I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by knodi123 » Tue, Sep 20, 2016, 9:17 PM UTC

AnAfrican wrote: post #174

knodi123 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cartoonishly exaggerated. The gun homicide rate per 100,000 is 3.43 in the US, and 37.16 in swaziland. We have a big population in the US, of course we're going to have more of lots of things. But in terms of disease, violence, and vulnerability to official corruption, the US is way ahead of africa as a whole.

Swaziland is so much of an outlier that it's not even funny. It's like 4 times above South Africa which would be my guess for "highest gun homicide per capita" rate in Africa. There's simply no way this is even close to a continent wide average.

Yeah, but it's also the only african country that was listed in the relevant wikipedia article. /shrug

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

#262

Post by beachstartup » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 4:24 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #260

pmarreck wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cool to bash on desk jobs but for most it's low-risk high-income work, and there are surely plenty of guys doing very manual risky jobs who would be only so happy to trade up to a cushy air conditioned office job for the same or better pay. But some folks will figure out what works for them eventually. And admittedly it's probably not for everyone.

> it's low-risk high-income work Is that the goal of life? > And admittedly it's probably not for everyone. Of course, that's the point. If someone wants to quit so they can ride a bike across a country, that's as valid a choice as yours is to keep going to work. Nobody is wrong, everyone is just making their own choices.

he's bothered by the fact that his goals may not be the ones he thinks he wants, hence the projection and self-convincing. when you invest all day every day in something it hurts to see other people reject it, i guess.

i've sat at a desk my entire career, almost 15 years, and it's starting to get old. it's starting to make me feel old, and i'm not old, not by a long shot. it's starting to affect my social life and mental health. 3 months ago i decided to make a change, and have started to implement it. hopefully will be done within a year.

i promised myself if it seems like i'm being sucked back in, which happens when lots of money is involved, i'm going to cut and run on my 35th birthday. there's no fucking way i'm going to sit at a desk all day (a little is fine) at the mid-way point of this decade before 40.

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

#263

Post by dsego » Thu, Sep 22, 2016, 1:31 PM UTC

barking wrote: post #36

Is this the 21st century equivalent of big game hunting? Driving around africa in a truck for 19 months isn't exactly environmentally friendly. How many miles to the gallon do those things do?

Utopia - Season 2, Episode 6 - Opening scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcx-nf3kH_M

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

#264

Post by point78 » Thu, Sep 22, 2016, 9:52 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #16

point78 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With your methid of thinking the US should never be visited because of Detroit, Baltimore and Chicago.

Right, because those cities have genocides and civil wars going on from time to time.

I know US media shoves propoganda down your throats, but you realize there are countries in Africa that are SAFER than the US right?