in Europe. I'm heading from SF to Split, Croatia in 3 weeks for most of the summer.

As a final note, there are many different ways to travel. You never really understand how cheap it is until you actually do it. Before I left, everyone told me that I would need a liquid $50k to spend a year in Europe & I remember being worried that I only had about half that - very funny to me now. I've saved more traveling than what I have paying rent somewhere in Australia.

TIPS: * Try & get paid an SFBA salary & live in cities that have a very low cost of living in comparison. * Re trying to get a remote job - move to the job for 3 months first, work your ass off & prove your worth, THEN ask to move remote. * Sell everything. Forget about clothes, shoes, books, records. If you can't pack light at first, believe me, you will learn on the road!

[helandrion]

May I ask you when you go for these 3 month stints in a city, what do you do about housing? Do you go for temporary apartments or some sort of temporary roommate situation? I work as a freelancer and while a lot of my work can be done independent of location, I've been interested to move for certain projects. However, since we're only talking a couple of months, I wasn't sure about the best housing options.

[elwell]

I've been interested in something similar to that. How did you keep from getting lonely? Seems like 3 months is just enough time to make new (real) friends and then leave?

[reddytowns]

I quit my job to travel the world about 5 years ago. I lucked out in some investments and am now in an early retirement, mostly spend my day working on my own computer projects, surfing, and occasionally going on trips to different places.

I came back after a year, but after spending 18 months in the states, wanted to go travelling again. I'm currently staying in Taiwan, and periodically travel to the neighboring countries.

I'm not sure whether it was a good decision or not. It felt like I unplugged myself from my peers, friends, and culture. After coming back, I felt out of place, and just not into what everyone else around me was. It's strange how much a shared perspective on life seems to matter regards to enjoying your relationships with others. It was like I was being slowly wrapped in a spider's web, being bombarded with the thoughts and concerns of others that I couldn't relate to anymore.

There was quite a lot of loneliness I had to deal with. That was the main emotion, I think, from when I started. Everyone became a foreigner to me after awhile.

I wasn't sure about mentioning this, but I think it's kind of important. I know of two other people who travelled like I did.. They both were really smart, both into IT, paid well, and they both (separately) went travelling for an extended period of time and ended up committing suicide. I can't really speak for why they did it. I know I felt depressed for a period of time, but got out of it.

However, it is really fascinating going to a new culture. And the longer you stay in a single place, the further the intricacies of the culture are revealed to you. There is something that is really hard to describe when you let people from other cultures rub off on you. After coming back to the states, I used to have dreams of my trip, nearly every night, coupled with an intense feeling of longing, which is a big reason as to why I left again, the second time.

So, I learned a lot of amazing things, but at the same time, I think I lost something that I can never get back.

But heck, my sadness may have to do with not needing to work anymore and adjusting to that life. Or because I've always been an introvert, and becoming an outsider, too, was just too much to overcome in order to establish solid relationships with people from my own culture again. Or because I had a tough childhood, etc., etc. I really don't have a conclusion, and probably never will.

YMMV. That's all I can say, really.

[maxlambic]

Very interesting viewpoint on solo traveling, and sorry to hear about your friends. Did the 2 friends who committed suicide travel by themselves? Do you know if they committed suicide while traveling or after coming back?

I wonder what is the rate of depression when coming back from a long solo travel trip due to reverse culture shock and feeling lonely/disconnected from your family and old friends. It is probably hard to figure out whether these kind of long solo trips may cause depression, or whether people who are prone to depression are more likely to want to escape their current situation and take these kind of long solo trips. I've always wanted to do a long solo trip around the world but this is making me think I should really find a friend/partner willing to do it with me.

[seekingcharlie]

I see myself starting to feel like this too. Granted I've only been traveling for just over a year, but I do feel like a bit of an outsider everywhere - even when I was recently in my hometown in Australia.

I've found that keeping a routine, exercising & making sure I'm still doing the things I enjoy (painting, taking photos, writing) are really important for my sanity.

[walterbell]

Possibly relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid

[wwwater]

Thanks for writing this. I liked how you described these feelings about coming back.

> It's strange how much a shared perspective on life seems to matter regards to enjoying your relationships with others.

That's my permanent state as being an xpat.

I don't like to travel in the sence what is usually meant by it. For me it is also just exhausting and similar to what the OP said. But I like to live somewhere else. You learn to see the world and people differently. Though you have to learn how to not feel lonely because of the fact that you are different and have special feelings and thoughts. You need to learn filtering people in order to find those with whom you have something in common. So the problem is not that you cannot approach new people, but that most of them are just of no interest for you.

