[ilamont]

Living abroad in your 20s is an unforgettable experience. I lived in Europe and Asia for most of the 1990s, and still look back wistfully at that time of my life. I gave up some early career "juice" but got so much more out of it.

Note that doing what the OP did is far more difficult if you have children, although it is possible to work stable jobs in a single country for longer stints with kids.

[josephcooney]

'more difficult if you have children' seems like a huge understatement. Especially if they're school-aged.

[ShirtlessRod]

Massive, massive understatement. Not to mention if your children happen to have other issues, such as developmental disabilities, severe food allergies, or other things that make "normal" day-to-day living difficult, without adding the extra stressors related to travel and living abroad on top of that.

It is absolutely no coincidence that the vast majority of people who do these sorts of things have no children. This is not to say that I don't think it's commendable to get out in the world like this, because if you can it's a great thing. However, I get annoyed with folks who seem to think there couldn't be any possible reason that someone wouldn't do the same.

[YvesHanoulle]

yes, it is more difficult with kids. Still that does not mean impossible. I moved with my family 6 months to work in Bordeaux. -(France) Joppe (7y) and Bent (5y) went to a French school. Geike (2y)stayed home with her mother. None of the kids spoke French when we left. I was dreaming about this for years, I now realized that all the excuses I had for years, were just that. Excuses. Together with my kids I gave a presentation at the same BarCamp that Ine & Catherine did theirs. At the end I asked everyone: "Would you do it again?" 2 of the 3 kids said they would. My wife said yes but then for longer.