I remember watching an American explain to a very confused German colleague that Americans couldn't afford to take 6 weeks holiday because their economy was so powerful.
I remember the first time I met an Australian taking a year to wander around the earth. That was a bit of an eye-opener. It wasn't the last one of them I met, though. There seem to be a lot of them.
Yes, it's a bit of a tradition both here and in New Zealand to travel for a while. I remember when I was backpacking around Europe over 3 months in 1993 meeting a couple of Microsoft employees who explained that they only had 2 weeks to achieve the same goal.
They intended "to visit McDonald's in every country".
I think the key difference between Antipodeans and Americans regarding travel is a very specific meme. A lot of Americans have told me that taking a year off "looks bad" on your resume. That it indicates you don't take your career seriously or you're having some sort of personal crisis.
Here (and in NZ) travel is seen as broadening your horizons and it certainly doesn't count against you with employers. In fact, many see it as an accomplishment - part of a "well rounded" education.
So I'd invite HNer's to consider "hacking" this meme for themselves. I don't think it serves you very well. The vast majority of Aussies and Kiwis who take a year to travel around the world aren't wealthy. They just do it on working visas and save money between travels.
I imagine that could be a fringe benefit of a startup, even if you don't intend to pursue self-sufficiency: it fills in gaps in your resume while allowing you to dictate how you apply your time.
Australian here. In 03/04, I spent a year going around the world. Hit 20+ countries on multiple continents. Financial obligations aside, I find it sad to meet anyone over 30 who hasn't left their home country at least once. In Australia, we're very isolated, and traveling outside the country is quite expensive. If you're in the UK, for example, I envy you!
I think in general though Australians are largely in the same boat with work. The difference though could possibly be that it seems to be getting worse for Americans.
The thing is these days if you choose to live more simply you can easily get by and have a heap of free time. I don't really have it at the moment because I'm combining uni with freelancing/ startup. After I finish uni though I could see myself having plenty of freetime should I choose that route and just live off some freelancing/ startup funding. I have most of the material goods I'm interested in given the low price of electronic goods these days. It's only when you start aspiring big material goods that you get stuck in the trap of needing to work long hours and bring in a small fortune to get by.