First Mini-Retirement at age 22 :\

[J C McGuire]

Yeah, sure, why not? My name's Josh and I'm going to Peru.

[about me]

So I finally, after a stupidly long 4 year period of wasting away doing nothing, I finally started picking myself up and am now a freshman at a University majoring in Computer Science. Now I swear, there really is a good story that occured during that 4 year long journey that would melt the skin, blood and meat right off your face if I were even to slightly uncover that mystery.....but, I will refrain and maybe tell that story later. For right now, I want to tell everyone about my first mini-retirement.

[/about me]

The reason for this mini-retirement is simple, I want to learn Spanish (and relax on the beach/eat the local food/talk with the natives.....but mostly the second language thing). So I made a list of all the countries in the world that spoke Spanish natively and started crossing them out one by one when they didn't fit a certain criteria. In the mean time I told members of my family my plan and they were a bit less than optimistic to say the least. My brother actually loved the idea, even though he too was unsure if it were possible (we're not a very traveled family, btw). I described how if I stay somewhere long enough and in an apartment, instead of a hotel/condo, that even with the plane ticket, it'll be similar to what it cost me to live here in Tennessee (admittedly, a bit naive of me at the time, cost really start adding up before you realize it). I told him to tell his wife about my plan and see what she thinks or see if she had any advice for me, I knew she was latino and that her family had come from somewhere but I didn't know where.

**********Luck only comes to those who decide to play the game***********

He calls me back and said listen to this, "Her family came from Lima, Peru. They live in Miami at the moment, however, they have kept a condo back in Lima that's a couple of blocks from the beach.. AND, if you want, just tell her when you're heading out and she would get a key from her family and let you use the condo for the entire summer." :p How awesome is that?

Now it probably will be cheaper to live in Peru rather than TN. My plan is to leave soon after the Spring semester ends and return just before Fall semester begins.....which gives me around 3 months to learn and enjoy life. So there you go......Now let's hope nothing goes too wrong:(


2 last things:

1) I don't have a muse and I don't have a job. I don't plan on getting a job but I will be working on some muses that I've researched and worked on since I first read 4HWW. I doubt I'll see much of a return on those muses right away but if they end up supplementing some cash, even my WoW subscription, FANTASTIC! Then I'll continue to work on them until they pay for a nice Lotus to sit outside in the driveway....and my WoW subscription.

2) I know #1 sounds a bit overzealous.......so what? Why shouldn't I be? This is exciting stuff that we're talking about. I think we should all be "Way Too Happy". So there!

[Dus10]

Congratulations! The opportunities available to people are simply amazing when you start talking. I would say that this is absolutely excellent. Just make sure you set some goals for yourself while you are doing this to make sure that you are productive. Then, you will have this memory with you that will make you want to repeat it.

This way, if you happen to fall into the 8-5 game, later, you will have motivation to get out.

Start working on your muse now. That way you can focus quickly, when you arrive. Plus, you are likely around a lot of people right now, and talking with them may spark some ideas.

[Darren]

So, where are you planning on getting your money for this?

How did you buy your plane tix?

How are you going to live down there? on what money?

If you do not have any income stream, how is this going to work financially?

[nghs22]

So, where are you planning on getting your money for this?

How did you buy your plane tix?

How are you going to live down there? on what money?

If you do not have any income stream, how is this going to work financially?

It's called Mom and Dad :)

[J C McGuire]

Congratulations! The opportunities available to people are simply amazing when you start talking. I would say that this is absolutely excellent. Just make sure you set some goals for yourself while you are doing this to make sure that you are productive. Then, you will have this memory with you that will make you want to repeat it.

This way, if you happen to fall into the 8-5 game, later, you will have motivation to get out.

Start working on your muse now. That way you can focus quickly, when you arrive. Plus, you are likely around a lot of people right now, and talking with them may spark some ideas.

Thanks for the words. One thing that I'm gonna force myself to do is turn the English speaking switch off. I know if I'm not careful, I may end up staying indoors too much and not speaking with locals. So I'm gonna make sure I put myself in certain situations that really force me to interact with the locals: ordering out, visiting local landmarks/museums (asking lots of directions I'm sure), go shopping, visit Machu Picchu (how in the world can I go to Peru and not go here?) and whatever else I can think of to do.

That's good advise, maybe I should keep a journal or something and right down a to-do list of things that I must force myself to do daily/weekly while their.

