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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?

#311

Post by smileysteve »

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…

I experienced this when traveling Thailand; it was nearly impossible to get food that was spicy enough to match my Atlanta, Georgia (US) expectations. The staff would snicker as they brought the chili's out.

In many ways it made me realize just how good multiple cultures have combined to make my "home" food good.

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

#312

Post by Bradlinc »

FlyingSaucer wrote: post #148
anonytrary wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now, almost, 10 years later it just feel like it never happen, memories are fading fast as I went with settled life. Dang. As a nerd in his late 20s thinking the same, you make it sound pretty bleak, tbh. I guess it's just time for me to settle down, then go explore the world with my partner because that's what matters EOD.

I'm not OP, but as someone who traveled for a few years without the goal of 'finding myself' i actually found the experience pretty transformative to my character. Yes, Some of the more 'backpacky' memories do fade(might also have to do with the excessive drinking associated with it). I still found that by immersing yourself in other cultures and ways of living you can gain more perspective about your own goals in li…

My experience has been similar. I found in the short term I too wasn't transformed but after 15 years it is more apparent that the small changes that did take place during my travels have greatly shaped my life. A few things I can think off of the top of my head are: 1) I own few very things 2) I am far more frugal (especially when it comes to food.) 3) I take risk. 4) I value friendships as a great source of happiness. Little of of this was in my upbringing.

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

#313

Post by AlwaysRock »

bfirsh wrote: post #285

When I quit my job and went travelling I used this framework: 1. Go via land. You see everything in between all the places you should see as a tourist. You immerse yourself in how a place actually feels. You meet people who aren’t just trying to extract money from you. I cycled, because I like cycling, but any form of transport works. 2. My algorithm was something like “Go east. Stay somewhere if it’s interesting, un…

Sounds like an incredible experience. Were you able to transition back into working easily?

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

#314

Post by wing-_-nuts »

keiferski wrote: post #226
dencodev wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, mayb…

> only eating Western food, reading Harry Potter, and watching Netflix while abroad. I specifically wrote only in my comment.

I'm with you on food, food is universal, but when I read a book or watch a movie I want it to be in a language I'm fully fluent in.

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

#315

Post by cmos »

jarbus wrote: post #244
cmos wrote: post #228

I got rid of everything I owned and spent 1.5 years biking around the US. I lived at a whitewater rafting company for 3 weeks, was hosted at music festivals, taken in by hundreds of people and lived in yellowstone for a month in their hiker/biker campsites for $2/day. I was working part time the whole time for a small mobile hardware startup. It was amazing!! The toughest part was being alone the whole time, though i…

How did you go about asking people to take you in? Surely hundreds of people didn't offer some stranger to stay with them?

Never asked.. people just offered. I attribute this to being on a bicycle, disheveled, loaded with my gear, biking through towns that don't normally see a biker. I would sometimes ask if people knew a nice quiet place to camp, which resulted in either them inviting me over OR the local epic camping spot.

Sometimes my meal was paid for by someone in the cafe. Park Rangers brought me extra food, at campsites fellow campers would invite me over for dinner. One day on the Natchez Trace I got the trifecta: breakfast, lunch + dinner all provided for by people.

When people see someone on an adventure they often want to hear stories. They also want to tell you their stories, and often need someone just to listen to them, be there for a nonjudgemental cry or help navigate a big life decision or just as a sounding board. As a traveller passing through they feel a certain freedom to open up, knowing I'll be gone the next day. One old guy texted me months later saying "2 months not smoking!", another fellow I biked with for a day texted me "my wife is pregnant!" after he talked about whether he wanted kids or not for a day.

Also, everyone has a broken computer at their home or small business, and need help getting something working. So in some cases that was an entry point. I often offered to help them and get things in order, sometimes making lifetime friendships. If I was a musician I would have been busking.

check out adventurecycling.org !!

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

#316

Post by simonw »

john4532452 wrote: post #125
simonw wrote: post #9

After we got married back in 2010 my partner Natalie and I quit our jobs with the intent to travel the world for as long as we could get away with. We ended up starting a startup together in Morocco, applied to YC from Luxor in Egypt, got accepted, moved to Mountain View and spent the next three years running a startup before getting acquired. It kind of ruined the honeymoon! Natalie wrote up the full story here: htt…

What is this startup about? The company page is dead.

Lanyrd was a "social conference directory" - it helped people find conferences to go to based on who they followed on Twitter, maintain their own speaker profiles, track the schedule and catch up on slides, notes and videos afterwards.

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

#318

Post by Vepkhvi »

g_sch wrote: post #237

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 mon…

3-9 months seems long for the average American in terms of travel, but it really isn't long enough to gain a social foothold and enough understanding in the local language to feel a certain connectedness to the place. I absolutely think any travel abroad does broaden one's horizons, but perhaps not to the extent that it's touted in pop culture. I served in the US Peace Corps for two years, and the experience utterly shattered the person I was before, and re-formed me into someone far more understanding, compassionate, empathetic, etc. But that type of experience is highly focused with a great emphasis on cultural integration and language-learning.

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

#319

Post by surfsvammel »

I tried this kind of life for a while (about a year, maybe), but did not find it as fulfilling as I had imagined.

I remember the day when I decided to go back home. I met a German guy, in his mid-fifties, who had been living out of his suitcase most of his live. He was extremely talkative and very friendly. We shared some drinks and talked most of the night. Next day, both of us travelled onwards, each towards our own new destination. That is when I realised that I could not keep doing this, I did not want to be like that guy when I was in my mid-fifties. He was happy, but I wouldn’t have been.

All I can say is that I believe the idea of such a life is romantic, but not for everyone. If you try it, and find that you don’t like it, it’s not a failure to come back home and get back to a “normal” life. With that said, the best way to find out if such a life is for you is to try it out.

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

#320

Post by sbfeibish »

What I learned before there was an Internet. So the web, your ability to brand yourself, create your own YouTube channels, and so on may invalidate the following. Yes, you get to see the world, maybe reduce your expenses, avoid taxes. But you lose any network you've developed in your home country. People forget who you are. It might be harder to find the job you want when you return. So what I would do is make sure I had a presence on the Internet and Facebook. And keep in touch so you don't lose that network of people that know you and your work.
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