I travelled the world a bit, but I am posting now to just recommend a book about travel that I really enjoyed: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. I think that if you are on the edge... reading this book might just be what it takes for you to pack your bags.

See the book "Vagabonding", by Rolf Potts.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of ... - Amazon.com
http://goo.gl/f8Ue7

I just finished reading the book "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel", which basically promotes this exact train of thought. You may enjoy reading it if you are not already familiar.

The Better Angels of our Nature - Steven Pinker (The world isn't so bad, and it's getting better all the time)

Vagabonding - Rolf Potts (It's easy and cheap to move around the world these days)

The Power of Now is at the top, for me.

I'll also mention Vagabonding by Rolf Potts -- a great book that's as much about travel as about life.

I was similarly impacted by both books -- Four Hour Work Week led me to Vagabonding which is much better. If you haven't already, you should read the inspiration for Vagabonding: Walden by Thoreau.

There are several books about it. Off the top of my head... 4 Hour Work Week touches on it, Vagabonding by Rolf Potts has a version for lower-skilled workers, and Life Nomadic by Tynan is a free pdf.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts

On the surface, it's about traveling the world on a budget for extended periods of time, but deeper than that is a philosophy about going without things you don't need and connecting with people more authentically.

https://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Uncommon-Guide-Long-Term-...

What a great resource, your website.

While he doesn't have much in common with Chris, I was inspired at an identity level when I first read Rolf Potts' Vagabonding as a teen and other pieces of his work like https://rolfpotts.com/storming-the-beach/.

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

It opened the doors to the remote lifestyle for me and led me to switch to careers to tech (due to the abundance of remote opportunities) and to embrace a new kind of lifestyle.

http://www.vagabonding.net/

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.

Talks about minimalistic long term travel.

A few stand out:

- Vagabonding (Potts): made me travel more than ever

- Steve Jobs (Isaacson): amazing life story, beautifully described

- The Mom Test: required reading for any young founder/PM IMO, I've gifted this more than any other book

- It doesn't have to be crazy at work (DHH/Fried): best advice on how to run a company in a sustainable way to maximize team happiness & output

- Masters of Doom: epically entertaining, super nostalgic

I was once a 13-year-old girl and loved writing short stories and learning about business. Some books that worked for me:
- The 4-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Guy Kawasaki
- The Magic of Thinking Big, by David. J Schwartz
- Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

One not super related to business but a great short read: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. That book taught me to think creatively about my goals and not to allow traditional expectations to stop me from accomplishing them.

No. I think Vagabonding by Rolf Potts is a good book for people who think this, unless your idea of travel is only to go to Paris and stay in a 5-star resort the whole time.

https://vagabonding.net/book/excerpt/

> For some reason, we see long-term travel to faraway lands as a recurring dream or an exotic temptation, but not something that applies to the here and now. Instead — out of our insane duty to fear, fashion, and monthly payments on things we don’t really need — we quarantine our travels to short, frenzied bursts. In this way, as we throw our wealth at an abstract notion called “lifestyle,” travel becomes just another accessory — a smooth-edged, encapsulated experience that we purchase the same way we buy clothing and furniture.

That's just my favorite part of the excerpt, not supporting evidence for my first sentence though. :)

  * Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo. Powerful anti-war story.
  * Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts. Shaped my views on hard work and travel.
  * 1984, by George Orwell. Brilliant and terrifying.
  * The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Overcoming mental pain through consciousness. 
  * Planetwalker, by John Francis. Inspired me to walk and put myself into things more.
  * Pure enjoyment: Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson), Ready Player One (Ernest Cline), Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons), Red Rising trilogy (Pierce Brown).

Honorable mention: The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi).

I had asked a question[0] regarding books a few months ago which ended up in the following list[1].
From those so far I have read the following:

- Elon Musk: Inventing the Future - Ashlee Vance
Totally worth to get insight into the Elon. Kinda changes the superhero/good guy image everyone has but you end up with more respect for him whatsoever.

- Thinking fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman
Awesome book presenting modern psychology. You'll get insight into how humans work.

- Rework - Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Nice, albeit small book regarding how the creators of rails manage their company. So very nice insight.

- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers - Ben Horowitz
I started reading this but it was too business centric for me so I stopped, however if you're a business owner it might be worth it.

- Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel - Rolf Potts
This is a nice/into book if you're interested into digital nomading, long term travel in general.

- The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
This in my opinion is a superb book if you are interested in statistics/philosophy. He presents the chaotic structure of our world and why extreme events are more common than we think.Definitely suggested.

- The art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin
This is a book that presents the Author's (Chess and Tai Chi Chuan World champion) way of learning. Has some pretty useful insight.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12415621
[1]: https://github.com/kostistsaprailis/non-tech-books-for-devel...

Travel!

I recommend reading Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel.

Traveling can be extremely enlightening. If for no other reason than it will give you plenty of time to think. If you find yourself thinking about different startup ideas (like I do when I travel) then you know you are probably in the right line of work.

You will also open your mind up to a million other things that you probably weren't aware of before.

Depends on what you're after. If you like the 4 hour work week and want to change your lifestyle then I'd read inspiration for the four hour work week; vagabonding by Ralf Potts and more recently the obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday. At the end of this month I'll be heading off on a round the world trip with no return ticket starting in india. I have the four hour work week to thank for that, I changed my job to one where I was able to work remote, started my own product gocaller.co.uk whether it's going to bring income to support long term travel will be interesting to see, nevertheless it's a fun ride. I feel more confident now that I can go back to doing what im doing now I love software development and the interesting people I've had the pleasure of working with

One other thing - whether you want to travel or not, reading Vagabonding is helpful for the mindset. Some of Tim Ferriss' writing on this is helpful too.

The idea of financial freedom is not a one-size fits all. It really depends on what you value and how you want to live.

However, that's another existential question without an easy answer, just lots of work on self-awareness.

It's also quoted in in the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. After quitting my job and traveling around SE Asia for 2 months, its amazing how that quote describes exactly how you feel when you return home.

So much of what you see is exactly the same - the places you used to hang out at, your family and friends - but the lens through which you look at it is completely different.

Maybe try reading some travel/adventure related fiction. I am currently reading "The Lord of the Rings", and while it doesn't satisfy the wanderlust 100%, it definitely helps.

I also tried researching some more books that are travel related that I am planning to read next:

* Rita Golden Gelman - Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

* Douglas Adams - Last Chance to See

* Italo Calvion - Invisible Cities

* Rolf Potts - Vagabonding

About 7 years. I owed about 12K after graduation and just did the default payment (which would have taken about 16 years, but it was low). Later I borrowed another 12K or so for a car. After year 6 the car was about 1/3 paid off. At that point I read "Vagabonding" which put the idea in my head that debt could be an impediment to freedom. I got a higher paying job. By the time I got around to looking into increasing the monthly payments, I realized I had enough saved to just pay off the loans in one swift stroke.