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Comment by jonstewart | Hacker News Reader

There have been so many of these self-congratulatory I-quit-my-job-to-travel-the-world posts that the New Yorker published a satirical piece on it: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/why-i-quit-my-jo.... TFA doesn't even have any geek discussion of build details, design trade-offs, problems encountered on the road and how they were solved, etc.

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> problems encountered on the road and how they were solved, etc.

The solutions seem to be "someone else fixed it".

>> Our truck weighed over 10 tonnes fully laden, and whilst driving through some marshland just before we got to Senegal we broke through the hard crust into boggy clay below.

>> We were very lucky to be just ahead of the Amsterdam Dakar Rally, and they helped pull us out. It took about 4 hours of digging, and 3 trucks to get us out - 2 pulling forwards, 1 sideways to make sure we didn't topple over!

[...]

>> We ran out of diesel, and all the crap that had been floating on top clogged up the entire system.

>> For 3 days we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, unable to fix it ourselves. We were travelling in convoy with another couple and they were able to drive to a small village a few hours away where they found someone who knew a guy in Congo who could help us! So he took our friends to a spot where he could illegally cross the border and smuggle his mechanic friend across.

[...]

>> Turns out the dry river beds weren't so dry after all, and the weight of this truck made it sink right through to the mud below.

>> It took 2 days and the help of a nearby village to dig us out.

I'm kind of surprised there isn't a buddy comedy movie about something similar. (I guess Into the Wild, although very much not a comedy, is similar.)

> I'm kind of surprised there isn't a buddy comedy movie about something similar. (I guess Into the Wild, although very much not a comedy, is similar.)

I love the idea of _Heart of Darkness_ filmed as a buddy comedy.

You forget the timeline involved. There is nothing surprising about getting stuck 3-4 times on dirt roads over the course of 19 months.

Sure. Wouldn't most people dig themselves out?

Probably you have never experienced a stuck heavy vehicle. It's usually impossible to get one out without assistance.

Rarely, you may have a winch and can anchor to something which can support the vehicle's weight, but certainly not 'dig yourself'.

A winch that can pull the truck seems an essential item to take, but your general point stands.

Also, perhaps, don't drive a 10 tonne truck?

This is a "10 tonne truck" we're talking about. They also mention how once they needed 3 trucks to pull them out.

> self-congratulatory I-quit-my-job-to-travel-the-world posts

Hit the nail on the head. It's all quite amazing and awe-inspiring as well; I don't want to take away their achievement. However I can't deny how self-congratulatory it feels.

thanks for this link. such a fun read.

My first few months roaming the world were life-changing. Every day, I updated my Instagram with photos of my favorite sights: cones filled with scoops of glistening gelato; my hand lightly resting on a café table, near an early edition of “On the Road”; selfies of me hugging depressed tigers too stoned on sedatives to drown themselves.

i hate to admit this but im a photographer and have been dreaming about quitting and traveling just for opportunities to take photos. not sure i'd ever put photos of food/sedated tigers though.. but still hits close to home

I don't know your talent, but-

As another photographer, remember exotic places are always tempting and can be very fun, but travel doesn't make good photos. You make good photos, and you can do it close to home.

So if you want to take beautiful photos of tigers you do have to find tigers, but you also have to be able to take beautiful photos. The tiger won't solve that for you.

(Now, if you're already a great photographer, good enough to sell your works, then you have the skills, so by all means devote yourself to pursuing subjects)

As someone who has a very hard time feeling unqualifiedly good about anything, I find the naive sincerity refreshing, and welcome it to a degree. I mean, is there really something wrong with taking pride in something interesting you did, and sharing it with people? Note that the original trip takers are not necessarily responsible for their wide audience (nor did they necessarily want it).

Perhaps they should have added the customary disclaimer at the top, apologizing for every privilege and benefit that they've received in life, as well as displaying their up-to-date Permission to Experience Joy Despite Unfairly Having More Opportunities Than Others certificate?

P.S. The OP is nothing like the satirical post you linked. It's an imgur album with fairly modest captions.

Knew I'd see this link, thanks for it. It's exactly what I think of every time one of these "Look What I Can Afford To Do" articles makes the rounds.

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