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I went full nomad and it almost broke me

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Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#81
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Point taken. That answers your own question, does it not? That is, fathers don't take time off to spend more time with their babies because they are too poor to risk losing that job? (This assumes that men tend to be paid more than women.)

Fair enough, but I do know some (though not many) middle-class people who could afford it.

We don't know if mosselman is exceptional or typical of Dutch fathers.

That is, if only 10% take time off, and you only know 5 middle-class people who could afford it, then odds are that even at the Dutch level you wouldn't know anyone who does that.

I suppose it's possi ... okay, that was too easy. A search for "how many Dutch fathers parental leave" comes up with http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/06/just-one-in-fo... which says "Just one in four Dutch fathers takes parental leave".

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#82
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough, but I do know some (though not many) middle-class people who could afford it.

We don't know if mosselman is exceptional or typical of Dutch fathers. That is, if only 10% take time off, and you only know 5 middle-class people who could afford it, then odds are that even at the Dutch level you wouldn't know anyone who does that. I suppose it's possi ... okay, that was too easy. A search for "how many Dutch fathers parental leave" comes up with http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/06/just-o…

Not sure how this conversation went into parental leave - I actually know fathers who've taken that :) But that's just a month or so. I was talking about working fewer hours (rather than stopping altogether) on a longer-term basis. I find that much harder to achieve than taking a leave, which is similar to regular vacations, which companies are used to handle.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#83
post #2

I'm full nomad right now - driving my Jeep around Africa for 2 years - something like 80,000 miles through 30 countries over 2 years. [1] I'm absolutely loving it. I will never go back to full time 9-5 5 days a week. At this point, I don't even consider it life. Previously I drove Alaska to Argentina - 16 countries over 2 years and 40,000 miles. I also loved every second of that! [2] [1] http://theroadchoseme.com/afr…

Nice, glad it's working out for you! Just curious, you wrote that you funded the first expedition by saving from your salary, but how are you paying for the second?

I worked a 9-5 for 5 years, saved every penny and now I'm living on that!

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#84
post #5
post #2

I'm full nomad right now - driving my Jeep around Africa for 2 years - something like 80,000 miles through 30 countries over 2 years. [1] I'm absolutely loving it. I will never go back to full time 9-5 5 days a week. At this point, I don't even consider it life. Previously I drove Alaska to Argentina - 16 countries over 2 years and 40,000 miles. I also loved every second of that! [2] [1] http://theroadchoseme.com/afr…

Driving alone around in Africa is what you consider life? I know working 9-5 is not a good life. However working on something you love, in an environment with friends and family and fun, is a good life i.m.h.o. I always have the feeling nomads always need to shout of the roofs of "how much better their life is". However I do think, what you are doing is super cool. However seeing it as "this is the only life thats wo…

> However seeing it as "this is the only life thats worth living" is a bit extreme.

I didn't say it was for everyone, I just said it is for me.

I have lived both lives, and I know what I like and don't like. I'm certain I am the most qualified person to decided what kind of life is right for me.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first trip was in 2009-2011. His second trip started in 2016. He must've put in some work inbetween. He's also monetised his traveling with books, partners etc. More importantly though, from the info he posted, it shows he spends about $1200 a month traveling mostly through South-America. Which isn't too crazy, gdp per capita in the continent is about $450, Africa is even 'easier', in that the gdp per capita is a…

The modified jeep alone was 50k or more. Gas is 5k.

My Jeep was not even close to 50k.

I bought it used for $22,500 CAD.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#86
post #6

I think this is an interesting topic but that article is basically incomprehensible. It could have benefitted greatly from a little more of the "first this happened, then this happened" approach rather than being an impressionistic onslaught of feelings and vagueness.

I actually had a more "yup, saying it as it is" reaction to this. I guess I have gone through similar experiences as the author.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn’t either or: you don’t need to work 9-5 in order to have a family and friends, the only alternative being driving through Africa. He just said 9-5 isn’t life and I think he is right. I work 9-5 and now that I am a father I will beging cut down work. I find it a lot more rewarding to see my daughter starting to crawl than building some software for someone.

If you don't mind me asking, how will you cut down work? Is your employer willing to just reduce your hours, or do you have other plan? I don't plan on cutting back yet, but I'd like to know for the future, since I've never actually met a career professional doing so.

Haha I am not sure in which branch of the discussion to respond, so I will do so here. I am from the Netherlands yes and we can have 26 times our employed hours 26 times full time for me) per child to be spent before they are 8, unpaid. You can use all those hours at once, or spread them out. I will do the latter and have 1 paternal day a week the coming 2,5 years. Looking forward to it as well. Yes I am lucky enough to be able to handle the income decrease.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is an advertisement . The author makes money off of the shtick "How you too can live this amazing lifestyle!"

It would be great if people paid me for writing this stuff! I run a nonprofit social enterprise haha

Nonprofit does not imply no salary. Your organization basically does consulting work for profit..but then you pay that profit to yourself and whoever else you employ. It's very clever but it's not like it isn't the oldest advertising trick in the book. And its certainly one of the easiest ways to make innocent sounding statements like the one you just made.

[1] https://super.global/copilot

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/company/super-global

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#89
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't know if mosselman is exceptional or typical of Dutch fathers. That is, if only 10% take time off, and you only know 5 middle-class people who could afford it, then odds are that even at the Dutch level you wouldn't know anyone who does that. I suppose it's possi ... okay, that was too easy. A search for "how many Dutch fathers parental leave" comes up with http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/06/just-o…

Not sure how this conversation went into parental leave - I actually know fathers who've taken that :) But that's just a month or so. I was talking about working fewer hours (rather than stopping altogether) on a longer-term basis. I find that much harder to achieve than taking a leave, which is similar to regular vacations, which companies are used to handle.

I did consulting work for a Swedish company. They have very generous parental leave policies, including people who were on 50% time for a year.

I also read that in some of the European countries (I'm from the US) there is a right to part-time employment while on leave. I figured that mosselman was from one of those countries.

Searching now I found http://cepr.net/documents/publications/parental_2008_09.pdf from 10 years ago which says:

> Of the 21 countries studied here, ten allow parental leave to be taken on a part-time basis: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Portugal is notable in that it gives parents an incentive to choose part-time over full-time leave: parents have three months of full-time parental leave or 12 months of part-time leave.

Based on mosselman's followup, my guess was correct.

Re: I went full nomad and it almost broke me

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean no disrespect, but perhaps my honest opinion might help a you a bit, though I could be totally wrong. Your hook, “Super Global is a nonprofit tech advisory service for social impact organizations .”, makes me feel like you think I’m stupid and is personally a turn off. You’re an IT consultant that specializes in the charity industry. Everything else is just buzzword bingo. Your non-profit status is meaningless…

> Your non-profit status is meaningless to anyone who understands corporate structures Care to clue the rest of us in?

Non profit has no bearing on salaries paid, only what happens to leftover cash. If there is no leftover cash after salaries are paid, nothing really changes.

So saying you are a non profit is a good way to fool some people. The rest know that a non profit still pays salaries in any capacity they'd like.

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