[hugogee]

I believe there is a spectrum with individuality on one end and community at opposite end. The closer we get to one the further we are from the other. I assume that leaving your culture has brought you closer to your self and many of the securities that lie within the pack have disappeared. Perhaps by getting comfortable with the discomfort(easier said than done) new experiences await you??

[mistermann]

Have you been to Japan? man, if I was fortunate enough to be in your situation, I would go spend a very long time there. Such a pleasant country, totally different culture from the west, but first world++.

[aidos]

I've done a few 3-4 month trips in the past. I was fortunate to be earning a good day rate as a freelancer before I left and I was young, with no responsibilities and no need for a life plan. It was easy to quickly save up a little money, and travel can be really cheap, especially when you don't care about sleeping in a nice bed.

The first couple of times I travelled a lot. Too much. Moving on every day or two. Seeing the various famous sites to see along the way. It was a great adventure, but I didn't learn that much.

One day I was talking to someone on my daily train commute out of london and she was telling me about a friend of hers that was travelling the world by boat. I thought it sounded amazing, and I always wanted to sail, so I booked myself in to do a leg of the Clipper Ventures [0] yacht race - from Liverpool (England) to Brazil (took about 4 weeks).

When I arrived in Brazil I didn't have a plan at all. I booked in to learn Portuguese while stating with a local family. The 4 weeks I lived there changed the way I look at travelling. I learned about the local culture, made friends, and learned a lot about myself in the process.

In a lot of ways tourism is a much easier route than immersing yourself in a culture. Being totally alone in a country where you can't speak the language is pretty soul expanding.

I've only managed one (big) trip since then (with my now wife) through Central America. We stayed with a family in Nicaragua for a couple of weeks at the start to learn Spanish. We loved it. The hosts are always amazing (we ended up doing it a few times during the trip). Also, it's really cheap. I think we paid $100 / week for accommodation, food and school (for both of us).

So my main bit of advice would be, try to be a local, not a tourist. It's scary, but incredibly rewarding.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=effh9W_xHSg

[sitkack]

It is often cheaper to travel that sit at home in your western apt. If you can sublet or give up your place, costs are not exorbitant.

1) Find an itinerary using http://www.airtreks.com/ they are amazing. Seattle -> New Zealand -> Australia -> Malaysia -> Nepal -> Turkey was about 3300 USD.

2) Get a nice place for when you land, like 3 days. Use that time to find lower cost habitation.

3) Don't over plan. Don't over spend. Talk to everyone. Read people, find good people and befriend them. Be nice. Not everyone is out to hustle you, locals often live on $5 a day. Don't flaunt your western wealth.

Total cost for 9 month trip, including the above flight and the crazy expensive flight home, 15k. I should have done this 20 years ago, experience would have been very different, more raw. As you age, the senses dull, our wealth bludgeons any immediacy and hardship (both good and bad). You are shaped by what you see and do, so see and do early.

[jbutewicz]

I got laid off from a job I was at for four years. Always wanted to travel but with school and work never had a chance for any extensive travel. I took two trips on my time off.

USA Road Trip. 14 days. 17 states (NJ, PA, MD, VA, TN, NC, MS, LA, TX, NM, CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, KY, WV). 6,000 miles. Total for two people: $2750. Per person: $1375. Per person per day: $98.

http://jbutewicz.com/usa-road-trip-video-concluding-remarks/

European Road Trip. 44 days. 14 countries (Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, France, Spain, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway). 12,000 miles of driving. Approximate total for two people: $12,000. Per person: $6,000. Per person per day: $133.

http://jbutewicz.com/europe-trip-video-concluding-remarks/

My blog has much more in depth detail if you are interested.

[smm2000]

Nice trip but your daily driving distance is insane. 428 miles/day is ~7 hours driving per day. It's pretty much driving the whole day. I recently did 2500 miles/20 days trip and felt that I was driving too much.

[Kequc]

Best decision of my whole life so far. It requires attaining an incredible amount of humility, selling everything, even that couch you like. You probably won't be back and storage costs a fortune, basically get rid of all of your material possessions. That's really by far the hardest part then take the smallest amount with you that you can.

