ImThaired 4 points5 points 10 months ago

Yeah. I'm "opting out of the rat race" by not pursuing a career and traveling on work visas instead. If you don't have anything holding you down you can work for 3-6 months at a temp job, travel for a month or so between each place, and actually end up saving money after funding your travels. Meanwhile you're constantly able to explore new places and cultures on the weekends.

I can't imagine sitting around playing video games for years at a time. That would drive me insane and I think I'd actually prefer a dead end job to that.

doolbro 2 points3 points 10 months ago

I can barely book gigs as a freelance musician. Could you tell me how the heck you find a new job every 3-6 months in other countries? I'd love to just book gigs a month in advance.

ImThaired 1 point2 points 10 months ago

It's all about not caring what sort of work you do while putting 100% into it. Go to a few temp agencies when you get to a new city, spend a few hours browsing Craigslist/seek/gumtree/indeed, and be willing to do farm work by following what's in season -- usually for piece rate. Either that or do (sometimes under the table) hospitality jobs. Those are supposed to be pretty easy to find but I've done enough customer service to last a lifetime so I avoid those when I'm travelling.

Alternatively, work for in a hostel for 2-3 nights a week in exchange for a free bed. Then you have enough time to get another part time job while your expenses are just food/transport/phone.

It's certainly not a lifestyle for everyone and you've gotta give some hustle, but I find it extremely rewarding.

Edit: oh and it's probably easier to do this while travelling, because the companies that are looking for long term employees will immediately filter you out. The companies that will hire you understand that you've been jumping jobs because you're travelling, not because you keep getting fired every 3 months.

[deleted] 2 points3 points 10 months ago


ImThaired 0 points1 point 10 months ago

That's actually a great point that I haven't thought about too much. Luckily I'm still young enough (23) that most of my peers haven't either so I'm not too worried about falling behind yet.

Realistically, I'll probably reassess my long term financial plan when I hit my next goal (25k savings, no debt) at ~25. In fact, this question is probably going to stick with me now and hopefully I'll have a plan ready to go when I get there.