I didn't travel the world, but I quit spontaneously to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2014. I was sitting in my office thinking about how much I hated my life at the time, and thought "it's trail season now, I haven't been backpacking in years, wish I could do that" when I realized that I had some money saved up for a thing that had recently become a non-issue and the money was now free and I could be. 2 weeks later I was on the trail, 5.5 months later I was at its northern terminus. Best decision I've ever made.
Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
211–220 of 461 posts
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Silly question, how do you earn money if you don’t have a 9 to 5?
At first I freelanced, and now I work for a small fully remote digital agency where I just take on projects at the capacity I have at the time and work on them in sprints. There isn't much day to day communication and no one is checking when you're online etc because everyone on the team is in different timezones. It's a dream scenario really, I am very lucky.
There's a lot to learn in this comment ;-) Thanks for sharing!
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#213I quit my job twice to travel.
First time around in 2008 I was a bit nervous since I was only one year into my career so wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get a job again. But it was a perfect moment, because I was still living at my parents home (planning to move out once back), had zero debt and few expenses and responsibilities to speak off. I worked at a small company and had a good relationship with my boss so I told him about my plans to go backpacking for 6 months in Latin America over a coffee and to my surprise he was very supportive and offered my to keep the job. If I remember correctly I didn’t actually ended up quitting, we just paused the contract.
Key learnings from that trip:
- After the first month, where I went to language school and stayed with a host family, I travelled way too fast. Barely staying more than 1-2 day in a place before moving on. Which is fun at the beginning but it quickly gets old to have the exact same conversations every day with other backpackers doing all the exact same routes. So towards the end I slowed down and e.g. almost stayed a month in Guanaja, a tiny island in the bay of Honduras which made a huge difference in actually experiencing the place.
- Learn as much of the local language as you can. Sure, if you stay on typical lonely planet routes, plenty people will be able to speak some English and these days with smart phones you can use translators, but it makes a world of a difference when interacting with locals, especially if you get out of the tourist/backpacker areas, if you at least try to speak their language.
- The more touristy the place (this includes “secret” tips from books and websites), the more you unfortunately have to deal with people trying to rip you off, pickpocketing etc. No different than in Europe in that regard.
- Don’t be overly paranoid. Yes, all those countries have a significantly higher crime rate than Switzerland where I’m from, but those tend to be focused on certain areas, so if you act sensibly the probability of something happening to you is actually low. Same for food. If you just go for vacation for 2 weeks you want to minimize risk to not ruin it. But for longer term travels I rather be sick for a bit and try things than acting like everything is going to kill me.
- Don’t plan too much ahead. I met people that had exact travel plans fir the entire trip, booking everything ahead of time, knowing which hostal their going to stay in 6 months from now, etc. But in most cases this either just didn’t work out, it robbed them of flexibility, and also a lot of people only realize after starting traveling that it isn’t really for them. So better to stay flexible.
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The second time for traveling in 2012/2013 it was a bit more complicated, since I now had an apartment full of stuff, various subscriptions, insurances, etc and I planned to travel while working freelance for an unknown amount of time. I quit my job and started freelancing while still staying in Switzerland to build up contacts and starting to organize departure. I travelled for a bit over year in South America, mostly in Colombia and it ended basically by me deciding to just move here.
Learnings from traveling while working:
- Know what you need for working. There is this cliche of digital nomads working at the beach under palm trees, but to be honest it is way too hot/humid for me there to concentrate, and working in an AC’d hotel room is quite silly. So I prefer staying in more temperate climates while working and go to the beach for short trips.
- There is a lot of alcohol, drug use and partying in hostels. Your are not going to work productively if some teenagers are doing cocaine next to you at 10am on Tuesday morning. There are calm and relaxed hostels to be found everywhere, but you might have to look out for them and do a bit of try and error, but I still prefer them over airbnbs most of the time.
- Ergonomics still matter while traveling. While a well equipped co-working space might be less sexy than a hammock, after a while your back and arms will thank you to work more sensibly.
- Use a laptop that you can do basic repairs yourself. I phased out my MacBook because of this. There are more Apple Stores in Zürich than in all of Latin America. And those that can fix it unofficially might still be easily 10+ hours away from where you are.