As for the job part...I have to be honest, if I can get into the job that I'm currently going to college to try and get, I would love to spend 8-5 working. Tim wrote that people rarely find that job that is an unending source of joy (or something). But when I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to do and now that I'm an adult, I still want nothing more than to still have that job. <--- *motivation for going back to school* :D So I'm gonna make it happen and then see if it really is an unending source of joy.

The muse I'm working on. When I first read 4HWW, I did the exercises with looking at what I do/know and then trying to find a market in those. I went as far as getting a solid idea and speaking with the Ad Department of a magazine to learn of their membership numbers and rate card. This was, however, right before I started attending this university and that whole thing got put on hold. Unfortunately, I can't complete that muse until I get plenty of time to work on it (how-to DVD). So right now, I'm trying to come up with something simple so that at the very least, I can start to get a good idea of the process and will have a much better chance of replicating it with better success later.

So, where are you planning on getting your money for this?

How did you buy your plane tix?

How are you going to live down there? on what money?

If you do not have any income stream, how is this going to work financially?

I have enough money saved at the moment to get me through this summer with rent/living. My original idea was to get a job during the summer here and then continue going back to school in the Fall.

Rent for me is $350/month and let's just say that eat's will be the same their as they are here (though it should be less). I was lucky enough to find that I can use my sister-in-law's family condo in Lima for free.....so $0 rent for 3 months (plus she insist that her family will give me food whether I ask for some or not and that all her cousins will want to marry me if we meet :rolleyes: ). Saves me $1050. Round trip plane ticket is less than $400 (which oddly is cheaper than a one-way ticket :confused: ). When you start to look at this stuff, it starts bringing my total expenses down to what it would cost to just stay here or more likely, even less.

Now here is where it gets even better: while trying to figure out the best possible way for me to prepare myself to give me the best possible chance of learning while in Peru, I decided to "cold-email" every Spanish Instructor at the university the same e-mail describing my situation and asking if they had any advice on what I should be doing.

[time out]
I would just like to point out that e-mailing those professors that e-mail was probably the single most helpful way of learning something that I've never heard anyone ever talk about. Every e-mail that I've received from each instructor has always said something different from the previous one. I've learned about Spanish pop internet radio stations, the show Destinos (really helpful and apparently used to teach basic Spanish at MIT), I learned that apparently there is a research lab/library on campus that is full of tapes/cd's/movies/books that can be used by any current student, and that there is a copy of Rosetta Stone in that research lab that is free for me to use. And all it took was one e-mail.
[/time out]

The very first e-mail told me about the advanced placement test that the university does. Basically, you show up while they're giving the test, you take it, and the computer gives the result of which Spanish class you should take. If you are placed in 1020 (bypassing 1010), then when you complete 1020, you get both the credits for 1010 and 1020. If you happen to get placed in 2020, then upon completion, you get the credits for 1010, 1020, 2010, and 2020. Now I don't think for a second that I'm gonna come back from Peru and be so fluent that I'll get placed in 2020....but I figure I save roughly $700+ from each class that I skip. And even if I only skip one class, then this trip to Peru should more than pay for itself in the long run.

It's called Mom and Dad :)
I'm having a really hard time telling whether this was said in good spirited humor or if you really believe it, but given my circumstance over the past 2 years, I can't help but respond to your post.

(I was trying to write more about this but it's hard to write about the detail so I've decided to keep it short)

For the past 2 years, right around the beginning of summer, my Dad has gotten sick. The first time he was rushed to a hospital an hour away by ambulance and the second time he was flown out to that hospital by chopper. During both times, the family came in because everyone knew that unless a miracle happened, it was probably the last time we were gonna get to see him.

That's actually what I meant by this in my original post:

Now let's hope nothing goes too wrong

He's the pastor of a small church and has been all of his life and he didn't have insurance to take care of the hospital bills....which are astronomical. Even if he really wanted to help me with this stuff, he couldn't nor would I ever consider asking him.

[Dus10]

As for the job part...I have to be honest, if I can get into the job that I'm currently going to college to try and get, I would love to spend 8-5 working. Tim wrote that people rarely find that job that is an unending source of joy (or something). But when I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to do and now that I'm an adult, I still want nothing more than to still have that job. <--- *motivation for going back to school* :D So I'm gonna make it happen and then see if it really is an unending source of joy.

This may be true for today, but things change once you get out in the workforce. I would say that if you absolutely love, you may find out that there is something about the way it is done that you don't like and the only way you will be able to do it "the right way" is to do it on your own. Not to sound boastful, but I consider myself a person of absolute principal, and I simply refuse to compromise that. Perhaps you are to a degree, or not... in any event, life has a way at throwing things at you, and if you want to be the one in the driver's seat, that sometimes means forging a new path.

