[jasonkester]

I hit my singularity when I realized that you can take as much time off as you want if you are prepared to take it unpaid.

  1996: 3 weeks
  1998: 10 weeks
  1999: 4 weeks
  2000/1: 20 weeks
  2002: 6 weeks
  2003: 36 weeks
  2004: 32 weeks 
  2005-2010: ~36 weeks (9 months)/year
  2011-2015: 12 weeks

The work equation changed to: (how much do I need to travel for another 9 months) / (hourly rate) = (hours I need to work on this next contract).

I recently went heads down for a few years, when kid #1 was born, working as close to a full-time gig as I can bear to sock away college savings, pay off houses, and get my product businesses to the point where they support the family full time. But now you can stick a little Infinity symbol at the end of that chart.

Software is one of the few professions where you can effortlessly switch back and forth between High Paid Professional and Dirtbag On The Beach. For months at a time, for years on end, without harming your career or affecting your retirement savings.

[kzisme]

How do you get to the point where you can easily switch between "High Paid Professional and Dirtbag On The Beach"?

As someone just starting his career this concept is slightly foreign to me.

Any general tips?

[jasonkester]

Contracting was how I did it initially. That's just about getting provably good at something so that you know you can always pick up an onsite gig with an email or two before flying back to the 'states.

Recently, a lot more shops have opened up to remote work, so it's much easier. You can plant yourself on that beach while still working mostly full time. And you don't need to have built up the leverage and reputation to quickly find work when you need it. All you need do is impress the folks you're working for enough for them to put up with your occasional timezone switches.

I've worked with guys doing that as part of their first job out of school.