I did it for 3 months in a LCOL country between jobs and that's what made me realize there's so much to life outside of work. At the time I wanted to extend those 3 months into 12 months, but needed money to survive so came back and found a new job.
I don't know how relevant my experience was in this case, because at the time I was just fed up with work and just ending a relationship and I needed a break. I chose to leave the comfort of life in Norway to live with a poor family situated in the slums of Kenya. We were 5 people living in 2 rooms. Electricity would go off now and then. My toilet was a shithole in the ground, mice and cockroaches would come out from time to time. I woke up every morning to the sound of one of the neighbouring kids being beaten up by his mom. My iPhone got stolen at some point.
After a while I joined up with an organization that worked with kids in the slums and got to know more locals as well as foreigners who had come to do this work.
It was the best experience of my life. To get out there and learn how different you can live but still be happy. One morning I would wake up to some nice music being played down the street, and just appreciate being alive and happy. Everyone around me was happy despite the shitty (by "my" standard) conditions. Every 2 or 3 days I got a bucket of boiled-warm, soapy water to wash myself. Felt like a blessing compared to the cold evening showers on stainy floors where I had to use an old Nokia as flashlight due to lack of electricity. The thing is, people always want more. If they live in a 90 sqft room in the slums, they will aim to get a 150 one instead like the guy down the street. If they don't own a phone, they will envy the guy with an old nokia. The old nokia guy will want an iPhone. Etc. But what became clear to me is that despite people's wants, they would usually appreciate what they already have, because there is always someone in your neighbourhood who has less than you.
I also got to travel abit at the end of my stay and had some wonderful experiences that was on my bucket list (safari, corals snorkling, animal sanctuary, hiking adventures and more). In a way it made me hungry for life and dreadful about dull office work :p But the key point from this is that the most beautiful moments came without costing a dime. Going for a safari was a really enjoyable experience, but only because of the people you share those memories with. I had just as much fun playing cards with my host family, making new friends or trying to learn a new language.
I met many people in the same situation as me, plus alot of students of course. I stayed in touch with many of them and now have friends from all continents who wouldn't mind hosting me if I want to go travel to their country!
During that trip I realized that so many people from "western" societies don't know what travelling is. They leave the comfort zone of their home, get on a plane to somewhere, only to end up in a hotel at a place where they meet people from their own culture and have the same facilities and living conditions as where they just came from. They rarely get to know locals, infact many just stick to what is familiar and don't go out of their comfort zone. It may sound like I'm criticizing it (and maybe I am) but I just want to say that if you want to experience a different way of life (even if its just being in your house without a job for a year) you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone abit to get a meaningful experience. What that will mean to you, I don't know. You will have to define it yourself. And take whatever you feel is relevant from this post. I just know that I travelled. Travelling is not just going from A to B. It should be like a year of absence (or 2 weeks), where you actually try out something else and not just faking it.
Now, 3 years after my trip, I still think back on that time and it is working as a vision for me to where I want to be in a few years - only this time with the means to do it forever if I wish so.
I am about 3-4 years from being able to FIRE in a LCOL country, or 7-8 years from FIREing in my current country. I can definetely see myself doing a year of absence eg. 5 years from now, as my passive income-stache would keep growing in a LCOL country at that point. Then come back and make some more money to be able to live in Norway as well, or any other HCOL country.