This is what I keep saying!
My mother (and my ex, too) would get very upset when, after college, I suggested building a business freelancing and eventually building my own products -- it's too risky, they said. But I'm a young person with no dependents or anyone else I'm responsible for, I have very few expenses, I have time to build something substantial that can be more successful than a job. Where's the risk? Worst case scenario, I get another job. Best case scenario -- freedom from concerns about money, location, and time.
Stay on this career path forever? I can't ever have those last three things. But hey, it's the easy way out, right? It's what everybody else does.
Obviously you have to weigh up, for you, the lifestyle you want to lead and the stability you need, but it's not like it's a dumb thing to take a chance, especially when you have no dependents.
Find another job. There's no real shortage if you're in tech.
>> Where did all the money for your trip come from?
Money put aside in my previous few years of work.
>> Where are your savings?
In the bank, looking a little smaller than they were before my six months off.
>> Maybe these aren't important questions to the world traveler. Maybe experiencing the world is much more important than career and financial agility and job security. That's fine.
Pretty much, for me.
I like what I do, and I do it well, but I'm not really committed to any one employer, not in the long term, I'm committed to getting the most out of my life. For me that seems to mean hitting the road in a foreign country (or several) for a few weeks or months at a time every few years.
>> It's kind of like entrepreneurship. Everyone says it's a good idea. But when you get right down to it, most businesses are failures. Are you willing to take that risk on for the possibility of creative freedom?
I'm a freelancer/contractor at the moment rather than an entrepreneur, but the answer so far as I can tell is - why the hell not? You can always get a proper job afterwards if it doesn't work out.