And... suddenly, life seems brighter. I left north america probably 5 years ago, wasn't satisfied with the uk though. I don't need to spend all of my money financing a stressful lifestyle. Most places outside of na make it easy to rent a furnished apartment. Life outside of na is largely much cheaper when compared to large na cities. And life outside of na is much more interesting because it's there due to longer than 250 years of history.

Feels great man.

If you're a software engineer, you can basically work anywhere.

[amag]

I fully agree with aidos. It's much more rewarding if you go to a place and live like a local. In my case I've done a few voluntary work trips, the longest I did together with my wife and it lasted a year. I always try to learn the language in countries when I stay more than a couple of weeks. It quickly breaks the ice when you work side-by-side with the locals, trying to speak their language. You may not get to see all the main attractions in a country but you get to see and experience much more interesting things.

However, I also agree with reddytowns. Traveling like that changes you. You'll probably not notice until you return but it's quite likely you will feel disconnected from your peers, friends and family. You have changed and they have not. I would recommend anyone planning to go on a long immersive journey to consider going together with some one you like and get along well with. Then at least you will have that connection when you get back. This is important since this disconnected state could very likely be permanent. At least that's how it feels for me, it's been almost ten years since my wife and I spent a year abroad and I'd say we lost something then that we haven't been able to get back. We've spent nearly ten years back home, buying a house, raising kids and yet we don't really feel like we belong in our own country with our own families.. maybe it's just our personalities..

So in the end, would I recommend quitting your job and travel the world? I guess it depends on how well you'll handle the disconnect. The fact that your own family may feel like strangers to you.. In my case I can't really regret going, I've got too many amazing memories, too much fun with people I got to call my friends for a while. The sad part is though, you can't really go back either. Trust me I've tried. It will never be the same. Leaving and coming home changes you yet again.

[personlurking]

With clothes and computer, and pretty much at the drop of a dime, I started traveling abroad and have done so for the past several years, around S. America & Europe, staying in places for at least a few months each. When you find a few overseas places that feel like "home", you can go back and forth between them when needed. Luckily, I knew some people with startups in the US who needed part-time VAs and thus this is what I've done this whole time. I've literally spent between US$400-600/mo since deciding to live overseas. Since my work is part-time, and at times sporadic, I often don't make much more than what I spend.

So on one side, it's totally doable to live in tons of cool places on the cheap (it's become a game of sorts to live frugally). On the other hand, when you travel w/o extra funds, you cannot do an about-face when you need to (ie, you cannot retreat from a bad situation) so you then have to find ways to stick it out, which can easily mean enduring odd living quarters, strange neighborhoods, shady people, etc. I've had thousands of both amazing and not-so-amazing experiences I would not have had, had I stayed in the States doing the same ol', same ol'. My hope is that I continue to have thousands more such experiences and most importantly, to do it wisely now that time has taught me what not to do (and now that my job responsibilities are gradually increasing).

[recursify]

I quit my job at Amazon and went on a 4 month long bike tour through South East Asia... it was kind of a sporadic decision, but basically it was a gut feeling that I needed to get out there and mentally reset.

Great experience and would definitely do it again, especially bike touring. You kind of get into this rhythym of: wake up at sunrise, eat breakfast, decide on route, cycle as much as you feel like, go swimming, talk to people, find a place to camp/sleep, fix bike, go to bed. Every week or so you'll hit a major tourist centre where you can get a western meal/talk to other English speakers... then you're back on the road!

If you're burnt out/are looking for a reset, I'd avoid trying to work and travel at the same time, if you can afford it.

Budget: I think it worked out to about $15/day over the 4 month period, which may have included a flight home too.

I came back feeling energized, optimistic, and found a job at a great startup within a month of being back!

[kukabynd]

Hey, thanks for sharing! Could you please elaborate on your trip and countries you’ve visited?

[acqq]

My biggest problem with the "traveler's" stories is my impression that often they tell them from the angle of a "Topper":

http://dilbert.com/strip/2012-06-24

I accept that they enjoyed what they did, but it's often that some (for my perspective) important parts of their stories are completely omitted presenting their "adventure" as much more successful than it really was.

"I've once traveled 5 months with 8K USD"

"That's nothing..." then you hear something amazing, like "for 1K" but only after you research more, if you insist, you discover that the person omitted the detail that they count just 1K of cash but not the money they got from actually working. Or that the girlfriend paid for everything. Or the parents. Or that they mostly lived in the hole. Or that they drove 10 hours per day every day. Or...

