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

Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

chrisguillebeau.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–76 of 76 posts

Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

#71

Post by jasonkester »

mattmaroon wrote: post #16

His fiscal argument, that we could afford it if we reshuffled our priorities to buy fewer iPods and more plane tickets, is wrong because buying iPods doesn't require us to quit our job.

No. Buying fewer iPods allows you to quit your job.

If you live like a college student for just a few years after leaving college (keep the shit car, live in a cheap studio, don't buy stuff you can't afford) you'll soon find you've got $50,000 sitting in the bank. I mean look at it, they're giving you $5,000 every week now to work at this job, when they used to be charging you money to go to school. If you can't find the willpower to save a few pennies at that point, there's something seriously amiss.

Anyway, you'll find that your tolerance for a crap job goes way down when you have $50k sitting around and no car payments or mortgage. Spending $10k of it hitching across Africa for a year starts to seem like a good idea.

So yes, by reshuffling our fiscal priorities, we can definitely make travel more doable. I know this because I've done it.

Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

#72

Post by jasonkester »

mtts wrote: post #21

Meh. 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…

The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed.

Compared to, say, sitting in a cubicle for the same amount of time? I'd put my money on Travel.

Being on the road accelerates your life. Things happen faster, and more things happen. You'll need half an hour to explain to somebody what you did yesterday. When I'm living in the 'states, saving up for the next trip, I can often sum up an entire month in about 5 minutes.

It's just night and day. I'd suggest you try spending a year on the road & let us know if you learn anything.

Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

#73

Post by salvadors »

skolor wrote: post #20
sirrocco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With an emphasis on : "how do I get money to travel if I'm not in the US visiting poor countries but I'm in a poor country and I want to travel"

Its relatively cheap to travel abroad, especially if you're willing to live simply while you're there. If you plan significantly far in advance, you can usually find airfare for $500-750 round trip, or cheaper, depending on where you want to go. Then if you plan it out, you can usually stay wherever you are for I'm not sure about where you are, but even someone in the US, working full time at McDonalds, making $6 an…

$100 a day!? That's not living simply - that's staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. I'm an active CouchSurfing host and I've met many travellers who get by on $100 per month. And that's in Europe. You can stretch that out for 3 months in lots of parts of Africa or SE Asia.

CouchSurfing and equivalents can drastically cut your accommodation expenses. Hitch-hiking or cycling give you free travel. Even travelling by bus can be remarkably cheap in most countries if you go the slow way (which also lets you see much more of the country that just the capital) - you can often go 50-100km for a couple of euros. Your primary cost is food, and if you've learned to cook even a few basic meals, you can easily get by on a couple of euros a day.

Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

#74

Post by jasonkester »

zaph0d wrote: post #5

The question is not about "Why" but about "How". How would I get the money to travel around the world exactly?

Travel is basically free if you're doing it for any length of time.

In Africa, Southeast Asia, or Central America, you can live on $5-$20/day depending on where you go. Hitching through Malawi will run you $3/day tops. Assuming you've ditched your rent/car payments/etc. back home, you're going to be living an order of magnitude cheaper than you would if you simply stayed in the USA.

For short trips, your flight will be the dominant cost. For long trips, you're just not going to spend that much.

If you can put away a measly ten grand, you can stay gone for a long time. How much did you make this year? More to the point, why didn't you manage to save at least $10k of it?

Re: Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

#76

Post by shard »

jdrock wrote: post #19
dagw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By prioritising it higher than any other non-essential cost you have. I know people who have saved up for 6 month round the world trips while working in various menial low paying jobs. The question is, like for most things, is how badly do you want it. Of course it helps if you don't have a family to support.

..or I could work hard, get my startup to exit, and travel as much as I want for the many years in life afterward. Why does travel have to be done when I'm in my 20s/30s/etc.?

Because the human body ages, and traveling involves physical stamina. When I travel, I often end up walking around multiple hours a day for a week or two. This is getting more difficult as I get older. I can imagine that when I am in my 50s or 60s, those tour buses will start looking mighty tempting.
Post reply on HN