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Ask HN: What would you do with six months?
5 points by am_i_down 3400 days ago
I plan to leave my job and spend the next six months doing interesting things, before graduate school starts, all on a budget of ~10k USD.

Currently this plan includes international travel and intimate time with my reading list. But, really, anything, anywhere is on the table.

What would you do?

8 comments

Here's one suggestion: go to Florida and watch a rocket launch (schedule [1]). During the ascent, reflect on how far we've come since our ancestors were banging rocks together to make sparks for fire. And maybe reflect on how far we have to go still...

Best of luck in grad school.

[1] http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

very interesting or try to see how tiny and insignificant we are compare to this universe.
I was just over on Bantayan island in the Philippines a few days back. Met a lot of Europeans that stay their for 4 months at a time. You can find rooms for around $165 a month if your ok with something minimal. Summer time is just starting so there will be nice sunny days.

There is wifi on the island, just not super fast. Bring a Kindle with some books etc.

The Philippines is such an awesome country, I loved my time there. Beautiful, friendly, great food, cool culture. Downsides: Extreme poverty juxtaposed with extreme wealth, thousands of homeless children in Manila alone, I met some of them and I wished I could take them all home with me.
The best thing you can do is give them a little food. If you give them money, it is usually going to an adult that is exploiting them.
Things I want to do that I don't have time to do:

1. Take a tour of as many old Western ghost towns as possible (assuming you're in the US). I'd spend a lot of time photographing.

2. Hike the Pacific Crest or Appalachian trail.

3. Make an epic long distance bicycle ride, across the country or something similar.

Bet you a beer, you'll do something great and won't be willing to leave it go to school. : )
I would take part in a wildlife volunteer project, in my opinion a great chance to connect with nature. See if there are projects in the countries you want to visit anyway.
I'd walk a long distance trail.
Visit a upci.org church, just one service.
I am not able to answer this but i really think 'quora' would prove benificial for you