That being said, as I was younger, I made a trip through the Europe by mostly sleeping in the night trains. And I conveniently won't mention my relatives in London and my friends in some other places. But you could do the same, it's amazing. I really enjoyed it and it gave me profound insights, enough to sit in front of the computer writing this instead of doing something amazing. You're welcome.

[Jack000]

A lot of detailed posts here, I'll try to be brief

- It gets tiring after a while, I kind of missed my car/TV/desktop.

- Finding a new place to stay every month or week is a bit of a pain.

- I think it helps to have something to do other than existing in a different place. Eg. My photo blog: (shameless plug) jack.ventures

- I definitely don't think the nomad lifestyle is right for everyone, it can be very isolating.

[vosper]

I think this is one of the most useful responses to the question, and I suspect it's closer to the average experience. I have done a decent amount of traveling, and so have most of my friends, and my opinion (and theirs, I think, through our conversations) agree with this. None of us are extremely introverted, or extroverted - I'd say we're pretty normal, unremarkable people.

On the nomad matter I would go further, and suggest that it only really works for a very few people, and that most who try don't turn it into a lifestyle; it's something they do for a few years until they eventually settle down and mostly stay in one place. Most of the excited blog posts are written within the first year - I've yet to see the 10-year postmortem from a committed digital nomad.

[jsackmann]

I traveled for about two years. I was able to work remotely, so I didn't have to worry too much about a tight budget or finding employment upon return.

It was a great experience, and here's what I'd change:

- spend more time in fewer places; be less of a tourist. (bonus: for the most part, the less you move around, the less expensive it is.) I would particularly try to do this in places that aren't typical tourist destinations. Think of stops of 1-3 months (perhaps with side trips) rather than 1-2 weeks.

- if you're traveling with someone else (particularly a significant other): (a) be really, really confident that you want to travel together for that long; (b) do whatever you can to find destinations that you both are interested in; (c) explicitly acknowledge that you will want to spend time apart during your travels; and (d) expect the relationship to get rocky at times even if you do all of the above perfectly. It's hard.

- Plan to return to your current home, if at all possible. I didn't do this, and re-adjusting to 'normal' life was much more difficult without an existing set of family and friends around. Even if you do go back 'home', re-entry won't be seamless. One of my friends spent two years in Japan and claims that she was more homesick upon returning home (USA) than she ever was in Japan.

[junto]

In 2004 I spent most of a year travelling around South and Central America. I met my wife on that trip (she was also travelling) and now we have two awesome children.

Travelling refreshes the mind. It breaks bad habits and it frees your soul. Sounds like mumbo jumbo I know but I can't recommend it enough.

Give yourself at least 3 months. Take eery opportunity and trust your gut. It can be dangerous out there if your mind isn't aware of what is going on around you. A bit of common sense and you're fine. Also get to meet the locals. Sticking around the hostels with other backpackers can drive you potty in the end.

Best thing I ever did. Finding contract work when I got back was easy due to great old contacts who hooked me up.

[allworknoplay]

A few years ago I quit my job with the idea that I had three projects I wanted to work on, I could do them from anywhere, and probably one would pan out into my next startup. TLDR: it worked, one did, and I had an awesome four-month trip in the process.

I subletted my room in NYC for a bit more than I paid, bought a plane ticket to Goa, and started there. It was the right decision insofar as it's a very soft landing in India, which can be a fairly difficult place for a lot of people. After two weeks and some research. I moved on and spent time in a bunch of different cities in India and Nepal; most days I would simply sit and write code in whatever hostel or home stay I was at, eat cheap street food for lunch, and generally be really, really productive. When I felt like it, I'd go take a walk or see something cool in the area or take a couple days and go on a short vacation somewhere else (e.g. I would never have wanted to spend much time in Agra, but it's a short overnight trip from Jaipur to go catch the taj mahal at dawn and then explore agra fort and take a walk before getting on a bus back).

It's actually the perfect vacation -- traveling can be really stressful, always trying to get to the next place, cram in all the stuff you have to see, etc. You wind up doing crazy things like exhausting yourself taking overnight buses to save time and hostel costs. But I spaced out what could have been a 3-4 week trip across four months, and it was relaxing, productive, interesting, and fun. I got pretty well into each of my projects (all of which involved acquiring new skill sets), figured out the one that had legs and was right for me, and turned it into my next startup.

