Wow, this guy has a pretty aggressive modal popup that promotes his other articles: http://img.skitch.com/20090902-kcw6ah5sr6mkpk786ny6sq95d.jpg
Appears when you scroll down past the article to the comments area.
Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
41–50 of 76 posts
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not saying you are wrong, but could you give some examples? There are always zillions of options in life - to choose one, a little more than "currently unknown" would be nice? Is traveling better than working on a startup?
This is one of those things that is incredibly difficult to explain to people that haven't done it, while the people who have, instantly get what you're talking about. I disagree with the author that you shouldn't just travel, but you should actually live in different places. You hardly learn anything from staying in a place for a few days but you learn much more if you stay in a place for at least a few months. Livi…
"Living abroad challenges you in ways that are very hard to find at home."
Totally agree. Once you've done a job interview in another language, or worked with foreign colleagues, you'll have new insights into the way companies work in your home country and confidence to tackle things you wouldn't have dreamed of doing before.
One downside to living abroad: In some industries you lose some networking juice and connections that you would have otherwise built had you stayed at home. That's mainly a concern for people who work in industries which don't value overseas experience or connections.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#43I know someone doing this. He worked for a software company in SF and quit a year ago. He's been an extra in a bollywood film, stayed with monks in some temple, volunteered at an orphanage outside of Kathmandu, etc. His pics and stories show up on facebook every couple weeks. For the record, he has no idea what he's going to do for money when he gets back. But maybe he won't come back.
Money is overrated, it is pretty easy to survive in the world. Consider that coming from a western country, you have command over the English language, an education more than half the world doesn't have, and a passport.
60% of the people the world alone would kill just to have your passport.
That's awesome your friend is doing that, I traveled through India myself. Money is easy.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#44* "I like staying at home." - This is another way of saying, "I'm afraid of change and different experiences."* Bullshit. I find travel very stressful, and none of it is due to fear of change and different experiences. It comes from living out of a suitcase, having to re-buy all the toiletries and crap I have at home but forgot to bring, and being away from my wife and dogs who I enjoy spending time with. Just rememb…
I never found that buying forgotten toiletries and crap was a very stressful experience.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#45The question is not about "Why" but about "How". How would I get the money to travel around the world exactly?
Would you be surprised if I told you the author of this article was willing to sell you the answer?
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how this Victorian ethic applies. He's not talking about the poor, but rather those who have "chosen to spend money on a lot of other things", i.e. the middle-class.
He assumes you make more than $2 a day. http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/you-are-incredibly-rich/
And given his audience is probably 80% American, he'd be right.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#47Meh. Travel is overrated. The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed. Staying in another country for a substantial amount of time, on the other hand, is of course an entirely different matter but travelling for the sake of travelling, while pleasurable in and of itself, does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from…
I disagree. How much you learn is dependent on how willing you are to put yourself out there, even if only for a brief period of time. While I prefer to travel for longer periods of time, I certainly will not knock a two week trip through Europe. You can learn and experience a lot with the right attitude and outlook. To attempt an analogy fitting for this forum, saying that it "does not teach you anything you couldn'…
I've lived in six different countries and traveled to dozens. I agree that some travel expands people's horizons. Some people gain more from the experience than others, depending on their willingness to really see new perspectives. But my experience with "endless travelers" on the whole does not incline me to think they have access to any kind of special enlightenment that isn't accessible to everyday people who travel far less.
In fact, the I've-been-on-the-road-for-a-year types you run into in hostels are often narcissistic overindulged wankers for whom the travel is more about dick size and proving how "different" they are than some mechanism for truly expanding their horizons. Their travel is about their personal insecurity, not the "deep" journey they want you to believe it is.
I'm not knocking travel in general, but nor do I in any way believe that someone who HAS traveled a great deal is more world-wise, intelligent or self-assured than someone who has not.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#48Doesn't really sound like fun. What exactly am I supposed to do at theses places? Yay, I'm sitting alone in my hotel room in Shanghai, now what? Walk around mindlessly and take a look at the surroundings? Gets boring fast I guess. Go into a bar and try to talk to strangers in english? Hmmm.. don't know, maybe I am too uncreative for that.
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#49One problem with traveling he fails to address is the interruption to your career. What if leaving your job for a while means you miss
promotion opportunities? What if by the time you get back
someone else has picked up on your startup idea?
Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World
#50Meh. Travel is overrated. The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed. Staying in another country for a substantial amount of time, on the other hand, is of course an entirely different matter but travelling for the sake of travelling, while pleasurable in and of itself, does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from…
Double Meh. Traveling is definitely overrated. Nonconformity != Traveling. The perks of travelling just to "see" new places is novel, but gets old fast. If you've travelled a lot, you get to see the hoards of backpackers and tourists that swarm to the usual (and usual unusual) destinations, and it starts to get lame, fast. And I'd agree mtts that you don't "learn" much about just visiting a country. Sure, you may "se…
New Zealand not environmentally progressive? Oh come on. Who else spends so much money to protect a stupid parrot that lives on the ground and can't fight?