
Cross the world four times - damir
https://sivers.org/4
======
grecy
Years ago I realized sitting at a desk was not making me happy. So I quit my
Software Engineering job and took 2 years to drive from Alaska to Argentina,
having the time of my life. [1]

Then I worked for a bit again to save money, and quit again and just got back
this year from 3 years driving all the way around Africa. [2]

The people I met, the places I saw and the lessons I learned will stay with me
for the rest of my life, and I personally love the life.

I've decided I want to be a travel writer and photographer, because it makes
me happy. I have way less money, but I'm happier than I've ever been. I have
written a couple of books about my adventures, and I write for a slew of
magazines now too.

Do what makes you happy.

[1] The Road Chose Me Volume 1 -
[https://amzn.to/2wkxceX](https://amzn.to/2wkxceX)

[2] 999 Days Around Africa -
[https://amzn.to/2H93IUH](https://amzn.to/2H93IUH)

~~~
michalstanko
I have been working as a JS dev for the past 17 years, I'm now 40, and what
you wrote resonates with me so much. Even though I like coding and learning
and trying out new stuff, I've developed this love for Spain's coasts, I just
wish I could be there discovering it every single minute, being outside, being
physically active. And the older I get, the more I feel this urgency to stop
wasting my life at the desk. On the other hand, I have 2 small/ish children
and a wife I need to provide for, virtually no savings, living in a landlocked
Central European country with dark, cold winters. I wonder if I'm ever going
to be able to escape this somehow and really do what I love, or be where I
want to be, before I turn into an old man unable to do any physical activity.

And the winter is coming...again. :-(

;-)

P.S. Will definitely buy your book, so I can daydream with you.

~~~
grecy
You absolutely can do it. I met plenty of families living on the road, home
schooling their kids, etc. etc.

For me, it all starts with savings. If you really, really want to break out of
your current lifestyle, you have to start putting money away, and you have to
start now. It might take 5+ years, but if you want it badly enough, you will
find a way.

Keep in mind it's a lot (A LOT) cheaper than you think. Most people spend
around $1500/mo for absolutely all expenses to drive around the entire world.
[1] If you already have a place to live, it's really common to air b n b it
out and live off the income from that while you're on the road.

We only get one life. Make sure you're doing what you want with it.

Good luck!

[1] [http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-
adventure](http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-adventure)

------
spodek
If you're going to travel the world many times, learn to sail and favor
trains. Or define "world" as smaller than the actual globe.

The benefits of travel are numerous. They were there before our understanding
of global heating and pollution. Times have changed since sentiments like in
this post.

We have to factor our new understanding into our models for a good life.
Seeing as how billions of people before flying led happy lives, flying around
the world four times isn't necessary.

(To clarify, Derek didn't say you have to fly around the world four times. He
wrote it generally enough that you could interpret it several ways, but I
expect many people will interpret him to mean fly around the world four
times.)

~~~
noonespecial
>If you're going to travel the world many times, learn to sail and favor
trains.

Don't do it just for "the climate". There's something magic about sail and
rail. Traveling this way makes the world feel _immense_. And it is. We just
mostly miss it now riding in sky-cans from one Starbucks to the next.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
We've travelled to Europe by train instead of air, and the journey is as much
part of the experience as the destination. The cities we've stopped at, the
new and often mostly tourist free places we've found, that still have unique
national flavour. The travel time is no longer wasted, but part of the
holiday. Some of the most magic views have been from the train.

We've also discovered far, far more nationally, and a lot of jewels off the
beaten track away from the famous and touristy.

We'd miss that if we started going by air again. We mostly don't want to.

~~~
Swizec
I once traveled Europe by car with a friend. Some 8000 kilometers, 13 or 14
countries, 1 month. It was magical.

Will never forget the owner of a small camp in rural Spain who didn’t spoke a
word of English and was sooo excited to see foreigners that he fed us homemade
grappa basically until we dropped. His treat of course.

Or the random village on the border of France and Belgium where we had a flat
and had to ride our longboards into town and mime to people that we need help.
They got us a tow truck from 2 villages over on a Sunday. All without us
knowing a word of French or them a word of English.

Don’t waste travel time folks. It’s the best part of a vacation.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Yeah, it's exactly these sorts of lucky encounters in tiny restaurant or
village, with a few local characters, or the bar lock-in you didn't even know
you were invited to etc that stick the longest!

Sure beats 2 hrs in departures. :)

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sidcool
It's nicely written. I have personally always felt traveling is very
underrated as a means of education. In my late 30s now and feeling I missed a
lot in my 20s. But life moves on.

~~~
ChuckNorris89
If you don't have kids you can still do it.

Edit in response to replies: Going on vacation with kids is not the same as
traveling the world and doing that with the family only works if you're upper
class and have no worries about mortgage payments or job security so it's
definitely not an option for most people.

~~~
TheAlchemist
You can also do it if you do have kids.

Way too often we think about kids as limiting factor. We try to tell them what
they should do, while all we need to do is to show them.

~~~
jmvoodoo
This. I'm in my 30s, and have two kids. On my 3rd trip of the year as I write
this and my wife and are planning trips 4 and 5 before the year is up. First
trip of next year is in the works as well.

Is it easy? Absolutely not. It's difficult and at times frustrating, but
absolutely worth it.

~~~
prawn
The way I think about it is: kids are difficult at home or abroad. You might
as well go on an adventure and do something interesting with them regardless.

I’m Australian, married with three young kids. Earlier this year, we flew to
the US, bought an old bus, renovated it cheaply in Walmart carparks and drove
across the continent twice. 20+ states over three months, including a lunch in
Mexico. Slept in the bus, in motels, etc. Kids are 1, 4 and 6. It was
brilliant.

------
zulgan
it is metaphorical. (to the people arguing how expensive it is to travel)

very nicely written, but i disagree with it because i believe that we have to
look more inward than outward in order to be able to die (not sure how to
express that correctly, but i hope you know what i mean).

~~~
slig
I wonder how many of those commenters didn't even read TFA before commenting.

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luigi23
Taking advantage of it. Mid 20s, Moved my stuff to parents house and exploring
Asia while working remotely. Sometimes it’s lonely and pricey, but its one of
a kind opportunity.

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RootKitBeerCat
And lastly hackernews: cross the world infinitely by allowing future
generations to turn us into data

~~~
std_throwaway
You are already data. Energy is essentially bits. Matter is an arrangement of
information. Biological life and your conscious mind is a temporal phenomenon
that arises on the gradient of density.

------
Invictus0
To the people saying it's too expensive for most people to travel: you can
work and travel simultaneously. Lots of hostels offer room and board in
exchange for working there, others pay cash. You can work as a club promoter
or a laborer or as a freelance programmer, since this is HN, abroad. I have
met people that have been on the road for over 5 years continuously; I assure
you they didn't start out with any significant savings.

~~~
Swizec
Not to mention travel is almost definitely cheaper than rent in San Francisco.

The real trick is not keeping your apartment while you go travel for a long
time.

~~~
eafkuor
Jesus christ hackernews, not everyone lives in SF

~~~
Swizec
Well I do and it crosses my mind often how much I could travel on a
$3500/month budget :D

But anywhere you are, foregoing a home base makes travel a lot more
affordable.

------
pards
> To find old friends, and find that they’re gone

That line almost made me cry.

~~~
hi41
The pain of loss. I know. Your mind always tells how different things could
have been if only if you did that one thing differently. I wish I could travel
the fifth time to the past and probably change my stupid and cruel ways. If
not that at least say sorry to them. I can now say sorry to the image I hold
of them in my head.

------
growlist
Nice if you can afford it.

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irrational
tldr; travel the world in your 20s, 30s, 50s, and at the end of your life.

I'd actually change it to 20s, 40s, 60s, and 80s.

~~~
std_throwaway
I'm 40 now and I know nothing.

~~~
0x64
I'm 21 and I know everything. Or at least I think I do...

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peteretep
This feel excessively glib

~~~
tardo99
I agree.

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gnulynnux
This is pretentious and pretty bad advice.

Does the author believe most people can afford to quit working for a period of
time, let alone afford to travel around the world? Does this author look down
upon those who aren't so well traveled, view them as lesser or less deserving?

~~~
Hoasi
> This is pretentious and pretty bad advice. Does the author believe most
> people can afford to quit working for a period of time, let alone afford to
> travel around the world?

It's a metaphor.

~~~
gnulynnux
I don't see how this is a metaphor, it seems to be pretty much on-the-face as
recommending people travel the world four times.

