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Any advice from those who have done it? Did you get bored? Was it worth it? Was it more expensive? Things you found helpful when preparing?
I could probably stop working for about 6 months if I pick a cheap country.
With my paid job I sometimes got overwhelmed and sometimes felt a lack of purpose. At those times I found solace in side projects and would even try to sneak in working on them at my paid job. A few of those projects were successful enough to quit my paid job for a few years.
Since then I've turned to quitting my job first and then trying to start a side project. It's not the same and I haven't succeeded. When you have infinite time you stop to value it. You can always do it tomorrow or next month and the procrastination or perfectionism creep in.
My sister says that if you really want something done, you should give it to the busiest person you know. It seems contradictory, but the busy person values their time and they will get your task done as fast and as efficiently as possible.
Make sure you have your health insurance lined up, in case you have a hernia in Australia and get it operated on then... never know.
Have a better 'back to work plan' then what I had.
Have goals and schedules. Have some loose timelines. RE examine your goals, preferably with a trusted friend, to keep you intellectually honest. Do this on a strongly fixed schedule. Be it once a week, once a month, every other month. I would not recommend less often then every 3 months.
My first trip was a burnout fix. My second was because I could.
I would say make a detailed budget, but that depends on your plans and resources. I did not, but I usually have a good sense of what my finances are.
Do not go into debt for this.
I enjoyed being off grid with even my smartphone mostly off and being used just as a camera. It just felt very relaxing and I was in the best of my mental state then. I got the chance to meet a lot of new people from different backgrounds and just have different experiences in different places.
I didn't regret it a bit but after a while I kind of started missing my computer as well, because I do really enjoy building stuff as well. So after five months, I started working on some ideas I had, sadly they didn't pan out and I joined a new job in some time after doing 2-3 weeks of interview preparation. In total, it was a break of about a year.
Since I mostly used to stay in hostels, tents and was mostly on foot or cycle, it wasn't expensive. But if you are used to a paycheck, it seems weird when you have to take money out of your investments. So, you start thinking about your long term savings after a while.
I am not sure what you meant by preparing, I didn't have an exact plan or budget. I just had some mental estimate of the rough expenditure and how much of my savings I was willing to burn.
It totally depends on you but if I do it again; I would plan it a bit upfront(at least the major checkpoints) and would keep my break between 3-6 months.
I don't think I could go back at this point. Also, I tend to give less of a shit about social pressures if you are not always worried your boss or whoever might see something to say or type.
Overall I feel bad for people that have to live the life of working.
I haven't been bored for too long since boredom is a trigger for getting some work. We are in a relatively inexpensive area to live which helps financially.
I would rather leave some money on the table and have more free time.
I'm also planning on doing this. I fervently want to live in another country for at least a few months. I could probably stop working for about 6 months if I pick a cheap country.
I'm also planning on doing this. I fervently want to live in another country for at least a few months. I could probably stop working for about 6 months if I pick a cheap country.
In my experience you need to live somewhere for a bit longer to really understand and appreciate it. Takes me about a year to get of the shock and start to settle in. If you can, make it 3 years for a proper taste.