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

> Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)

> I visited New York and it completely blew my mind. [...] I visited San Francisco and it was kinda meh.

Haha, my experience was the exact opposite of yours. The first time I visited NYC, I thought it felt dystopian and was glad to leave. Easily the least favorite city I have visited. But my first time visiting the west coast was intoxicating. Growing up I lived in a few different states in the southeastern U.S. and even lived in Paris, France for three years. I traveled Europe extensively both as a child and in my late teens and thought some places were interesting and nice to visit, but the first time I arrived in the Bay Area I thought "What is this place?! I have to move here."

I had traveled there for a Hackathon in 2010, and the first place I visited after leaving the airport was Palo Alto. It just blew my mind to see sunny weather, blue skies, trees with leaves, and green grass in December. And once I saw San Francisco, I was hooked. The beautiful terrain just captivated me. There were giant cliffs, ocean views, rolling hills, and interesting plants everywhere. Plus, I really missed the walkable cities in Europe.

My wife and I just moved away from the Bay Area in October after living there for almost three years to be closer to family, but I miss it everyday and hope to go back at some point. I miss the food and tech scene (although I still have my same job, remotely now), but I think what really captivated me is the climate and terrain. It's just otherworldly compared to what I was used to in the southeast.

> I visited Tokyo and it was dope

Tokyo seems like somewhere that I would really enjoy living, culture-wise (although my impression is that the climate is pretty similar to where I grew up). Hoping to visit after the pandemic. Any tips on where to go? More interested in unique local experiences and maybe taking trains to some other cities than tourist attractions.

Sabbatical, 3 months, solo bike ride through Europe. Would do it again with no hesitation.

I suppose one thing I've brought back is the ability to conceive of travel in a way that doesn't involve Instagram pictures and getting led around by the tourist industry for 2 weeks. Reading your post and suggestions, it sounds as though that's something you might not yet posses.

I'll admit that I do have quite a few good cocktail stories, but very few of them happened anywhere near a major city or tourist destination. Occasionally you may hear me telling an anecdote about briefly intersecting with the Tourist Industry as they were whisked past the interesting thing I was up to on their way to the next photo op, but for the most part the people on that ride are in fact having the experience you describe.

Mostly, the things you take away are experiences so you're also correct that they're not particularly tangible. But they're valuable.

But I suppose if we're forced to provide examples, I can report having collected a wife overseas. A girl I certainly wouldn't have met at a salsa class in the 'states, with a mindset similar to mine that had led her to also be halfway around the world from her home for enough months overlapping for me to wear her down and convince her to bring me home with her.

(I guess that technically makes me her concrete benefit, but close enough).

Give it a try some time (for real, no 2 week package holidays) and I hope you'll find it worthwhile!

It went alright. Wish I did more research and had a stronger "ground game" when I landed. I did cursory searches and lined up some fiber optic splicing gigs, but things went sideways. I eventually developed that ground game and improvised a lot, but in hindsight I wish I'd done more due diligence.

Hostels get old pretty fast, and hitchhiking is pretty effective (caveat: only in some places). AirBnBs are usually overpriced. Couchsurfing was hit or miss.

I had good experiences looking for "learn X language" classes in big cities, and/or "learn English classes" where I'd show up and help them practice English. Learning some basic local language helped a lot. Just getting a feel for tonal languages and practicing them a little helped considerably.