6 ms·

Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?

48 points by aliencat 9y ago

aliencat 9y ago
I think I would want to read those books that I haven't time to read.
traviswingo 9y ago
Nothing. The value of doing nothing can far outweigh the value of doing something. Consider taking the time to just live before you go back to whatever grind you’re always on in a month. :)
- house9-2 9y ago
  > The value of doing nothing can far outweigh the value of doing something. This might be the most profound thing I have ever read on HN :)
- the-dude 9y ago
  There are people who are afraid of this.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - JonnyNova 9y ago
    The people most afraid of this are the most in need of it. Always do what scares you the most.
matchmike1313 9y ago
I would travel for a month.
xor_null 9y ago
I would read and try to learn an instrument. Also i would cook more.
compactness 9y ago
Study as if all our knowledge is about run away from us.
maxencecornet 9y ago
I'll have a free month in 3 months, and I plan to learn smart contracts programming
warent 9y ago
Not really sure what you mean by free time. Everyone inherently has 24 hours of "free time", we just chose to fill it with what we do day to day. So I would continue doing what I already do day to day
- gamechangr 9y ago
  I'm calling Bullshit. "Not really sure what you mean by free time". Give me a break, you understand the question just fine. The worst part is that you didn't contribute to the question at all. Why did you comment?
  - neospice 9y ago
    I think a lot of people have setup their lives such that they don’t feel they need a break, or free time or an escape. They don’t put off those things that the rest of us do. Maybe the commenter you replied to falls into that category.
    - gamechangr 9y ago
      So maybe he is one of those "I'm so passionate about my job, I would literally do it for free" kind of guys? I do hear that "bullshit" everyday from countless people and think it's refreshing if people would share what they would truly do if they had the freedom to choose.
    - tluyben2 9y ago
      A lot of people is a stretch I think. I would be surprised if it was was 1% of humanity. And that is probably even a snapshot: when you get older, attitude might change.
  - VLM 9y ago
    The purpose of the question is to find the winner of the "I conform to the hive mind opinion of cool recreational activities better than the rest of you". That not a leisure activity I participate in, or I already do things the hive mind feels is cool, is breaking the rules of the primate dominance game while being possibly good true answers. We're supposed to be fighting over if urban bicycling is cooler to the hive mind than homeless shelter volunteering, not pointing out its a ridiculous question for real life or mentioning there's no real reason why anything listed so far would require a month off. Its supposed to be more important that going to hipster bars is better for the hive mind, than pointing out we don't need a month off to go to the hipster bar.
Ocerge 9y ago
Probably nothing. I make money writing code mostly just so that I can do pretty much nothing once I'm done with it every day.
house9-2 9y ago
Go on a trip OR if staying around the house Exercise: Hike, Bike, Yoga, Stretch/Mobility exercises; Learn to cook some new vegetable recipes; Meditate daily; Read books and give myself some time away from the computer; Probably binge watch some series on Netflix or HBO :)
iddan 9y ago
I would have contributed my time for open source projects. Maybe tried to contribute to React.
shivammishra 9y ago
Work on a budding open source project...
dotdi 9y ago
- Get a bunch of books and ready them - Practice playing an instrument (guitar, in my case) - Meet friends and family I didn't see in a while, especially if it involves traveling
lucb1e 9y ago
TL;DR: mostly technical debt of things I manage in my private life (server, laptop, family's laptop, my phone). I would do things that need doing for a long time: - I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server; - I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don't have it yet (my own laptop and my grandma's new laptop); - I'd reinstall my phone which is running Cyanogenmod based on Android 4.4, but it's a lot of work to reconfigure everything (considering how many custom settings I have to firewall apps, disallow most autostarts and wakelocks, deny most broadcast events to apps such as those from the Google framework, etc.); - and finally a hobby project: I'd finish calendar software that I'm writing (I can't find open source, collaborative, self-hostable calendar software) and finally have friends and family be able to just look in my calendar instead of going back and forth, and my girlfriend be able to edit in it and I in hers, etc.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  As someone in their mid 30s, with a wife, kids, and friends (if you have the funds): * Replace your server with Dropbox and/or a VM outside the home (I use Dropbox @ $100/year and a Digital Ocean VM) * Switch to Backblaze or another backup service of your choice instead of self-managed backups (I use Time Machine with my 2013 MBA) * Put your calendar software away for now, use Google Cal or Fastmail (depending on funds and level of Goog wariness, I still use Google Cal because laziness, but have a paid Fastmail account to support them) I'm not saying anything you outlined doesn't have value (I think it all does!), I enjoy learning more Python by contributing to open source digital archivalist projects. But automate those mundane tasks and go spend time with your girlfriend, your grandmother, and the rest of your family. "Technical debt" will expand to fill the free time you allow it to, and time is the ultimate non-renewable resource. Spend that time making memories with those you love instead. One day they'll all be gone; no one lays on their death bed wishing they had tweaked that one last backup script, or tried that additional custom rom on their mobile device. They wish they had spent more time with loved ones [1]. [1] http://www.bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying http://www.bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying
sixhobbits 9y ago
Probably Camino de Santiago or another multi-week walk.
leoharsha2 9y ago
Probably learn some non-technical skills such as piano etc and read some books. Apart from that, NOTHING.
msie 9y ago
Fix up stuff around my parents house. Seek better treatment for my mom's Parkinson's.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  I am happy to help with either task if you require gratis. Happy to provide references upon request.
  - msie 9y ago
    Thanks! What are theses references that you speak of?
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      Human references :) my contact info is in my profile.
molteanu 9y ago
SICP
scottshapiro 9y ago
I’d go on an expedition. Himalayas in April or November. Alaska in the Arctic summer. Or South America in their summer. In 2016, I had a month long sabbatical and spent it in Nepal, which was worth every minute.
- leongr 9y ago
  Do you want to tell more about your time in Nepal? What did you do there, where did you stay and did you go there by yourself?
  - tlrobinson 9y ago
    I’m not the parent commenter but I recently spent almost a month in Nepal. Most of it was trekking in the Annapurna region. There are “teahouses” along all the trekking routes (some areas have more than others), which are mostly very basic but very cheap. I wasn’t alone but I met many people who were. It’s easy to befriend other people on the same route and stick together for awhile. Aside from trekking I spent a few days in Pokhara and Kathmandu (Thamel), but much preferred the mountains to the cities.
foxhop 9y ago
Completely free? Like no social responsibilities (like caring for my family of 5?) I would likely spend it trying to teach my kids as much as I can through play, experimentation, discussion, and research. The problem is, we would likely have to find a mutually interesting topic for a 6 year old, a 10 year old, and myself to keep engagement up.
- euvitudo 9y ago
  In my experience, the only mutually interesting topic is for them to spend time with their parent. If whatever you're doing is interesting to them and you spend time with them doing it, they'll remember it for the rest of their lives. I helped one of my sons learn some basic electronics and he showed a lot of skill with it, but he soon lost interest when I tried to turn it over to him to explore. He didn't seem interested in pursuing the topic as much as spend time with me. Nowadays it's mostly talking about the software projects he's implementing and how best to architect or design his code. He gets annoyed when I become too pedantic, so mostly it's asking questions and validating (and guiding) his choices. I've had a challenge doing activities with my oldest, as our interests hardly match up, and I wasn't able to keep the interest (I'm stubborn and self-centered). Mostly I have to listen--I'm not sure whether he enjoys me listening, but he keeps doing it when the opportunity presents itself. My youngest--I'm at a loss. He's high-functioning autistic and plays games most of the time. He's smart and witty, so he enjoys the nuances of conversation and actually doing things with the family. He often doesn't care what we're doing, just that we're doing it together. We do some activities (plays, musical performances, etc.) as a family (most of the time minus the eldest, as he works, etc.), and they remember and appreciate and are fond of those times when they think on them. It may not be that they were necessarily interested in them, but the fact we enjoyed the time together is what counts. Which is to say that trying to find a mutually interesting topic is futile--they all have their distinct interests and you can't change that. But what you can do is spend time with them, pursuing their interests. It takes a ton of energy and effort, but they will appreciate it and hopefully take the same habits into their own families.
  - foxhop 9y ago
    Agreed. I do this too, once in a while I actually do find a topic both want to explore.
pgcosta 9y ago
thailand
keeringplastik 9y ago
I was expecting a lot of ambitious projects would be mentioned, but it seems as if a lot of HN wants the same as me. I would Unplug. Take the kids camping, explore a national park for a couple weeks and let nature do it's thing. Take the guitar, leave the tablet. Try to catch some fish, which I have never done. Read a couple books that have been put off for too long. Maybe some Heinlein or Asimovs foundation series (which I seem to have never gotten around to reading). Definitely some Alan watts. I would also try some of that legal cannabis I keep reading about. Also: Take a nap every day.
- blakesterz 9y ago
  I'm with ya there. I would Unplug. I'd sit and stare at the wall. I go for a walk. I'd do nothing. (I'd quote Office Space here if I could remember exactly what Peter said) Fishing... sit and do nothing. I know this is true because I was only given one month. It would be different if it was indefinite. Having a solid limit, and just a month, is not bad. Having nothing in front of me for the rest of my life would be different.
  - jlgaddis 9y ago
    > (I'd quote Office Space here if I could remember exactly what Peter said) "... two chicks at the same time, man." No, wait, that was Lawrence.
- mod 9y ago
  Hey, if you want to do the fishing thing, it doesn't take a month or a national park. Just thought I'd chime in with a simple recipe that will catch you fish about 99 days out of 100: Buy a "cane pole" (they sell non-bamboo versions these days). Tie on a hook, bobber, etc. Get some live bait--you can usually buy worms where you buy your fishing pole. Ask the guy who sells you your pole a good place to fish, if you don't know of a pond or lake nearby. Go to the lake, and the way you use a cane pole is you swing it out. No casting or fussing with lines and reels etc. When the bobber gets tugged on, you lift up. It's almost like cheating, you just pull fish out of the water! I started fishing this way when I was 3. I would start any kid the same way. If you go the other route--artificial lures, casting reels, etc--you'll get skunked a lot. Getting skunked fishing beats a day of work, but it's not great for youngsters' morale.
