Nick Laborde is a self proclaimed “crappy employee”. On top of the fact that he doesn’t like to follow rules, he will soon depart on a year long trip around the world. He currently writes about life, works, and his upcoming travel plans at www.stretchd.com. When we asked Nick about his specific travel plans, he said,
I’m not going to plan out my itinerary too much, I just want to go with the flow.
In our opinion, that’s the way to do it. (As we’ve said before, staying flexible is rule number four.)
Nick’s motivation to travel seems to stem from a desire to challenge himself combined with a distaste for the “American Dream”.
Myself, like many others that seek to do this, felt trapped in a life that I didn’t aspire to. I was living more for the status quo than myself. My possessions trapped me, I was comfortable.
He recently broke up with the idea of the American Dream, and you can read his Dear John letter here. Being one for challenges, he also hopes to learn some interesting things about himself while traveling.
My goal is to push myself out of my comfort-zone and experience new things. I want to learn to slow down and enjoy the simple things. I also hope to increase my social skills, I am traveling by myself so I’ll have no choice but to meet people.
Nick has been researching his trip a great deal lately. However, not forming a rigid itinerary has led to some challenges. (But remember, he likes challenges.) He says he hopes to get by on $10,000 to $15,000 for a year (which we find totally realistic, by the way). In order to achieve that goal, Nick says he’ll probably spend more time in Southeast Asia than in more expensive parts of the world.
You can follow his musings and upcoming adventures at his website, or on twitter @stretchdnick.
Bryan has visited exactly one more country than his wife, and she won't let him forget it! Also an avid photographer, he enjoys entrenching himself within the local culture in order to learn more about the people of a place. As a freelance web developer, he co-founded Budget Your Trip and Collective Lens. You can follow him on Twitter at @budgetyourtrip or @bryantighe.
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