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I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

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Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#191

Post by grecy »

pmarreck wrote: post #158
grecy wrote: post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

Software engineers make pretty decent money, and can work from anywhere. If you want an affordable mortgage, all you have to do is move out of range of the big cities. I'm also a software engineer and I am fully aware that we have a job that has one of the highest satisfaction rates AND pay in the world right now. I have no sympathy for you lol But enjoy your time away, the creature comforts will still be there when…

> I have no sympathy for you

Sympathy? I think you're confused. I'm living a life dream, no need for any sympathy.

> the creature comforts will still be there when you tire of not having them, and anyway, you will appreciate them more.

Last time I drove Alaska->Argentina, and since then I've been living in the Yukon. I'm in no hurry to get back to creature comforts, trust me :)

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#192

Post by ElysianEagle »

truth_sentinell wrote: post #175
anbende wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This echoes my thoughts about travel. While I love being in transit, the idea of just seeing (or hearing/eating/etc) a bunch of things just isn't all that appealing. I've lived in a few places in Asia and really liked that. Spending a few months to a year in a place, making friends, getting to know the locals. It felt good, though it limited the kind of work projects I could do. (I was an English teacher rather than…

I'd love to be a digital nomad. But how do you get projects that can pay rent with so much competition on freelance sites?

I've been thinking about this for a while myself. The current place I work at is extremely remote-work friendly, and we have people in many cities all over the US and the world working from their homes.

One possibility is to take up a job at such a firm, and then do your traveling while you work. I think it beats stressing out about finding a new gig every few months, at least. It's also easier if you happen to travel in the same/similar timezone.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#193

Post by ryandrake »

jonstewart wrote: post #70

There have been so many of these self-congratulatory I-quit-my-job-to-travel-the-world posts that the New Yorker published a satirical piece on it: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/why-i-quit-my-jo... . TFA doesn't even have any geek discussion of build details, design trade-offs, problems encountered on the road and how they were solved, etc.

Knew I'd see this link, thanks for it. It's exactly what I think of every time one of these "Look What I Can Afford To Do" articles makes the rounds.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#194

Post by overcast »

fps wrote: post #162
RogtamBar wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiding a 12ga inside a car bodywork is easy peasy lemon squeezy and slugs from that reliably put down grizzly bears, which are I believe the toughest land predator currently in existence.

Trying to cross international borders legally with a firearm for self-defense is really difficult if not impossible. If you talk to Overlanders or international ocean cruisers, almost none of them carry weapons. Trying to sneak or bribe your way across a border with a weapon is a pretty serious crime. [1] http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-65646.html

I doubt buying a shotgun in Africa when you land is a difficult situation.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#195

Post by Myrmornis »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #55

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

Learn to identify wild birds.

It transforms the way you enjoy traveling. Every landscape you go through, you start having a real connection to the biology and ecology because you are actively thinking about the organisms that live there, and you are somewhat knowledgable about it. It makes you a biologist, and scientist as you're traveling. The choice of birds is for two good reasons: (1) other than plants and humans they are the easiest macroscopic organisms to see, anywhere in the world; (2) they are beautiful. It brings you into contact with areas of science -- evolutionary biology, genetics, conservation biology. It makes traveling through wild parts of the world so much more interesting than it would be otherwise.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#196

Post by grecy »

extr wrote: post #190
grecy wrote: post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

I remember your reddit thread, nearly everyone was convinced you'd be murdered and robbed by the end of the first day. Seems like you're doing alright so far, but have you run into any substantial trouble along those lines?

No, nothing.

Friendly people everywhere I've been - in fact much more so than I was expecting.

Just today I was talking to a guy who agrees he feels much safer and more welcome here than he would if he showed up in a random city in the USA or Europe.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#197

Post by beachstartup »

pmarreck wrote: post #158
grecy wrote: post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

Software engineers make pretty decent money, and can work from anywhere. If you want an affordable mortgage, all you have to do is move out of range of the big cities. I'm also a software engineer and I am fully aware that we have a job that has one of the highest satisfaction rates AND pay in the world right now. I have no sympathy for you lol But enjoy your time away, the creature comforts will still be there when…

uh, who are you trying to convince, him or yourself?

i think he's already made up his mind.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#198

Post by kafkaesq »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #55

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

I do want to visit places like Ethiopia and South Africa, but I think I'll take a plane.

The counterpoint to this stance is that there's something about ground travel (and "slow travel" generally) that's very different from the usual airport → city center → airport drill. Having to do with being continually in contact with the earth, and experiencing the slow transition from one geology, climate, and local culture to another. Not to mention some of the stunning, accidental scenery you'll be exposed to (and some of which I can still see, as if before my eyes) that you just won't see from a plane... and certainly not during the (significant) times one spends stuck in, or on the way to and from airports.

There's a significant time investment involved, of course, and a life devoted only to sightseeing would be very boring. Bu it's an experience that puts us in touch with the world more the way it actually is, and -- at least I find -- literally helps me feel more "grounded", even many years past the experience.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#199

Post by yodsanklai »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #55

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

> The reason I'm writing all of this is because I also want to quit my job and go off on some kind of new adventure, but I'm not really sure what I should do.

Traveling can be fun, but also alienating. I met many people who renounced to their trip around the world after a few months. It can become boring after a while and you start to wonder what is the point of it. And you don't really build anything while traveling. Maybe not everyone has this feeling, but I'd like my life to have an other purpose than just roaming...

Nowadays, the way I like it is to travel from 3 to 6 weeks at a time. It's long enough so that you can go at a relaxed pace, but not so long that you feel you're wasting your time. I also like try to do something constructive a few hours a day (especially if I travel for a longer period of time).

As far as adventure goes, I find it more rewarding to live and work in a different country than to go to the usual backpackers circuits.

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