TYPE_FASTER 9y ago
Travel. Probably to ski. Organize photos. Scan all physical photos. Read. Ride my bike. Organize. Write code. Edit: I guess it somewhat depends on the definition of "free time." Summer with kids? Road trip! School year with kids staying local? Other items. School year with kids on the road somehow? Japan to ski and learn. Sail the Caribbean and homeschool.
gabetrumbo 9y ago
Read, travel, create something for the joy of creating it and not because it will make me money.
bchjam 9y ago
Perhaps a more interesting question would be how your interests & goals change after a month of downtime?
spodek 9y ago
What I'm doing now: my podcast, Leadership and the Environment http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast, because I consider it one of the most important things I can do with my time.
efferifick 9y ago
one free month and money? => travel! one free month and no money? => read!
gravypod 9y ago
I'd try to.... - Find a server for cheap that I can virtualize GPU access Ideally >5TB HDDs, 512GB SSD cache, >64GB of RAM, cores on cores - Virtualize the system that I use to Steam Stream my games - Setup an at-home virtualized data analysis lab Python + Pandas + SciPy + Matplotlib + Mongo/SQL - Obtain some cool data sets and look at them - Setup a website and post informed conclusions from the data sets
zwischenzug 9y ago
I have a day off a week, entirely to myself. I negotiated it with my work (a very large $CORP) in exchange for 20% of remuneration. I end up tinkering with the things I'm interested in, and roaming London, going to places I've never been to in 40 years. It can be incredibly productive. I even published a book as a result: https://leanpub.com/learnbashthehardway https://leanpub.com/learnbashthehardway What I have found 'hard' is doing nothing. I find walking helps with managing stress, as it's activity but not cerebral.
- borplk 9y ago
  Just curious is it a very large $TECH_CORP?
JDiculous 9y ago
Travel to foreign countries I've never been, stay in cheap hostels, and document the experience. Leaving on Thursday :D
imrehg 9y ago
Read a bunch that has piled up (amazing books from writers I admire). Meet up with friends that I mean to meet for a long time, and somehow don't manage to. Maybe do some day trips to places nearby but still off my beaten track...
jlgaddis 9y ago
If it were a month of free time to work on anything I wanted, I'd spend the time working on learning various new technologies that I really haven't had the time to get started on. If it were a month where I truly didn't have to worry any damn thing, I'd pack my luggage, jump on the Harley, turn off the GPS, pick a direction, and just go. No particular destination, other than back here in 30 days.. I'd ride until I felt like stopping, find some random, relatively small town, and spend a few days there. Check out the little hole-in-the-wall dive bars, hang out with the locals, and, after a few days, jump back on the bike and pick another direction. I've done this on a smaller scale, but never for a whole month. It's incredibly relaxing and stress free and a great way to spend time. You can meet some really cool people from all walks of life, too.
sagebird 9y ago
I would search for nice enumerations of graphs, hash functions, types and functions. I doubt I would make any progress in a month or perhaps ever. 1. Find a nice numbering system for graphs. (Rooted trees already have a nice numbering system called Matula numbers. I rediscovered this independently but haven’t made any progress on graphs.) 2. I want to label every possible hash function with an integer. 3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer. 4. I want to label every possible function that can be expressed in a programming language with an integer. This might be somewhat related to #2 and #3. I don’t care about arbitrary mappings to integers. The mapping has to be “nice”, preserving some of the properties of the underlying system it is mapping. It needs to be one to one, and cover every possible element. I don’t know how to decribe it in general, but I get a good feeling when I see it. For example, I would be surprised if a nicer mapping between integers and trees than Matula numbers was found.
- leksak 9y ago
  > 3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer. Let me know if you manage to do this, the serialization application for this is boss.
jupiter90000 9y ago
I'd do a 10-day meditation retreat, and spend the other 20 hanging out with people I care about.
vidanay 9y ago
Without a doubt....travel. Domestically, internationally, secluded nature, popular tourist places, all of it. OK, I might need a year instead of a month.
tlrobinson 9y ago
Travel to somewhere relaxing. And depending on my current state of mind, either work on side projects / learn something technical, or try to unplug and maybe learn meditation/yoga or just read. But definitely travel. Don’t stay at home if you can possibly afford to go somewhere else.
moneytide1 9y ago
Get to work full-time on an off-grid self sustaining home, and after that start preparing the area to form a community. I am not interested in "sub-dividing lots" to maximize "profit". I want the very foundation of this future neighborhood to be the people and their shared possessions.
minikomi 9y ago
Make music and ride my bike around Tokyo.. same as any weekend, just more of it.
atsushin 9y ago
There are a ton of subjects I'd love to read up on that are more interesting than the classes I am taking now, so I would likely pour a significant amount of time into studying. Other than that, I would unwind. I want to visit a few museums and restaurants, maybe meet new people.
zapperdapper 9y ago
Funnily enough I will be taking a month's holiday shortly. I will be swimming in an open air pool, diving some wrecks, eating some great food, reading, climbing some volcanoes, relaxing and luuurvin'...
5iveMinutes 9y ago
https://youtu.be/HG-VClgOUCY https://youtu.be/HG-VClgOUCY This is what I would do! I have plenty of time right now to make more videos! You guys can send some topics my way and I can make up a new video for you!! 5ive Minutes Of Fame Like, Comment and Subscribe!

