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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?

#231

Post by Havoc »

Kiro wrote: post #127
noname123 wrote: post #25

I'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 I never want to leave my home again. I'm happiest sitting in front of my computer. Feels good to have "been there, done that" so I don't need to worry about what-ifs.

This in part is why I don’t mind travelling alone. Everything happens on my terms

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#232

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

left my home country to go backpacking in Asia and Australia in the early 90ies.

Had a plan to stay at least 1 year (that's how long I hoped my savings would last before I had to either earn a living or go back home). And I'm still abroad (not Asia) until this day. Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)

After a decade in APAC, and having gotten married to a Japanese flight-attendant working for Singapore airlines, a child on our way, we returned to Europe. We kept this life style as a young family and lived in various countries over here (which was as much excitement for my wife as Asia was to me).

We found that most countries are a great adventure for us except our very own home countries. We agreed to never return back to our own country as a couple because it took away the adventure for one of us and made things hard during the early phases when going through "reverse culture shock". We eventually split up after 20 years of traveling together and having raised 2 kids. Both of us still feel at home anywhere and neither would ever return to their home country. My kids are at university now, speak 3 languages on a native level + 3 foreign languages they had picked up along the way. Best thing I ever did was pack that rucksack.

with countries opening up again I hope to go either back to Asia (by myself) or continue my exploration of South Eastern Europe. A challenge I had set for myself after the break-up because my wife would never go to there (it's a lot harder to survive there using the above "rules/philosophy")

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#233

Post by dencodev »

swiley wrote: post #30
rsync wrote: post #11

If 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.

A lot of people don't want a family and are happy in their twenties without a partner

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#234

Post by dencodev »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #205

I've been thinking about doing this for a while. I appreciate the advise to stay longer, as in months to years. I had been thinking 2-3 weeks, but will reconsider. My approach was to stay in AirBnbs, in a private room and with hosts that purport to be outgoing. The premise being that they could act as a conduit to local social behaviors and activities.

If you're newer to traveling I think a couple weeks is fine. When you visit enough places you'll figure out where you want to be long term

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#235

Post by presentation »

Went great. Met my wife, learned a new language, made a company with my other friends who quit, got much healthier and am enjoying the environment around me much more than when I was living in SF. I lived in a place that never shut down or had mass casualties like the USA did, and despite living in a city I’ve spent the whole last year out and about. And if I hadn’t gone I probably wouldn’t have been able to do most of what I’ve done because of COVID.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#236

Post by dencodev »

hayst4ck wrote: post #66

Do it, and the younger you are (after college), the better it will be. If I were to pick one thing, only the most important thing, it would be that self improvement is the only escape from the hedonic treadmill . - As Secondary pieces of advice: You will find that wherever you go, there you are. Escapism is not a good reason to travel the world unless you need to learn that lesson first hand. You will find your exper…

The lottery question is a lot more difficult for some than others. I've been asking it of myself my entire life and took a year off working on two separate occasions and never even got close to answering it. Traveling certainly did nothing to help answer it either.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#237

Post by g_sch »

I'm interested in a lot of these responses because they don't reflect my experience - I wonder if that's the result of sampling bias (e.g. people with good travel experiences are drawn to this thread) or if I'm the aberration.

Granted, I didn't quit my job, but after graduate school I moved to Germany from the US and took a job consulting. For three years I lived in places like Berlin, Madrid, Split...etc for 3-9 months at a time. There were enjoyable things about it, sure, but I really underestimated how difficult it was to discard your entire social circle and start over. A few years ago I moved back to the US, in a city where a lot of my friends had moved to, and it was probably the most positive decision I've ever made in my life.

I also feel like my time abroad didn't "broaden my horizons" all that much, and I find myself skeptical about the claims that international travel makes you a better person. I think what you get out of travel is heavily based on how you decide to relate to places and people, and merely leaving your country does not guarantee this will change.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#238

Post by tartoran »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #232

left my home country to go backpacking in Asia and Australia in the early 90ies. Had a plan to stay at least 1 year (that's how long I hoped my savings would last before I had to either earn a living or go back home). And I'm still abroad (not Asia) until this day. Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is re…

> Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)

This makes sense but how do you sustain yourself if it's hard and you often fail at it? Living extremely frugally?

I can see the excitement in this but I admit this is not for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go?

#239

Post by gwd »

DanielleMolloy wrote: post #183
gwd wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A bit obvious, maybe, but I've met many people who insisted on only eating Western food[...] At that point, why even bother traveling? Whenever I have a guide (either professional or a local friend), this is often strangely a lot of work. Particularly the tour companies I've gone with in China insist on trying to get me a Western breakfast. If I wanted pancakes and sausage I would have just stayed at home and cooke…

They are probably used to closed-minded arrogant Westeners whining aloud about not getting their cornflakes. Unfortunately. I also don't get people who won't at least try local customs like eating cooked fish on rice with green tea in the morning, but there are plenty of them. These people usually don't do well in really different countries and complain and whine and compare to home all the time instead of curious ob…

> They are probably used to closed-minded arrogant Westeners whining aloud about not getting their cornflakes. Unfortunately.

Others have pointed out that lots of cultures have this problem: I read a Chinese newspaper article a few years ago about mainland Chinese bring suitcases full of instant noodles to eat when traveling abroad.

But while there are certainly Westerners like that, I don't think they were the cause of my problem. First of all, lunch and dinner on these tours was typically "Chinese" food, but something which was clearly targeted at a Western palate (which was perhaps even more frustrating). I think ironically, it was probably people who did want to try "authentic" cuisine -- or thought they did -- who were causing some of my problems. My guess is that they had people say they wanted "authentic cuisine", but when given actually authentic cuisine, didn't like it -- it didn't taste like the "authentic" cuisine in the Chinese restaurants at home.

Secondly, it probably does help people to deal with the new thing if they have something familiar. If you want to try something new but have never been outside the US, "three genuine Chinese meals a day for two weeks" is really throwing you in in the deep end. "Western breakfast and pseudo-Chinese lunch and dinner" probably is a much better way for those kinds of people to experience something new.

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