Life Lessons From A 27-Year Old (opens in new tab)

Also, I only ever enjoy traveling by the second or third time I go to a place, when that horrible feeling of being lost, helpless, completely ignorant, and not belonging has subsided a bit.

In most of my friends who enjoy traveling I see a certain histeria, a mixing of their expectations with reality that is really uncomfortable to be around (like hearing "this is paradise" to a landscape that is really familiar; like "checkpointing" by taking pictures of landmarks and signs and trivial activities everybody does; like calling fast-food "wonderful" because it comes in a pretty plate from a waiter who doesn't speak your language; etc).

I respect your opinion, but I've gotta admit I chuckled at your list of discomforts.

In my case, I find that feeling of uncertainty on arriving at a new country to be exhilarating. I feel so comfortable in my day-to-day life, that it's rare that I really need to think much about my environment. Whenever I travel it makes me think about my existence a bit differently; that is the real value I get from travel.

Travel can be cheaper than being at home, depending on where you go and where you live. And in response to your fear of being robbed; just don't travel with much of anything and get travel insurance. The worst that can happen is that you'll end up without a passport somewhere and have to go through some bureaucratic process to get a new one.

Probably because it involves exposing yourself to other cultures, going well outside your norms in many areas, and basically getting a huge amount of perspective. It's educational in many ways and considered valuable experience. That said, I wouldn't bother if you genuinely don't enjoy it (although personally, "man up" is a common mantra on my trips...)

I find travel to be much easier when you have connections to people where it is you're traveling. The company I work for has offices around the world, therefore I always have someone to help me get around an unfamiliar place.

I find traveling to be a great way to expand your view of the world. Living in Bangalore for 6 weeks changed me forever.

>I spend most of the time feeling uncomfortable in some way (temperature isn't right, have to use the bathroom, worried about getting robbed) and it costs money!

That's exactly why you should travel to learn about the world outside of your immediate cocoon.

I actually strongly disagree: You need to be a user of libraries not a developer of them when you work in business (that does something other than sell libraries).

That's interesting. Why do you feel you're not in a position to be an entrepreneur? I ask because I was 26 when I started Mandalorian, which while not being an amazing world conquering business has paid my mortgage (and that of a fair few others) for the past 5 years.

While I completely respect your opinion and believe you and only you should be allowed to make the decision about when your life ends, I have to say that I also completely can't understand your perspective.

I want to live as long as medically possible, as long as I am not a vegetable or in horrible pain.

100 years, 200 years, 500, 1,000. I just don't think I will get bored of life.

Definitely want to live as long as I possibly can. If at any point that stops being true, it's because I screwed up.

To me, the best idea is to invest in areas that are less correlated with your own field.

For example, a good friend of mine works at a mutual fund as an analyst covering banks. For him, his job is already highly levered to the performance of equity markets.

Rather than invest in more stocks for his personal account, he's been looking at places where he can diversify and earn a decent return. For example, he's been investing in rental properties. Another friend works as an oil & gas ibanker, his investments are mostly concentrated in commercial real estate deals.