My uncle told me I should quit my job and travel for a year, that was 5 years ago and I'm still broke

He said it would give me perspective, but after spending $12k in Southeast Asia for 6 months I came back with zero savings and a harder time finding work. Has anyone else had a big life change advice backfire on them like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee8474d ago

Jennifer, I get your point about having a plan but honestly calling it a "bad plan" feels a little harsh. The guy took a shot based on his uncle's advice and it didn't work out, it's not like he went out there intending to fail. I think we overcomplicate this stuff sometimes - not every setback needs to be turned into a lesson about budgeting or calculated risks. Sometimes you just get unlucky and that's the whole story.

grantp144d ago

Read an article just the other day about how travel advice like that is basically survivorship bias. People who made it work tell everyone else to do it, but they don't talk about the ones who come back broke and struggling. Your uncle probably meant well, but telling someone to blow their savings without a solid plan back home is risky. I've seen this play out with a few friends, and the ones who did okay had a job or a place to land before they left. Sounds like you got hit with the worst of it, and that's a tough spot to climb out of.

jennifer8334d ago

Whoa, hold on, I gotta push back on that. In my experience, the people who come back broke and struggling often had a bad plan or no backup, but that's not the same as the advice being wrong. Your uncle's advice assumes you're smart enough to save a proper cushion and think ahead, not just blow everything on hostels. I've known a bunch of people who took that leap, and yeah, some crashed, but the ones who treated it like a calculated risk did just fine. A job waiting at home is nice, but it can also trap you in a rut where you never really try anything bold. Maybe the real issue isn't the advice itself, but how you took it and ran with it without a real safety net.