Hello wizened stash community,
I've decided to make a controversial decision and am looking for some feedback.
29/M
Healthy, Single, no kids, no debt
I've decided to hang it up from my low-level job at a community-style bank where I've worked for about 3.5 years. I live in a small town and have been very restless do something different with my life.
After having a few promising opportunities fall through, both in the job search and dating realm, I've decided to take time off to go see the world.
I've booked a one-way ticket to Panama and lined up travel to Colombia from there. After that I plan to check out Ecuador before finishing up in Peru. My plan and budget is for 5 months, living on $50-60 day. Will be staying in hostels/AirBnb for the most part.
Like I said above, I have zero debt, nothing tying me down. I've got about 49k in retirement assets and another 20k or so between cash/taxable accounts.
I'm mostly excited to go do adventurous things while I still can. Most of my mentors have said that they are incredibly jealous and wish they could have done something similar. However, a couple of my wealthy, business-minded uncles are certain that I'm committing career suicide. I have a suspicion they think I make a lot more than 35k/year and have a job that requires more than a GED though...
My goal during the trip is to develop my Spanish language skills (I'm not too bad after enjoying this in school/college), and learn some other resume-boosting things like "negotiation, problem-solving, crisis management, flexibility," etc. My current employer sounds very agreeable to taking me back upon my return, although I would like to find something higher-paying.
Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on this or did something similar in their 20s? I'm terrified about the whole "unemployment" part of this, but I am hoping to make some amazing memories that I'll never regret. Who knows, maybe I won't get 65+ years on this Earth, and if I do, will I want to hike the Andes mountains at that point?
Thank you to this awesome community!