48 points by aliencat 9y ago

I think I would want to read those books that I haven't time to read.

Nothing. The value of doing nothing can far outweigh the value of doing something. Consider taking the time to just live before you go back to whatever grind you’re always on in a month. :)

house9-2 9y ago
> The value of doing nothing can far outweigh the value of doing something. This might be the most profound thing I have ever read on HN :)
the-dude 9y ago
There are people who are afraid of this.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- JonnyNova 9y ago
  The people most afraid of this are the most in need of it. Always do what scares you the most.

matchmike1313 9y ago

I would travel for a month.

xor_null 9y ago

I would read and try to learn an instrument. Also i would cook more.

compactness 9y ago

Study as if all our knowledge is about run away from us.

maxencecornet 9y ago

I'll have a free month in 3 months, and I plan to learn smart contracts programming

warent 9y ago

Not really sure what you mean by free time. Everyone inherently has 24 hours of "free time", we just chose to fill it with what we do day to day. So I would continue doing what I already do day to day

gamechangr 9y ago
I'm calling Bullshit. "Not really sure what you mean by free time". Give me a break, you understand the question just fine. The worst part is that you didn't contribute to the question at all. Why did you comment?
- neospice 9y ago
  I think a lot of people have setup their lives such that they don’t feel they need a break, or free time or an escape. They don’t put off those things that the rest of us do. Maybe the commenter you replied to falls into that category.
  - gamechangr 9y ago
    So maybe he is one of those "I'm so passionate about my job, I would literally do it for free" kind of guys? I do hear that "bullshit" everyday from countless people and think it's refreshing if people would share what they would truly do if they had the freedom to choose.
  - tluyben2 9y ago
    A lot of people is a stretch I think. I would be surprised if it was was 1% of humanity. And that is probably even a snapshot: when you get older, attitude might change.
- VLM 9y ago
  The purpose of the question is to find the winner of the "I conform to the hive mind opinion of cool recreational activities better than the rest of you". That not a leisure activity I participate in, or I already do things the hive mind feels is cool, is breaking the rules of the primate dominance game while being possibly good true answers. We're supposed to be fighting over if urban bicycling is cooler to the hive mind than homeless shelter volunteering, not pointing out its a ridiculous question for real life or mentioning there's no real reason why anything listed so far would require a month off. Its supposed to be more important that going to hipster bars is better for the hive mind, than pointing out we don't need a month off to go to the hipster bar.