The toughest part was in Kathmandu, where at the time power cuts were 14 hours a day, and of the 10 hours with power, they were mostly at night. But it was actually nice -- I got up early every morning with a charged laptop, worked until the thing was nearly dead after the power had gone out, went to a rooftop cafe to read for a while, went back and worked/charged again for a while, went for a long walk, and got back with enough charge left to last until the power came back on.

Overall, a pretty great life.

[eyeareque]

Sounds like a great trip.

But did you ever get sick from the street food? :) I'm not that adventurous I guess.

[songzme]

I've always wanted to travel the world but haven't done it yet. The way I see it, right now the market is doing amazing, unemployment is low. As an employee, you have leverage (negotiate for higher pay or choose another place that offers you more pay). My plan is to work hard and make/save as much money as I can in this economy. There will be a recession one day and rather than fighting with everybody else for a job with shitty pay, that will be the time I travel and enjoy the world.

[phillc73]

In early 1999 I'd been working as a contractor at a major Australian bank, writing VBScript, building an Intranet site. A three month contract became nine. By then I'd managed to pay off my student debt and put aside a decent amount. I quit and traveled.

Three months in southern Africa and three months in the United Kingdom.

It was my second trip to southern Africa and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Different the second time around. While I was exploring different areas, I had a much better sense of what to expect from each situation.

My first trip to the UK. I wasted a lot of time in those three months, which could have been better spent. I did see quite a lot, but generally I treated it mostly as a tools down and relaxation period. I did return to Australia, but 12 months later, I was back in the UK and lived there for a further 13 years.

Returning to Australia, it was straightforward enough to find work. I think I was offered something on my third interview. This just happened to be with a company which would go on to become a dotcom giant, survive the crash and continues to do reasonably well today. Everything worked out well enough.

I would certainly do it all again. If I had the choice to do things differently, I probably would have cut short the UK period and seen more of Europe, although I did a lot of that in subsequent years.

In short, I would encourage people to do something like this. I don't think breaks of even up to 12 months in a career should be a concern, especially if explained easily enough. The experiences are worth a great deal.

[zzzmarcus]

In 2007 moved with my wife and 5 year old from Virginia to Montevideo, Uruguay for 9 months then to Buenos Aires, Argentina for another 4 months. When we arrived, we didn't know a soul and chose that part of the world based mostly on the fact that it was relatively inexpensive and safe.

We lived mostly like locals. We rented a house and bought a car. I worked in the mornings and we spent afternoons and vacations exploring the area. We saw quite a bit of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil and met a ton of great people along the way, both locals and other expats, many of whom we keep in contact with still today. My son went to preschool in Uruguay and learned to speak Spanish fluently. My wife picked up a ton of Spanish and my own improved immensely.

While we were down there we lived frugally and my part-time work as a software developer was sufficient to pay our expenses. It wasn't hard to come back and find a full-time job.

It was an awesome experience, I'd highly recommend something like it to anyone. I briefly blogged while I was down there, if interested, it's here: https://guay.wordpress.com and if you haven't already, check out Rolf Pott's Vagabonding book.

[panorama]

I quit college to travel for 2 years and played online poker as a means of income. There are parts of it I regret, like being a bit callous with money and not really knowing what I would do afterwards, but I was young (20) and having disposable income (which I regret not saving) can affect you as a kid. It should be noted that dropping out of college is NOT something I regret. I think that may have been one of the best decisions I made when I was younger.

1. By leaving school, I ended up teaching myself by traveling and experiencing different cultures, living on my own outside of my comfort zone, and meeting smart, successful people around the world. It's hard to replicate that sort of education in an institutionalized environment (not to mention how expensive a degree is).

2. I sucked at budgeting. Nowadays there are a lot of good resources online for budgeting[1] and nomading[2] that I wish I had access to back then.

3. I didn't like thinking too far into the future at the time but I didn't really have any backup plans after poker. I just assumed I would make enough to eventually invest in some other venture. I did, but that venture didn't work out too well. I eventually taught myself how to code and I've been working as a dev in SF for the past few years.

4. I would follow the nomad lifestyle[2]. Knowing which areas maximized life happiness + low cost of living would have really helped. I think anyone who has a craft that can be monetized online and doesn't have significant responsibilities (family/kids) should try work-traveling for some time.

[1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

[2] https://nomadlist.com/

[marincounty]

"I quit college to travel for 2 years and played online poker as a means of income." Wow--online poker! I couldn't imagine the worry factor, but I'm not a gambler. When I look back on my life, the only real money I made was doing something risky. Right now, you made me realize I need to add more risk to my life.