Taking a leave of absence from my life and traveling...Any advice?

[kidcolin]

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Kid,

I think I understand what you are saying, but if I continue as normal with school and keep working, at what point in time will I actually be making progress in figuring out what I want to do?

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I doubt you'd make any more progress on the road hanging out with friends and family than you would finishing your degree.

I guess I'm just one of those "suck it up" type people. I couldn't get that close to my master's and not finish unless I had a damn good reason (awesome job opportunity, marrying the love of my life, figuring out exactly what I want to do and the master's won't help). I know I'd have fun initially, but then I'd hit that "now what?" stage, and I'd probably wish I had that master's degree.

[Runkmud]

I highly recommend it, but first read this book, it should be required reading.

[WhoIam]

Why not take a 4-day trip to Vegas, go absolutely nuts, and see if it recharges your batteries.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

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Stay out of the big cities, unless you have to drive THRU them. Their all the same anyhow. Take the secondary roads and stop in the small towns. Eat/stay at the local joints and enjoy the local culture. By just visiting the larger cities you'll find nothing.

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poolrich on tattoos:

If your tattoo is out of site, especially at work, you should not have any regrets. Of course, if it gets infected and you have to amputate then maybe.

[GrooveNougat]

I don't know where you'd be leaving from, but roundtrip airfare from NYC to Costa Rica is around $260 on Expedia. If you've got some more dough, please visit Rio de Janeiro - one of the world's greatest cities. Roundtrips are around $750. Well worth it, IMO.

Good luck,
KG

[wadea]

Welcome to adulthood and reality. While it is ideal to work at something you love and some people can do it, this is not the situation for a majority of what I'll call "regular" people. Most people don't like their jobs. They just grind out a paycheck and enjoy their time away from work.

If you can afford to take this break, then go ahead, but I don't know why that will help you find direction any more than just giving it some serious thought on evenings and weekends. Finding yourself on road trips only happens in movies.

And make sure you finish school. You'll almost certainly regret not finishing at some point in your future. Four more classes will seem so insignificant it will make you puke when you figure out your dream job but get passed over in favor of a guy just like you but with a masters degree.

[EYEWHITES]

when i graduated from highschool in 98 i went str8 to work.
i made almost 40k that year. hated it, went to college the next fall hated it. Joined the military, thought it would be an experince. After 2 years i decided it wasnt for me. Finished my six year enlistment, had enough money saved to basically not work for a year.
I took 3 months off and traveled with a band. It was great fun, i met some of my musical heros, didnt regret one minute of it. But i decided i didnt want to live that way.
So i got engaged to my girlfriend of a year, moved to southtexas by the water, worked leisurly for about 4or5 months and started school again.

those months of traveling, and the mindless 40 hour work weeks really did alot for me.
I would defintly suggest it.

the way i see it.
you have money saved not to work.
if you quit your job which im sure you can get another, or just finish your degree, and get a better job because of that.

It sounds as if you have spent you life up to this point making sound reasonable choices, and have worked hard, acted smart to be in this postion. Reward yourself. Visit your friends, sleep on there floors, close some bars, drive a ridickulos length to see your faviorte band. That is my defintion of growing your soul

hope all goes well which ever route you take.

[Tablerat]

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Finding yourself on road trips only happens in movies.

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Speaking of movies, I think OP might be interested in "Into the Wild" (based on the book by Jon Krakauer). It opens in a month - trailer .

[PokerAmateur4]

As others have said, obviously you should finish school since you are so close. The cost is very low and overall payment in life might be relatively very high.

Then go somewhere cheap overseas. You'll gain more perspective, it will be more valuable. Possibly eastern Europe where if you are staying for a reasonable amount of time, like a month+ maybe, you can fly and live there cheaper than any sort of popular city in the U.S. Also if you are bored with where you are staying there will be lots of other interesting places to see nearby.

Goodluck