Ocerge 9y ago

Probably nothing. I make money writing code mostly just so that I can do pretty much nothing once I'm done with it every day.

house9-2 9y ago

Go on a trip OR if staying around the house Exercise: Hike, Bike, Yoga, Stretch/Mobility exercises; Learn to cook some new vegetable recipes; Meditate daily; Read books and give myself some time away from the computer; Probably binge watch some series on Netflix or HBO :)

iddan 9y ago

I would have contributed my time for open source projects. Maybe tried to contribute to React.

shivammishra 9y ago

Work on a budding open source project...

dotdi 9y ago

- Get a bunch of books and ready them - Practice playing an instrument (guitar, in my case) - Meet friends and family I didn't see in a while, especially if it involves traveling

lucb1e 9y ago

TL;DR: mostly technical debt of things I manage in my private life (server, laptop, family's laptop, my phone). I would do things that need doing for a long time: - I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server; - I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don't have it yet (my own laptop and my grandma's new laptop); - I'd reinstall my phone which is running Cyanogenmod based on Android 4.4, but it's a lot of work to reconfigure everything (considering how many custom settings I have to firewall apps, disallow most autostarts and wakelocks, deny most broadcast events to apps such as those from the Google framework, etc.); - and finally a hobby project: I'd finish calendar software that I'm writing (I can't find open source, collaborative, self-hostable calendar software) and finally have friends and family be able to just look in my calendar instead of going back and forth, and my girlfriend be able to edit in it and I in hers, etc.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
As someone in their mid 30s, with a wife, kids, and friends (if you have the funds): * Replace your server with Dropbox and/or a VM outside the home (I use Dropbox @ $100/year and a Digital Ocean VM) * Switch to Backblaze or another backup service of your choice instead of self-managed backups (I use Time Machine with my 2013 MBA) * Put your calendar software away for now, use Google Cal or Fastmail (depending on funds and level of Goog wariness, I still use Google Cal because laziness, but have a paid Fastmail account to support them) I'm not saying anything you outlined doesn't have value (I think it all does!), I enjoy learning more Python by contributing to open source digital archivalist projects. But automate those mundane tasks and go spend time with your girlfriend, your grandmother, and the rest of your family. "Technical debt" will expand to fill the free time you allow it to, and time is the ultimate non-renewable resource. Spend that time making memories with those you love instead. One day they'll all be gone; no one lays on their death bed wishing they had tweaked that one last backup script, or tried that additional custom rom on their mobile device. They wish they had spent more time with loved ones [1]. [1] http://www.bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying http://www.bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying

sixhobbits 9y ago

Probably Camino de Santiago or another multi-week walk.

leoharsha2 9y ago

Probably learn some non-technical skills such as piano etc and read some books. Apart from that, NOTHING.

msie 9y ago

Fix up stuff around my parents house. Seek better treatment for my mom's Parkinson's.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
I am happy to help with either task if you require gratis. Happy to provide references upon request.
- msie 9y ago
  Thanks! What are theses references that you speak of?
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Human references :) my contact info is in my profile.

molteanu 9y ago

SICP

scottshapiro 9y ago

I’d go on an expedition. Himalayas in April or November. Alaska in the Arctic summer. Or South America in their summer. In 2016, I had a month long sabbatical and spent it in Nepal, which was worth every minute.

leongr 9y ago
Do you want to tell more about your time in Nepal? What did you do there, where did you stay and did you go there by yourself?
- tlrobinson 9y ago
  I’m not the parent commenter but I recently spent almost a month in Nepal. Most of it was trekking in the Annapurna region. There are “teahouses” along all the trekking routes (some areas have more than others), which are mostly very basic but very cheap. I wasn’t alone but I met many people who were. It’s easy to befriend other people on the same route and stick together for awhile. Aside from trekking I spent a few days in Pokhara and Kathmandu (Thamel), but much preferred the mountains to the cities.

foxhop 9y ago

Completely free? Like no social responsibilities (like caring for my family of 5?) I would likely spend it trying to teach my kids as much as I can through play, experimentation, discussion, and research. The problem is, we would likely have to find a mutually interesting topic for a 6 year old, a 10 year old, and myself to keep engagement up.

