mkf954

I am starting to think about taking two years off to travel the world. Any suggestion on websites or books to get me going in the right direction?

Kathie

Lonely Planet's forum, called Thorntree, has a section on long-term travel.

Guenmai

Pick up the book, Go Girl, by Elaine Lee. I met her some years ago. She's an African American attorney in private practice in Oakland,Ca who decided to close her practice and take off, alone and around the world for a couple of years. The book is composed of stories written by African American women who have been traveling around the world for decades. They, along with Elaine, tell their stories. It's a very interesting book. In the book, Elaine also has section on the ropes of planning such a trip...airfares,etc. I was in my local travel store last weekend and the book was on preview again although it was written some years ago. Happy Travels!

mkf954

Excellent! I, too, am an attorney - in Atlanta. I have only been practicing for about a year now, but I am ready to go live a little. Do you think I will be shooting myself in the foot to take off so early on?

Guenmai

No. When I was in Istanbul in 1999,staying at a small hotel in Sultanahmet area, I met a young, late 20-something woman who was working for a large New York, corporate law firm. She said she woke up one morning and said,"Enough". She went into her firm and said she needed two years off. They looked at her like she was crazy. But, they agreed.She was one of their top lawyers. She said she then subletted her apartment out and took off. She had never been overseas in her life. When we met, we were sitting next to each other at breakfast at the hotel and decided to hang out the whole day together. She was leaving Turkey soon. I asked her where to and she said,"Well, Madagascar is looking pretty exciting, I'll go down the street to the travel agency and check it out." Now, is that cool or what? Happy Travels!

cruisinred

There is a poster on the Africa board...I think her name is maxwell, if you do a search. She is an attorney in Atlanta and has arranged her worklife to take lots of time to travel. Try looking her up for some advice.

mkf954

That is beyond cool! Just got goosebumps!

thursdaysd

Try Edward Hasbrouck's "Practical Nomad" - I found it really useful before I took off for 10 months. Also, over on the singles section of this board, we recently had a discussion on the same topic. bootsnall.com would be a good place to look too.

jules39

Personally I think the earlier in your career youdo it the better. Before you become too settled & earn too much to just give it up! I left after 1 year of work for 2 years & then went again for another 2 years a couple of years after I returned from the first one! I have always made sure I am good at my job and that there is a good chance people may want me back!! Go for it go for it!!! I can't give you any help on web sites except for the lonely planet already mentioned by Kathie.
Happy safe travels. J

althom1122

Check out this website put together by a young couple traveling around the world in 13 months.

http://www.thirteenmonths.com/index.htm

Guenmai

YES...Start doing it when you're young. I started when I was 17...spending 11-12 weeks alone in Scandinavia and have been traveling annually ever since...for 30-plus years. You see things differently when you're young. Just yesterday, I was daydreaming about one of the best trips of my life...back in 1981,when I was around 26 and once again spent the whole summer in Scandinavia and decided to travel to Tunisia on a whim during that summer. I met a great French couple at my hotel in Tunisia. They were my age so we hung out for a week and I ended up getting invited to their home in Cannes. Their whole family and I bonded and it was a GREAT experience. I was dreaming about it yesterday because a friend had just e-mailed me and asked if I'd ever been to Tunisia. I told him the story about my wonderful,adventurous journey and mentioned how glad I had been to have gone some things when I was young and when travel was VERY cheap...a week in Tunisia, from France for $300...airfare,meals,3-star hotel included back then.Remember...travel is NOT going to get any cheaper as time goes by...and one never knows what the situation of the world is going to be. I've been in all kinds of situations. So, you can't put it off. I never have and I'm still going strong! Happy Travels!

wintersp

I too know a 25 yr old atty who fulfilled his lst yr contract-to the day - and quit. He had saved a large sum - not getting into the trap of spending all his new found income - and left for a yr. He only stayed 10 months but came back and found a job he really liked. I don't think you'll ever regret it if you do, only if you don't!!

wintersp

By the way, the atty I refer to in my post above, was also from Atlanta! Must be in the 'air' in the south!

