I drove my car from San Francisco to Panama Canal. It took 1.5 years. What I will remember when I am old is fixing my car in beautiful rural Honduras, sleeping in a hammock there and talking to people. Avoid big cities - when we had car problems and had to improvise shorting fuses with a wire that I obtained from our dashcam USB cable with a pocket knife, we came to think of Tegucigalpa as an inaccessible lucrative capital of the world, dreaming and plotting how to get there. That in the retrospect was pure bliss.
Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
51–60 of 461 posts
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#52I sort of got stuck in Scandinavia and woke up one morning 20 years later with a wife and 3 kids.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#53Absolutely worth it, however I'd offer a few short tips: 1. Try to stay in one place for a few months, minimum. If you can stay a year or two, do that. Jumping from city to city every week seems exciting at first, but it quickly makes everywhere feel the same. 2. To quote Lao Tzu, when your work is done, forget it. If you work remotely, actively disconnect at the end of the day. It's too easy to be constantly plugged…
> Try to stay in one place for a few months, minimum. I second this. 2 months is the minimum amount of time per country, and 2 weeks per city if you expect to get anything more than a handful of good meals and a couple adventures out of a place. My better memories were all from places I stayed for over 2 months, and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself.
> and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself.
Did you speak the local language?
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#54Taking a loose definition of "travel the world".
Born and raised in the BA. In my mid 30's I left a FAANG type(specialized, highly compensated) employer, sold my home and bought a sailboat and moved aboard. Over that next year and half I spent it sailing the Pacific then ending up in Southern CA.
I was going through a premature midlife crisis all based on the premise that "humans weren't meant to sit behind a desk all day". I was very well off having an entire career in the BA but my "life" was garbage. I'd work, go home, watch TV or play a video game. Repeat. Not much romantically or no strong friendships.
In that year and half my entire outlook changed. It's been 3-4 years since I've returned and to this day:
* Live a "minimalist" lifestyle. I'm a terrible consumer and love it.
* My mental and physical health has drastically improved.
I didnt realize it but I suffered from anxiety. I was constantly worrying about being the best, having the highest salary, and being able to compete. I intentionally made a career out of seeking tough jobs "moving mountains".
When you're traveling (in my case sailing) the mindset quickly changed from worrying about all the little crap about work, performance, hitting the next goal to "I can do anything today, what do I want that to be?" without worrying about tomorrow. That gave my mind peace, which made me happier, which inspired me to work on myself, which made me even happier.
I'd highly recommend it. For those living in the BA.. its a great place to earn and save money but terrible in every other aspect (and I say that lovingly as someone who still gets very homesick).
If you ever leave, when you come back you'll find there is some stigma around it and especially if its not to the Bay Area.
For example I applied to a local semi-large financial institution asking for Cassandra which I have in-depth experience dealing with at scale. The number of people who have that experience at scale can fit into a large room. I was ghosted after first tech screen after being asked about the gap in resume, I wasn't a model employee. And knowing the area they settled for much less.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#55I'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 g…
It taught me that it is ok to not be high on career/income ladder and there many niches outside tech that are worth to be living in and you can easily carve some for yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
In just the very first 30days I went from LA to Seattle through Sierras and Cascades (>3000km & 35000m of elevation) but in total I think it was ~14000km and ~150000m of elevation gain. that’s including taking a 2 months rest for US and Canadian Thanksgiving. Can’t remember the exact general statistics but I believe that whenever I had an active day on my bike I did like 105km and 1200m on average.
Thanks! That's impressive, although I guess 100km per day is actually quite reasonable. For some reason, Los Angeles to Seattle seems a greater distance than 2,000km.
No worries! Yeah I feel the same way. Honestly I was mostly aiming for time not distance, with 4-5h on the bike, because for me it became really painful to go any longer. But that’s super personal and everyone has their own pace. For me it worked, because I could take a 1-2h lunch break, have a dip in a lake or just a chat with the locals. People are super friendly and open no matter if you are in the middle of nowhere States or Peru. Going solo also helped in that matter - I was craving social interactions as you get bored of just your own thoughts. ;)
Having other fellow tourers with you is fun but changes the dynamics of the trip and you become less insightful and conscious of the surroundings and you have less interactions with the locals, which I find to be extremely valuable.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#57I'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 g…
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#58Quit and sold everything in 2006 and went on a round the world trip (i was 25 back then). Some notes:
1) Absolutely worth it, broadened my horizon
2) Having total freedom (no commitments, bills, job to get back to) was amazing
3) As someone else posted: moving too much / quickly gets boring fast. In travels after i stayed for longer in single places
4) I over planned massively in the beginning
5) After 10 months i was 'done' with travelling and returned home earlier as planned
6) There were some tough times but i grew from them and the potential remorse of not having done the travels would have far outweighed them
But that was before social media, iPhones and plenty of remote work so YMMV
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#59I 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 lig…
Haha you get it ;)
While I didn’t meet my wife during travels, I met many women. Before that, I had a hard time finding love. After traveling it was also easier to find love in my own country.
In all fairness, I just came out of high school when I traveled.
Later during shorter travels, I learned about packing light. That made transportation a lot more convenient.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#60I'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 g…
I find travel/experiences is a terrible way to make yourself a more interesting person. Some people can tell a story about a drunken brawl in a foreign country and make it boring. Another person can describe getting coffee in the morning and leave people hanging on their every word.