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

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.

1) A strong thirst to experience more of the world (and knowing it would be more difficult when I'm older (I was 26)).

2) The desire to run my own show on a project I felt like I was born to do.

I received a 1-year paid non-compete, so the plan was to give the project a shot while traveling, and if it wasn't panning out, to get back into the HFT industry. I was very fortunate to have earned enough to where budget was a non-issue (though I've managed to live quite cheaply) and I had my brother and good friend joining me on my travels and helping out with the project for the first couple months.

I could write a lot, but here are the highlights after spending time all over Europe, USA, Mexico, and South Africa.

The good:

- Seeing more of the world and experiencing new cultures has been an amazing and rewarding experience.

- Working on my passion project has been a blast, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the freedom and flexibility it has allowed.

- I've grown a ton both as a person and as a coder/statistician (it's nice to have the freedom to spend large segments of time learning new skills.)

- Adopting a minimalist lifestyle has been cathartic and rewarding.

The bad:

- It's really hard to balance time between work and travel/leisure. I've opted to spend long periods settled in one place while focusing on work, "living like a local", etc., and then taking pure leisure trips where I hop around to many nearby places.

- Hard to stay connected with friends and family back home.

- Hard to make lasting relationships while traveling, especially when english is not the country's primary language.

- Learning a new language (beyond common phrases) takes a lot of time, and doesn't give much bang for your buck (beyond a challenging mental exercise) when your spending less than 6 months someplace.

My 1-year is almost up and it's still unclear whether the project will pan out, but I'm planning to continue my work/travels as I'm still enjoying the experience, learning a lot, and there's more of the world I want to explore!

I see what you're getting at but there are also four cost-prohibitive things in the US that are important to life. They are: Housing (cost of renting or buying), healthcare (free or cheap in a lot of countries), higher education (free or cheap in a lot of countries) and the ability to have a social life when you don't have a lot of extra funds. In the places I've lived, I've had all four of these things at all times and it's changed my lifestyle and my life.

When a 1 bedroom apt is a few hundred per month, university is a few thousand, a semi-serious trip to the hospital including ambulance & meds is $20, and a really fun night out (drinks included) costs $10...it can really change one's life. I should add transportation to that, too, since I've been to some amazing places (near cities I've lived in) for $2-3 round-trip.

Totally normal. My wife and I were 28 last time we did it. The language school would put you somewhere appropriate I would have thought. Last time we were with a lovely lady in her 60s.

Well, I was/am introvert. First time moving away was to Istanbul, through exchange student program I was forced(guided basically) to socialize. It teached me how to make friends in any place I am, how to act in different cultures. Currently I am in Africa, Cameroon, volunteering. Been here for a month, and will be staying here for two months. No big concerns regards moving from europe to africa. How do I do it and what is my secret? I dont have place I call home in my country, so my home is where my ten things are. My home is where my laptop and my cameras are. I also try to find something to do on my travels. As I said, most of the trips are sponsored trough EU or some other program, this usually means I already have a contact ahead and my travels usually have a reason. Thanks to this there isnt usually a problem to kickstart my social life locally either. The most benefit I have gotten out of my trips are self discovery, through putting myself in new situations.

only regret? Sometimes I still think where would my career be if I had stayed back home.

anything bad? access online is quite s*it through out the places I have traveled.

Ps. Anyone in sw cameroon wants to meet up?