I took 3 years off, didn’t do anything other than read, watch tv, go to the movies, and walk/ride my bicycle. Never traveled once. Loved every minute of it.

Doing nothing doesn’t get boring for everyone. And it’s my time not yours so who’s to say what a waste is?

My biggest advice is to do what you want and don’t feel like you have to live up to some HN-gap-year fantasy. You might regret sitting in your apartment surfing the internet (I didnt) but you might also regret traveling. It’s your time. Do what you want.

"Doing nothing doesn’t get boring for everyone. And it’s my time not yours so who’s to say what a waste is?"

You didn't do nothing for 3 years. You enjoyed your time, and you did things, so no, you did not waste it.

Otherwise I very strongly agree with, that you just should do, what you really want and not what others want.

After I decided to leave university, I planned a bike trip from germany to portugal. I wanted to do this. And I did it. But then, along the way, on the border to spain, at a nice place I stayed for a while ... I decided I had enough. Or I realized, that I had wanted this for a while already.

It was fun, but "accomplishing" my trip would have only meaning for my travel blog and the expectations of other people - but not for me.

I enjoyed the trip very much, but did not felt like moving further and spend the whole winter in the south. So screw other peoples expecations, I am doing what I want, so I flew back home.

I just want to thank you for sharing your story and for me it's really a wholesome one. Best of luck to you on your further ways.

OP here. This is the best advice. Although I do intend to do some travelling, I always detest when people put some sort of life-worth qualifier onto it, as if you havent lived your life if you havent done some milage. Thats just bullshit, or probably marketing effect.

What did you end up doing after the 3 years? Why did you end it?

Got a job. Had 6 months of expenses left in the bank and didn’t want to risk dipping into stocks.

I wasn’t wealthy in the HN sense though. This was 2010-2013 and my rent for a tiny studio apartment was $550 a month. Other major expenses were just internet (50 a month), groceries (few hundred a month), gym (35 a month) and electricity (20 a month). No cell phone. No car.

For the 5 years leading up to that I was working full time during the day and doing freelance SEO writing side. Was able to save quite a bit. But I was really fortunate to be in the right time/place. Rent in my city had basically doubled (and then some) since then, for example.

This is crazy impressive to me man, props. No phone/no car is rebellious in this day and age.

Lol thanks. I'm nearly 40 and still holding out on both. Never driven, never owned a smartphone. I have a pay as you go flip phone I got at Office Depot for work in 2015 but I never turn it on unless I need to make a call that won't go through Google Voice.