- Large time zone differences are a curse and blessing. Make sure to align with your clients/employer up front to avoid them insisting calling you at 3am. Better to arrange something were e.g. you do development during their night so they can do testing, presentations, etc. during the day.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
I spent 3.5 months backpacking in India and Southeast Asia. I saw incredible places and stood in a hundred postcards. For me though, people are what had the most impact. Tens of thousands of Hindus come to die in Varanasi each year. If you die and are cremated there, you are freed from the cycle of rebirth and can attain salvation. I stood with an Indian friend on the edge of tears as I watched them burn the dead. He…
"Many Hindus come to die in Varanasi." Sorry this is an exaggeration , very few old people mostly around that region , most of them women abandoned by their family .
I updated "many" to "tens of thousands", since the word "many" is too subject to interpretation.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#215Absolutely 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…
Your third point is maybe a little narrow minded. People travel for different reasons and long term travel can be stressful and uncomfortable for a lot of people, including myself. If I just spent all day in an unfamiliar country by myself where I know absolutely no one, I don't speak the language, I've been trying new foods for weeks, and I'm exhausted because I did 15 miles and 8 hours of walking today - yeah, maybe I want some comfort food and to watch some Netflix. It doesn't mean I'm not appreciating my travels. If anything it lets me appreciate my traveling more.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#216Absolutely 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…
I love watching local TV stations for a bit to get the vibe
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you manage to stay long-term on a foreign country, immigration-wise?
Depending on your nationality, a lot of countries have flexible tourist visas. For example, Americans can visit Armenia for 6 months, Albania for 12 months, Georgia for 12 months, India for 6 months at a time (up to 10 years), and so on. In Europe, you also have many countries outside of the Schengen area, meaning that you can do three months in one then hop to another. E.g. spend 3 months in Berlin, then 3 months in…
I would be careful getting in and out of Schengen. That would probably work a couple of time. But immigration can refuse it without causes, too.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have lived abroad for about 7 years now. It has dramatically changed how I think about the world, what my values are, and what I want in my own future. It is miles beyond "I heard some new stories from the countries I stayed and it changed my perspective!"
The OP asked for concrete examples and not vague sweeping statements and here you are doing exactly this. As someone with the same sentiment and question as the OP I'm disappointed.
Vague sweeping statements? I’m literally an entirely different person because I decided to spend years abroad. That isn’t concrete enough for you?
I grew up in a decayed industrial town in the Midwest. My parents didn’t go to college and I had very little interest in traveling or foreign cultures. If you were to predict my life based on my family and socioeconomic background, I’d be still living in the same empty town as everyone else I grew up with.
Instead, I was lucky enough to get a remote job as a customer service agent. At some point after that, I realized I could work from anywhere, so I used it as an opportunity to visit Japan and then Europe.
Now, I’ve lived in / visited over twenty countries, have a deep interest in foreign languages, and am in the process of getting foreign citizenship. It wasn’t a deliberate, “eureka!” moment, but a gradual exposure to new ideas and people. That’s how life works in general IMO.
The world is a big place and people have different values. Traveling is the single easiest way to understand this. It is really that simple.
As an American, I’ve noticed that this attitude of disinterest toward the outside world is common, even encouraged. It’s not a good thing and frankly it’s the source of a lot of problems with the country today.
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, dating apps didn't work great for me at all because I have the misfortune of being both unattractive and picky, but couch surfing hangouts work fantastically, especially for meeting local people. Walking around at least puts you in places where people can talk to you, occasionally they do. Wearing unique or attention grabbing things gives people an excuse to talk to you. I always choose trains and buses to trave…
> both unattractive and picky I know this is HN, but I do have to say: good luck! :-D
Yo forgot the third parameter in the function..
Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself. Did you speak the local language?
Nope. Until you travel you don't even have the slightest clue what a privilege it is to speak English or be from America. Educated middle/upper class people everywhere except china (where there is almost no english at all) generally speak at the very least broken English, if not fluent english. That being said: One of the most interesting people I met was in china, and I'd say complex ideas were 75% communicated in e…
Not to nitpick, please don't use the term "broken English".