The month in Leymebamba has been a tranquil one. There’s been a lot of free time and the last few days Kim and I have begun to discuss what we’ll do when we return to the US. I think this is the first time in my life that my options have seemed so open ended to me. I’ve definitely decided that I don’t want to go back to a traditional office job. So I’m just going to muse on the future options that we’re considering.
One of the most serious options is starting my own company. I want to create software, and I already have an idea that I’ve been working on a bit. Much of the influence for this idea came from reading the essays of Paul Graham. I believe that the idea of a typical job will change a great deal in the near future as the tools to create things of value to others become so much better, but so much more complex. Those who can use these tools and provide something of value will be compensated according to the value instead of just how many hours they work. It’s already this way for those who are willing to take the risk, but the risk is becoming much less as access to these tools become so much less expensive. Anyway, once of the barriers to this idea is much research indicates that having a partner greatly increases the chances of success, and I’m not sure I’ll find a partner. I have a few friends that I’ve approached with the idea, but I’m dubious that when the time comes they’ll be willing to make any commitment to the idea.
Therefore another idea is to return to school for an advanced degree. Since leaving school the more study I’ve done into computer science the more I’ve wanted to know. I’ve missed the environment of school. What’s more, I might meet fellow grad students that would be interested in some starting some sort of company. One major problem with this idea is that we don’t know where we’re going to live. We don’t know if we’ll find a place to live first and then decide what to do or vice versa, and if there’s no good schools for computer science, why bother going back. I haven’t looked into online universities though.
Another new idea is to continue this vagabond life without home and hike the Appalachian Trail. We’re already without a job or home to worry about, and getting to that point in decent financial shape is quite a bit of work. So while we have that would be a great time to take advantage and take some months to do something like this, that I’ve always wanted to do. A problem with this is that we’re already feeling a little homesick and missing creature comforts. And it could be a little expensive.
Of course, we could decide to keep on traveling through Latin America. It really is cheap compared to living back home, and our house is probably appreciating faster than we’re spending money here, so even though we’re not earning any money, in theory our net worth is going up. Right now we’re both leaning toward coming back in mid April, but we could change our minds once we head to other countries. Right now the general plan is to head south to Arequipa, then through Bolivia, and then to Argentina. We had considered going to the jungle, but since it’s the rainy season in the highlands in the jungle until around May, we’re thinking going south to get a nice summer in the southern hemisphere might be more pleasant. We still want to go to the jungle at some point, but we might do it in Bolivia or when we come back north from Argentina and Chile.
Having all these options to consider is both exciting/fun and a little scary. Before there’s always been the next year of school to look forward to or a job after graduating. School and job are still options, but not in the same certain way they were before. Kim and I both definitely miss having a routine and schedule to our lives, but I don’t think either of us want to fall into a stale routine. I think the excitement and fun of exploring something new usually outweighs the fear of risk.