Cicerone

I did this myself after practicing law for about 8 years and my firm decided to close their Singapore office. I was already living in Singapore, so had a paid plane ticket home courtesy of my former firm, and I just traveled until my money ran out except for a small cushion. That was in 1992, and I spent about 11 months in Asia. Asia is probably the cheapest place still for such long term travel. The one thing I can suggest is that you make sure you have some health insurance, you can generally get inexpensive “travelers insurance” that will cover you for major medical as long as you are not in the US. That is really all you need, in case you are in an accident or something. The Lonely Planet site mentioned above, plus their books, are very good cheap travel guides. You can also rent houses in places like Bali quite inexpensively and live there for a few while. (I did that for about 4 months of my 11 months, although you do have to leave to renew the visa.)

One of my best friends from high school, however, managed to make a career out of travel for about 15 years. She did this primarily in Asia, but also managed to get to Europe on many trips. She would work for a summer for outfits like the National Park Service clearing tress in national parks, or for a winter as a ski lift operator in Telluride, and then travel on that money until it ran out. She was also able to get jobs in places like Australia where being a Caucasian women it is not so obvious that you are a foreigner. Also, she worked as a runner for US news and sprots networks for two different Olympics, the summer ones in Seoul in 1988 and the winter ones in Lillehammer Norway in 1994. She said those were her favorite jobs. I don’t think those are hard to get, and I think the host cities are always looking for people too. (She doesn’t speak Norwegian or Korean.) There are of course the Beijing Olympics in 2008 which you may want to aim for.

She did once get Hepatitis in Thailand and was laid up for about 2 months and was very very yellow when she came to me in Singapore for some more rest, so there are some downsides, but she does not regret any of it.

You might also consider getting a job with a law firm or in-house overseas. I have been practicing law overseas for about 17 years with two different NYC firms and now in-house for the last 10 years and jobs are more available than you might think. You would need some more experience, and language skills would be very helpful, but I would not rule it out. That way, you can travel for a living and in your off time. For starters, take a look at http://www.pbpress.com

Finally, I would say that if you have only been practicing for a year and are already ready to “live a little” perhaps you have picked the wrong profession.... There are lots of former lawyers out there doing other things who are much happier. I know one here who makes really beautiful furniture.

Kristina

You've already gotten some great advice here. I also recommend the LP Thorntree boards.

My husband and I did this for 9 months in 1998-99 and it was the best decision I ever made. I think the younger you go the better. As I get older, I see how much harder it is to just up and quit my job and go. Too many responsibilities now.

My tips:

1.Save as much money as possible before you go. As an American it's virtually impossible to get hired legally anywhere outside of the US so you really can't count on working your way around the world.

2. If you have family here you will miss, seriously consider coming home for the holidays. We got very homesick at Thanksgiving and Christmas. If I were to do it again, I'd schedule myself home for a few weeks in the middle and then head back out.

3.Set some money aside to come home to. Put it in another account you can't touch while traveling (then you won't be tempted). You don't know how long it will take you to find a job when you come back. We had $5000 to come home to and it was pretty much gone by the time I got my first paycheck.

I could go on and on.

If you want, you can see my trip RTW (and other travels) on my website:
http://www.wired2theworld.com
Everything I did to plan for the trip is laid out there as well. Even though it's been a while since we went, I think a lot is still relevant.

Good luck!

Steve007NY

I spent a year between college and medical school hitchhiking around the world (OK, from Istanbul east, with some flights in SE asia and to/from japan. 12 months, $3000 total! It was the most profoundly memorable and influential activity of my life (and it was THIRTY FIVE years ago!) GO FOR IT!

I suggest you sepnd time reading travelogues, local writers' fiction, memoirs... see what resonates with your 'soul'. Believe it or not, the time will fly by and you'll never feel like you've 'seen' it all... so choose wisely, travel flexibly, and remember... you CAN go back...again, and again, and again (we leave Thurs for China!)

mkf954

I cannot begin to explain how much I appreciate everyone's comments: WOW. Please don't stop - I am really inspired. Without a doubt, I am going for it. As I get further along in the planning process, count on lots more questions!