[Stallion]

This may be true for today, but things change once you get out in the workforce. I would say that if you absolutely love, you may find out that there is something about the way it is done that you don't like and the only way you will be able to do it "the right way" is to do it on your own.
Exactly. When you're young, everything is sorta perfect or very ideal. You may think what you want is great and it's probably true, but things don't run that way in the real world. Your boss runs things like an idiot and makes it a headache instead of enjoyable.

Look at the people that go into social work. They have high ambitions of helping people and think it's their callings. After a year they're on anti-depressants because they can't do the job without'em.

Not trying to discourage you or anything, but my point is that things run the way you like them when you're in charge, not when someone else is in charge.

[kamakiri]

...and now that I'm an adult...

Nothing personal, but I lo0l'ed when I read that. At 22 you are hardly an 'adult', and the distinctions actually become fewer and further apart as you progress with LD. In fact it is quite the opposite. Most 'adults' I know highly value the ideals of going to college, getting a good education, and finding a good job. Me? Heck no. My goal for this summer is to maximize the number of hours I can be on my catamaran.

On a positive note, you seem to have enough of your ducks lined up to make this work. Heck having the cash and a place to live puts you well ahead of the pack. You whole plan looked good until the end though. Why in the heck would you place any value at all on a wow account? Cut it lose man.

[J C McGuire]

Look at the people that go into social work. They have high ambitions of helping people and think it's their callings. After a year they're on anti-depressants because they can't do the job without'em.

Not trying to discourage you or anything, but my point is that things run the way you like them when you're in charge, not when someone else is in charge.

I'll just go ahead and state that I'd like to be a game director. Which, while not quite the big cheese, it would put me in a position that would allow me freedom to create stuff my way (according to which company I may have the opportunity to work for).

I'm still trying to figure out how to make this possible. I'm not a big fan of programming, but I believe it's the easiest way of getting in the industry. Which is why I'm majoring in Computer Science. I will also be choosing a lot of art classes as my electives in an attempt to become more of a jack-of-all-trades (programmer/artist). Besides that, I'm going to start creating whatever I am capable of creating at the moment, with my tiniest amount of programming knowledge, and build my knowledge/experience/portfolio throughout these next few years.

Nothing personal, but I lo0l'ed when I read that.

:D Not a problem. When you're young, I think it's easy to break people down into "kids" and "adults" brackets based purely on age (which is totally the way I meant it).

On a positive note, you seem to have enough of your ducks lined up to make this work. Heck having the cash and a place to live puts you well ahead of the pack. You whole plan looked good until the end though. Why in the heck would you place any value at all on a wow account? Cut it lose man.
Games are not just time-wasters for me, they're a passion. I've devoted a lot of my time to them and I want nothing else but to devote the rest of life to them. I know this sounds a bit naive at this point but I'm going all in for this. If it pays off like I'm hoping it does, than I will be the happiest person alive. If it doesn't...well...I better make sure that I've got a very successful muse up and running.

2 last things:

1) I have overruled the thought about bringing a laptop to Peru with me to play WoW. I know this might sound like an obvious decision but I've been debating about it for a little while now:rolleyes: I figure I can still find an internet/game cafe in Peru to run some instances on Friday night with my friends/family.

2.) When I get to Japan in a few years, I want a ride on that catamaran of yours;)

[nghs22]

I'm having a really hard time telling whether this was said in good spirited humor or if you really believe it, but given my circumstance over the past 2 years, I can't help but respond to your post.

(I was trying to write more about this but it's hard to write about the detail so I've decided to keep it short)

For the past 2 years, right around the beginning of summer, my Dad has gotten sick. The first time he was rushed to a hospital an hour away by ambulance and the second time he was flown out to that hospital by chopper. During both times, the family came in because everyone knew that unless a miracle happened, it was probably the last time we were gonna get to see him.

That's actually what I meant by this in my original post:

Now let's hope nothing goes too wrong

He's the pastor of a small church and has been all of his life and he didn't have insurance to take care of the hospital bills....which are astronomical. Even if he really wanted to help me with this stuff, he couldn't nor would I ever consider asking him.


I hope you Dad turns out ok, but why didn't your pops have insurance?

[J C McGuire]

I hope you Dad turns out ok, but why didn't your pops have insurance?
From my understanding, it's simply cause, on his salary, he couldn't afford it for himself and our family of 6. Plus the church denomination apparently doesn't have an affordable health insurance plan. But this really is a topic for a different place:)