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25M should I quit my job to travel to China? Have $50k saved

I work as a SWE and am pretty miserable at my job have been doing it for 2 years now and just got promoted. I have been struggling to find another job only have gotten contract opportunities which I decline because my job is FT. I have to work nights and weekends and fulfill in-office requirement at my job it’s pretty bad for my health I feel.


I have 50k total saved 25k in stocks 25k cash also 35k 401k. Really want to travel to  China and live cheaply while trying to find alternative modes of work. When I come back I’ll try to find a contractor job. I can live in Tbilisi as kind of a home base and pay like $300/month rent for that just to avoid visa issues. It’s pretty cheap there.


My TC is 130k but my rent is about 3k so most of my money just goes directly to rent and I only save like $500/month, I can break my lease and sell my furniture whenever I want in SF. I would just live in hostels and try to do odd jobs to make ends meet for as long as I have money saved up. Then when I run out I’ll return to America and live with my parents or find a cheap place to live with remaining savings.


I feel like I really want to travel and am healthy enough to live cheaply still at 25. I want to do this while I still have good health. Am I crazy for considering this? Is this going to end badly? I feel I won’t regret it and want to do it before I go into late 20s when everyone else is settling down and having kids.


My company switched me to unlimited PTO and my coworkers don’t take any PTO at all (maybe 1 week per year) while complaining to me they never see their family because of work every night/weekend. My manager has no incentive to approve people’s PTO.


Is this a bad idea?

See also

I would go, but I'm as mad as a spoon.

I once jumped on a motorbike and went to France without any plan, and got my temp passport on the way (You could get them from a post office back then).

I also moved to Indonesia with the same stunning lack of anything even close to a plan.

19 years later, and I'm still here. I fully admit to being totally off my rocker, but it's been a fun ride with lots of adventures over the years.

Any sensible person would tell you to hang on, but such advice is mind numbingly boring.

If I was you, my ticket would have been booked before I started the thread, but I am a nutter.


So, in my most humble of opinions,  you can say a loud,  "Screw it" and go, or you can wait around in a crap job until you retire and die.


Of course, you have to be totally out of screws to get loose to accept my opinion, but think of the crazy stories you can bug the nurses with when you reach your dosage.


Don't exist - Live

Looking for the best job opportunities in China?
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PS - Always carry some wet wipes.

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