Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Indefinite Backpack Travel

jeremymaluf.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 429 posts

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#301

Post by rhubarbtree »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #299
jojobas wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relatively few people's economic output can compare with them producing new people. If your last name is not Feynman or Curie your most valuable contribution to the society is a couple of kids.

I'm not sure about this math. What percent of my kids' economic output am I supposed to take credit for? And even if it's "all of it", if you can make some big company or semi-common job 0.00001x more efficient then that's a bigger impact than having kids.

Anything you can do, your kids can also do, so leverage.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#302

Post by rhubarbtree »

lmm wrote: post #251
driverdan wrote: post #239

I did this for a bit. The approach is very useful to learn. Traveling light is so, so much better. I never check bags unless there's a very good reason. It does have some downsides. You're constantly making and throwing away relationships. I found this the hardest part. Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make man…

> Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make many small trips to grocery stores and rent places with furnished kitchens. There is no self reliance, no preparation for things to go wrong besides saving money and hoping you can buy your way out. Everyone lives in and depends on society. I don't think that means you're…

You’re subsidised if you’re not contributing back what you take, if you’re not participating positively in a system but are reliant on it.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#303

Post by doix »

porphyra wrote: post #241
driverdan wrote: post #239

I did this for a bit. The approach is very useful to learn. Traveling light is so, so much better. I never check bags unless there's a very good reason. It does have some downsides. You're constantly making and throwing away relationships. I found this the hardest part. Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make man…

> You're constantly making and throwing away relationships. Yeah, this lifestyle basically only works as a single young adult. Once you have a significant other, it's very, very hard. Once you have a kid, it's impossible.

> Yeah, this lifestyle basically only works as a single young adult. Once you have a significant other, it's very, very hard.

I've been doing it with my significant other for 5ish years now. I would say it's _much_ harder to do it solo and I would've settled down long ago if it wasn't for her.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#304

Post by doix »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #302
lmm wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make many small trips to grocery stores and rent places with furnished kitchens. There is no self reliance, no preparation for things to go wrong besides saving money and hoping you can buy your way out. Everyone lives in and depends on society. I don't think that means you're…

You’re subsidised if you’re not contributing back what you take, if you’re not participating positively in a system but are reliant on it.

I don't see how that applies here though. You are paying for all the services you consume. Someone that eats out all the time contributes significantly more economically to the restaurants in the area compared to someone that lives in the area permanently but always cooks at home.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#305

Post by Atomic_Torrfisk »

Ferret7446 wrote: post #285
delichon wrote: post #10

I lived out of a backpack for two months on a Pacific Crest Trail hike. I got comfortable with it and told myself that I had overcome my materialism, and could henceforth live happily without a lot of stuff and conveniences. Not so much. Now a couple of decades later, I've got a house and garage crammed with stuff. Yesterday I had a plumber here working on a leak, and this morning I have no running water, and here I…

You couldn't survive with just a backpack if other people "overcame their materialism" and didn't own all of the capital that allowed you to survive, like providing you your equipment, food, knowledge, and emergency rescue if it came to it. Criticizing "hedonism" is its own kind of hedonism, or in common parlance, a first world problem. It is a luxury that cannot be indulged by poor societies.

Of course you can. This is just crabs in a bucket mentality.

> Criticizing "hedonism" is its own kind of hedonism

false dichotomy. Of course capitalism and our indulgence in material goods has gone too far. That does not mean we have to be totally pious in life.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#306

Post by Loocid »

porphyra wrote: post #241
driverdan wrote: post #239

I did this for a bit. The approach is very useful to learn. Traveling light is so, so much better. I never check bags unless there's a very good reason. It does have some downsides. You're constantly making and throwing away relationships. I found this the hardest part. Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make man…

> You're constantly making and throwing away relationships. Yeah, this lifestyle basically only works as a single young adult. Once you have a significant other, it's very, very hard. Once you have a kid, it's impossible.

I agree with the kid point, but YouTube is littered with travel influencer couples that are living this lifestyle.

I would imagine if you had significant other to join you on this lifestyle, it would be significantly easier since your companionship is covered.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#307

Post by Dylan16807 »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #301
Dylan16807 wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure about this math. What percent of my kids' economic output am I supposed to take credit for? And even if it's "all of it", if you can make some big company or semi-common job 0.00001x more efficient then that's a bigger impact than having kids.

Anything you can do, your kids can also do, so leverage.

1. I exist at a particular point in time with particular skills. My kids cannot do the same things.

2. Even if they did do the same thing, getting it done 30 years earlier has a bigger effect.

3. I still don't think it's right for me to take 100% credit for everything my kids do.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#308

Post by [deleted] »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #302
lmm wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your lifestyle is subsidized by society. You depend on other people and services to make it work. You either have to eat out all the time or make many small trips to grocery stores and rent places with furnished kitchens. There is no self reliance, no preparation for things to go wrong besides saving money and hoping you can buy your way out. Everyone lives in and depends on society. I don't think that means you're…

You’re subsidised if you’re not contributing back what you take, if you’re not participating positively in a system but are reliant on it.

[deleted]

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#309

Post by fedeb95 »

This page contains some interesting advice I didn't know, useful for traveling in general. Traveling without a luggage is a staple of mine, but I am not at this pro level yet.

For other commenters, overcoming materialism means not being attached to objects. Not necessarily living on a backpack. The idea is to have objects if you can, but don't suffer for their loss, or their gain. Seneca, the stoic thinker, might be a great read to start.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#310

Post by echelon_musk »

fedeb95 wrote: post #309

This page contains some interesting advice I didn't know, useful for traveling in general. Traveling without a luggage is a staple of mine, but I am not at this pro level yet. For other commenters, overcoming materialism means not being attached to objects. Not necessarily living on a backpack. The idea is to have objects if you can, but don't suffer for their loss, or their gain. Seneca, the stoic thinker, might be…

> “What the development of true renunciation implies is that we no longer rely on sensory pleasures for our ultimate happiness; we see the futility of expecting deep satisfaction from such limited, transitory phenomena. It is important to understand this point clearly. Renunciation is not the same as giving up pleasure or denying ourselves happiness. It means giving up our unreal expectations about ordinary pleasures. These expectations themselves are what turn pleasure into pain. It cannot be said too often that there is nothing wrong with pleasure. It is our grasping, exaggerating, distorting, and polluting attitude toward pleasure that must be abandoned.”

- Lama Thubten Yeshe

Post reply on HN