I quit my job in 2018 and I started travelling in November 2019, so not very well on the travel front but striking out of the 9-5 has been the best thing I have ever done. I doubt I could go back.
Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
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Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#22If you have even the inkling that you might want to do this then you absolutely should. Opportunities and projects and ventures will always be there. Your youth will not.
You can't say that with certainty. The opportunities of today aren't guaranteed to sit there waiting for you, or to be replenished in the future. And while it's true that all of our youths are fleeting, that doesn't mean that chasing a romantic image is a must-do for everyone who's considered the idea.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#23I took a leave of absence for a year.
I went to India for 3 months in 2016, then Pakistan for another 3 months, followed by Afghanistan for 1 month.
Afghan and Pakistani people are by far the friendliest among any nationality. I ignorantly thought they are intolerant of all non Muslims, but it turns out they could teach us a thing or two in hospitality and kindness.
I learned some Urdu and Hindi along the way.
Pakistani food is some of the most aromatic and tasty food I’ve ever had. The better it tastes, the more it absolutely burns your mouth and wrecks your stomach (no regrets).
In India I went to a massive wedding in Hyderabad. The curries in Hyderabad were just as spicy as Pakistan, although they used nuts quite a bit more.
Once you’ve had a real chai in India, you’ll never drink what they call “chai” in the US ever again.
The main thing I missed was central air conditioning, although I stayed in some places where at least the bedroom had a working air conditioner.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#24I spent six months planning my round-the-world plane ticket, quit my job in March 2015 and got back home in October. Did a Spanish immersion class in Peru, saw my grandmother in another country the week before she died, spent some time reading books at a remote beach resort with no internet in Thailand. I started a new job by the end of the year.
I would like to do it again but it’s a little trickier now since I’d want my partner to come too.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#25I'd love to hear concretely what you guys who traveled actually gained from traveling the world? Because I always hear that it's really exciting and you get to go to exciting places - but what exactly did you gain in terms of perspectives besides your instagram pictures and cocktail stories? I've never get beyond this superficial in hearing people's travel stories online and IRL.
Maybe it's just me; but the idea of going from one place to another for 2 weeks, to take pictures and get led around by locals tourist industry is the very definition of Western Consumerism. If you want to immersed into a culture, wouldn't you want to commit to learning the language and go to your local city's meetup for that language - instead of going to a foreign country with a phrasebook. If you want to dance, wouldn't you want take a class for salsa, shuffle, tango at your local club instead of a single experience at a beach bar at some exotic locale. If you want to meet new people and break out of your comfort zone, wouldn't you want to make friends locally where you can build up that friendship or relationship consistently by dinners, outings instead of a single chance encounter? Listening to live music at some exotic place vs. going to local musicians jams where you're up on the stage playing, take instagram pictures of Prague vs. urban sketching your local city streetscape… I could keep going.
Maybe I'm wrong. Please tell me know what you've personally gained from traveling the world!
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#26In December 2019 I set everything up to leave my job with a couple of months notice (I liked my team). The plan was to travel and see if I liked any other cities better than where I was living. But then it was March 2020, so instead I rented a cheaper place closer to home and started a new video series on YouTube about code and sound, in Ruby.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#27I did it for a year in 2016, met my now wife in Croatia. Invited her to go on a road trip in Norway and we've been together since.
Before leaving, I was nervous about missing out on a year's worth of income. But in hindsight, those worries seems so trivial now.
My advice to those who are traveling solo is to stay in hostels even if you can afford hotels. It's the best way to meet people wherever you are. And pack light!
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#28I didn’t quit my job but took a three months leave of absence to travel the work with my SO and our two kids (2 and 4 at the time).
It was great and we had planned to do it again in 2020 then COVID hit.
Now my kids are of compulsory school age so we need to figure out how we will do it.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#29I traveled for five years or so. I was having great time, but I've probably overdid it for year or two.
What worked well for me was quiting mixing backpacker circus with less known destination. It was fun to sleep at hostels, party with fellow travelers and have fun, but it gets old after while. I split my trips into 3 to 6 months chunks after which I just come back to one of my bases, recharge for a bit and then went to somewhere else. I usually mix things us so after 6 months in SE Asia, I went to Balkans, then Japan and then somewhere more popular with backpackers like Argentina.
It is great experience to have, but I would not put much hope in being truly transformative. Now, almost, 10 years later it just feel like it never happen, memories are fading fast as I went with settled life.
People are often scared about their career outlook or other long term consequences, but I didn't experience any of those.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#30If you have even the inkling that you might want to do this then you absolutely should. Opportunities and projects and ventures will always be there. Your youth will not.
Why does everyone try to travel when they're young? There are things youth helps with but visiting other countries doesn't seem like one of them. Finding a partner and building a family is though and that's very hard when you're always in a different place.
Plenty of people end up traveling more than they want to later in life for business anyway.