Do it, and the younger you are (after college), the better it will be.
If I were to pick one thing, only the most important thing, it would be that self improvement is the only escape from the hedonic treadmill.
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As Secondary pieces of advice:
You will find that wherever you go, there you are. Escapism is not a good reason to travel the world unless you need to learn that lesson first hand.
You will find your experience varies greatly with who you are. If you are super social, you will have a better experience. If you are a pretty person, more adventure will just happen to you and opportunities will just appear. If you've spent time learning a language, that is a gateway to all kinds of adventure. Made a lot of money? You won't have to be frugal/you aren't limited by much. The more you've invested into yourself, the more it pays off, especially with travel. You'll find that the people who have traveled the longest are often attractive, social, and have money.
I don't like Tim Ferris one bit, I think he's a snake oil salesman, but 4 hour work week had an amazing thought experiment. "You win the lotto today and never have to work another day in your life, how are you going to spend your time?" I would strongly encourage brainstorming the answer to that question before you travel and figuring out the answer while you travel.
Tips:
- read the book "vagabonding"
- you *must* set goals and work towards them
- It is easy to not have structure to your days. This *will* harm you.
- You really, really should set up several hours a day to do something "work" like.
- Hostels are great, even 2 nights in a hostel when you first get to a place will pay off huge
- 2 weeks is really the minimum amount of time to spend in a (big) city
- 1 month is the floor minimum amount of time to spend in 1 country (I found 2 optimal).
- The more poor the country, the more privileged and exploitative you will feel
- People are generally friendly and forgiving everywhere
- The world is vastly less dangerous than you might expect, but be on guard
- America is seen pretty positively in Asia
- The more off the path you are/The more risks you take, the better things will be
- Prepare to feel lonely
- prepare to stretch yourself socially
- If you travel long enough, you start to treasure companionship above all other things
- The most beautiful sunset in the world is empty without someone to share it with
- The more uncomfortable you are, the more you are growing
- Stuff is a prison. Pack less than you think you need. Then less than that.
The lottery question is a lot more difficult for some than others. I've been asking it of myself my entire life and took a year off working on two separate occasions and never even got close to answering it. Traveling certainly did nothing to help answer it either.
If I were to pick one thing, only the most important thing, it would be that self improvement is the only escape from the hedonic treadmill.
-
As Secondary pieces of advice:
You will find that wherever you go, there you are. Escapism is not a good reason to travel the world unless you need to learn that lesson first hand.
You will find your experience varies greatly with who you are. If you are super social, you will have a better experience. If you are a pretty person, more adventure will just happen to you and opportunities will just appear. If you've spent time learning a language, that is a gateway to all kinds of adventure. Made a lot of money? You won't have to be frugal/you aren't limited by much. The more you've invested into yourself, the more it pays off, especially with travel. You'll find that the people who have traveled the longest are often attractive, social, and have money.
I don't like Tim Ferris one bit, I think he's a snake oil salesman, but 4 hour work week had an amazing thought experiment. "You win the lotto today and never have to work another day in your life, how are you going to spend your time?" I would strongly encourage brainstorming the answer to that question before you travel and figuring out the answer while you travel.
Tips: