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This gets a lot easier if you have somewhere reliable and preferably free to stay when you need to start working again. Even if you have paid off your own place or been given a place for free you have bills to pay on it. I guess you can rent it out while you are away, but that seems less than ideal to me as how do you keep it maintained if you aren’t in the country? It just ends up being another cost.
I would have loved to have done this but the housing situation has always put me off.
This is what my old housemate did, starting in the 90s. Worked out quite well for him. My dad used went round the world with the navy in the 50s and used to talk about how some other cultures did stuff like this.
Boomer here - that’s pretty much how I managed my software career. Do a contract job for 6 mos to a year, then do theatre until I needed to work again. Had to go back to fulltime work once I got married and had kids. I miss those days tho. Also, fuck your tiny stereotyping brain if you think a whole generation has the same likes and dislikes.
Man I love you! (Platonically, of course).
You’d have to find a job that pays enough for this lifestyle. And with the kind of resume this produces, it’s a pipe dream.
Nah, you just need to adjust life styles. I’ve been doing this exact thing for five years now in the IT industry. I rely on contracts for full employment for 8 months and relax for 4 months.
Tried something like this. Recruiters told me the gap didn’t look good and I should lie about needing that time off for my mental health. The 1st class honours degree I was told would allow me to walk into a job was deemed essentially worthless since I had only around 2 year’s industry experience. Took me months to get another role offered - a 15k paycut and overall a major downgrade - which I had to take to pay the rent. 0/10, would not recommend.
the gap didn’t look good
Yeah, live your entire fucking life to be attractive to that guy.
The only thing worth learning from this is that if there’s so little need for work to be done that “having gaps in the resume” is enough that they’d rather go without, then the work does not need to be done.
It’s beyond time for UBI.
Yeah… I don’t really think anyone really cares about anyone’s education anymore, at least not past your first employer.
I have to spend a lot of time teaching people in their residencies at my job, and where they went school doesn’t really bring anything to the table. In fact, a lot of the people who went to fancy private medical schools were either overwhelmed by having to talk to our impoverished patient population, or didn’t ever develop healthy ways to mitigate interpersonal conflict.
I think the problem might be how quickly you quit to do it. It takes a good year to train a new person to be productive. If they only get about a year of productivity from you after training you for a year (and a junior level amount of productivity at that), then it’s not worth their time and effort to invest in you. If you did it every 5-7 years instead, it would probably go over better. That’s long enough to see whole projects through to completion and then just take a break in between.
There’s also the issue of how long you take off. If you take off 6 months to a year, it’s less likely that new technology comes in and changes everything than if you take off 2 years. Ex: 2 years from today you can expect huge swaths of industries to adopt using AI tools in day-to-day tasks. Another ex: I’m an engineer, not a CS person. I’ve helped design computer systems, but sophisticated coding isn’t the main part of my job. In the last 3ish years I’ve seen every system I’ve encountered switch to containerization.
“Sounds like we’re paying these guys too much”
I wish. It takes me around 6 months and hundreds of applications to get a job. That strategy isn’t sustainable for me.
If you’re ever on the backpacking circuit you’ll meet people like that. They work just long enough to save up for their next trip.
But also, they travel frugally, not having a luxurious lifestyle between earning higher than average wage.
Didn’t know this phenomenon had a name. That’s what I’m doing right now however. I want to have enough money to be unemployed for a year or two.
Only works if you are not working a shitty job and living paycheck to paycheck. Good fucking luck in most economies greedy billionaires are keeping this from happening.
I mean, I don’t see how it’s possible if you’re only going to have entry level skills… You’re not really building up a wealth of marketable skills if you quit all the jobs after a year.
Yeah wtf jobs is she getting where she builds up a safety net in 1-2 years? I’ve been at this shit for a decade and have 3 digits in my bank account
Edit: I should disclose the fact that I have been making minimum wage this whole time. That said, most people I know make nearly average wages, and still have 3-4 digits in their bank accounts at all times
Living with parents probably (/gen, non-derogatory)
Live with a group in a LCOL area, eat rice and beans, no other hobbies.
There’s a thing called lifestyle creep. You may not necessarily be living paycheck to paycheck on the bare minimum. Going out with friends, having the latest phone, having hobbies, if you cut out all fun you may be able to save up significantly. You can also live like a bum in the least accommodating space you can stand. Being comfortable is expensive, but not everybody wants to be uncomfortable for long stretches just to fuck off to the Bahamas for a month every few years. That or credit card debt.
I think current ‘lifestyle creep’ for many is getting used to things like ‘health insurance’ and ‘something other than beans and rice’. Hard to give up simple human dignity once you’ve had a taste of it.
people living like this don’t think into next week much less health insurance
these are the dudes social safety nets and medivac helicopters support
That is for sure a thing, but in my case it genuinely is having little income
Been making minimum wage for way too long, and at this point I’m too old and don’t have the skills to get a significantly better job. My retirement plan is
If you’re making minimum wage, what do you really have to lose by improving your marketable skills?
It’s a pretty neat trap, you see I can’t afford to take any time off work to even look for another job, let alone any unpaid training
I’m sure if I locked the fuck in and pulled myself up by my bootstraps and got extremely lucky, I could jump ship into a better position, but that target is like 5 feet wide and a hundred feet away and surrounded by homelessness on all sides
You obviously have the internet. I doubt you worked 24/7. Use some of that internet to study.
Do you have any internet-based resources I can use to study in any way that would help me get a different job?
Well sure if you never got out of minimum wage jobs then it’s no wonder you can’t accumulate a safety net, the majority of people don’t keep working minimum wage for decades though (median income is above minimum annual salary).
I mean almost anyone with a stem education is able to do this.
Before you say: “buh have you seen the job market?”
The point of the plan isn’t to get stinking rich off of each 1-2 year stint, it’s to make just enough money that you can travel around and reset to nearly 0 after not working for a few months to a year
If I was looking at a hire who only gives a year I’m thinking that’s a big investment to get them up to speed on our tech, train them, and start getting them projects only to know they’re going to bounce. Not to mention provisioning tech and tools for them. I think experience and a company willing to hire you becomes the issue if you do this too often.
Stem jobs aren’t a spot where you want to be losing your talent every year, it’s hard to push forward with that. I see companies avoiding those hires honestly.
Also, how do you advance and make more, if that’s what you want, without working somewhere long enough to grow. Self education helps, but practical experience is needed.
If I were them, just be a freelancer. It gives you the freedom and you’re your own boss.
That’s the key, you don’t tell the company you’re working for that you only plan to stay for a year or two. After you’ve done it twice maybe your resume will start to show a pattern, but at that point you’ve been doing this for 4-6 years, and I can think of plenty of lies to tell corporate that will make for a good excuse.
As for making more, your progress will definitely be stymied by taking breaks, but you’re not taking breaks in order to advance your career. It’s just a difference in life goals, clearly you value climbing a corporate ladder to increase your salary. Besides, it’s well documented that changing employers is one of the best ways to increase your salary so if your goal is making more money you would want to change jobs every couple of years no matter what.
clearly you value climbing a corporate ladder to increase your salary
That’s not at all true, and I feel like people with this very casual stance on a career think that everyone else is that way. We’re not. If anything I feel like we just can think beyond the short term.
Let me ask you, this person that lives this life, are they still working at 70? How much do they really have left to invest with these breaks? What if the market has a down turn when you’re on vacation and you come back to a job market you can’t get a foothold in? How is your 401k really looking with all these breaks?
My goal is to not work a day after 45. I have taken many vacations and enjoyed my life while working but I plan to never answer to anyone after 45, just live my life for me. The rest of my life without worry and with security. That’s what I work for, not climbing a ladder. Security and an exit plan.
The biggest problem I see with this is staying current and sharp with your tech skills and also explaining those gaps. It’s definitely possible though, especially if you’re able to live frugally.
Most industries do not move that fast. And yeah, I’m including software in those industries. Really, how much changes in 2 years in Accounting, HR, plumbing, or electrical engineering?
As for the gap -
Them: “Can you explain this gap in your resume?”
You: “Yeah, I was travelling.”
Them: “Oh, that’s cool. You know, I wish I’d done that when I was younger.”
explaining those gaps
“I didn’t feel like working” is perfectly acceptable. Any job that takes offense to that is not worth taking.
Any hiring manager who hears that is going to hear it as “this employee will up and leave us without warning at any time”
Not saying they’re right, but that’s what it is. Most people are looking to hire permanently if possible, you’re telling them straight up that you are not going to be a permanent employee.
Or more cynically, “that guy just stayed long enough for ppl to figure out they’re useless and then quit just before getting fired to go travelling”
Yeah, but depending on the industry, that can be ok.
Some fields have companies that will hire and fire en masse based on projects that start and stop. At that point, they aren’t just paying you to show up to work, they’re also paying you to leave.
Not in the US, if you have any medical conditions or if you don’t want to gamble with the possibility of getting injured, or if you have a spouse or children who need your insurance.
Yes, fear is a major factor for why people don’t do risky things for potential rewards.
As for having a spouse and children or a pre-existing medical condition, you’re correct that only a certain portion of the population is able to do this. We already cut it down to people with something like a STEM degree that are able to do this.
Ah yes, for all those 55 year old Gen Z’ers with a couple kids and a heart condition.
Do you think young people can’t have medical issues or kids? What is this?
Sorry to say that Gen Zs are up to their mid-late 20s now, and:
- Plenty of people have or develop medical conditions in their 20s.
- Plenty of people have kids in their 20s
- Plenty of people get injured in their 20s.
- Spouses can be just as dependent on insurance as children
You know, you can pay for private health insurance if you don’t have a job. And if you have an emergency fund or (micro) retirement fund, it should include funds for health insurance.
As long as you line up your micro retirement with open enrollment (which, coincidentally, lines up with the winter and the holidays and therefore one of the most expensive time to travel) andAs long as you can afford to suddenly add anywhere from two to ten thousand dollars to your micro retirement plan depending on your health needs, and as long as you live in one of the few states where the most affordable plans are offered.
Take a look at each plan in the link below, and notice under “Pros and Cons” most of the affordable ones are offered in less than half the states, and still cost thousands of dollars.
Keep in mind, these list average plan costs under the ACA, but I specifically pointed out the issue of having conditions or injuries or spouses or children that would put you above average: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/health-insurance/best-affordable-health-insurance/
(Edit - also keep in mind, I’m specifically responding to a comment that said almost anyone with a stem education can do this. Some can, sure, but no, almost anyone with a stem education cannot do this.)
Leaving your job qualifies as a “life changing event” and allows you to sign up for private insurance under ACA. You don’t need to wait for open enrollment.
Ah, thanks for the correction. I thought it had to be an involuntary job loss.
Move to a better state. If you are already quitting your job to travel, you can just list yourself as living at a friend’s house or whatever on paper, and then apply for health insurance.
That’s fair, I forgot to include “or as long as you are willing to commit fraud”
Yeah and if the job market sucks and you’re out a job
So many people talk about doing this but few actually do.
I’ve done something similar involving working holidays. I’m tired now and Covid fucked up my plans and my career is going to be hell to get back into, but I want to change anyway. Just hope I got enough experience and education and brains to climb up the ladder, I just don’t know where yet.
I’m glad I did it but it isn’t for most.
Honey, that was a lifestyle boomers actually lived once. Though it’s more of a silent generation lifestyle
I’ve got a buddy who does a variation of this. He’s got a little shack pretty close to town. He’ll work in the oil field for a few months, come hang out with everyone, and live a “normal” life. Then when he’s saved up enough he rolls out and lives in the woods with his dog hunting and fishing and growing veggies. We go by and check on his place every so often to make sure no one has broken in and it’s not rotting to the ground.
When he no longer has the money to stay in the woods he comes back. I say that, but he’s got the skills to feed himself out there. I think he gets bored after a year or two and wants to be around people for a while.
I asked him about retirement once and he’s got another shack right on a lake that’s been paid off since the 90s. His plan is to go there and fish and not come back.
[off topic]
I am a fan of the Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald. Introduced to them in childhood and still worth a re-read.
Travis was a ‘salvage consultant’ who would rob loot back from criminals, and then retire for as long as the money lasted.