euvitudo 9y ago
In my experience, the only mutually interesting topic is for them to spend time with their parent. If whatever you're doing is interesting to them and you spend time with them doing it, they'll remember it for the rest of their lives. I helped one of my sons learn some basic electronics and he showed a lot of skill with it, but he soon lost interest when I tried to turn it over to him to explore. He didn't seem interested in pursuing the topic as much as spend time with me. Nowadays it's mostly talking about the software projects he's implementing and how best to architect or design his code. He gets annoyed when I become too pedantic, so mostly it's asking questions and validating (and guiding) his choices. I've had a challenge doing activities with my oldest, as our interests hardly match up, and I wasn't able to keep the interest (I'm stubborn and self-centered). Mostly I have to listen--I'm not sure whether he enjoys me listening, but he keeps doing it when the opportunity presents itself. My youngest--I'm at a loss. He's high-functioning autistic and plays games most of the time. He's smart and witty, so he enjoys the nuances of conversation and actually doing things with the family. He often doesn't care what we're doing, just that we're doing it together. We do some activities (plays, musical performances, etc.) as a family (most of the time minus the eldest, as he works, etc.), and they remember and appreciate and are fond of those times when they think on them. It may not be that they were necessarily interested in them, but the fact we enjoyed the time together is what counts. Which is to say that trying to find a mutually interesting topic is futile--they all have their distinct interests and you can't change that. But what you can do is spend time with them, pursuing their interests. It takes a ton of energy and effort, but they will appreciate it and hopefully take the same habits into their own families.
- foxhop 9y ago
  Agreed. I do this too, once in a while I actually do find a topic both want to explore.

pgcosta 9y ago

thailand

keeringplastik 9y ago

I was expecting a lot of ambitious projects would be mentioned, but it seems as if a lot of HN wants the same as me. I would Unplug. Take the kids camping, explore a national park for a couple weeks and let nature do it's thing. Take the guitar, leave the tablet. Try to catch some fish, which I have never done. Read a couple books that have been put off for too long. Maybe some Heinlein or Asimovs foundation series (which I seem to have never gotten around to reading). Definitely some Alan watts. I would also try some of that legal cannabis I keep reading about. Also: Take a nap every day.

blakesterz 9y ago
I'm with ya there. I would Unplug. I'd sit and stare at the wall. I go for a walk. I'd do nothing. (I'd quote Office Space here if I could remember exactly what Peter said) Fishing... sit and do nothing. I know this is true because I was only given one month. It would be different if it was indefinite. Having a solid limit, and just a month, is not bad. Having nothing in front of me for the rest of my life would be different.
- jlgaddis 9y ago
  > (I'd quote Office Space here if I could remember exactly what Peter said) "... two chicks at the same time, man." No, wait, that was Lawrence.
mod 9y ago
Hey, if you want to do the fishing thing, it doesn't take a month or a national park. Just thought I'd chime in with a simple recipe that will catch you fish about 99 days out of 100: Buy a "cane pole" (they sell non-bamboo versions these days). Tie on a hook, bobber, etc. Get some live bait--you can usually buy worms where you buy your fishing pole. Ask the guy who sells you your pole a good place to fish, if you don't know of a pond or lake nearby. Go to the lake, and the way you use a cane pole is you swing it out. No casting or fussing with lines and reels etc. When the bobber gets tugged on, you lift up. It's almost like cheating, you just pull fish out of the water! I started fishing this way when I was 3. I would start any kid the same way. If you go the other route--artificial lures, casting reels, etc--you'll get skunked a lot. Getting skunked fishing beats a day of work, but it's not great for youngsters' morale.

TYPE_FASTER 9y ago

Travel. Probably to ski. Organize photos. Scan all physical photos. Read. Ride my bike. Organize. Write code. Edit: I guess it somewhat depends on the definition of "free time." Summer with kids? Road trip! School year with kids staying local? Other items. School year with kids on the road somehow? Japan to ski and learn. Sail the Caribbean and homeschool.

gabetrumbo 9y ago

Read, travel, create something for the joy of creating it and not because it will make me money.

bchjam 9y ago

Perhaps a more interesting question would be how your interests & goals change after a month of downtime?

spodek 9y ago

What I'm doing now: my podcast, Leadership and the Environment http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast, because I consider it one of the most important things I can do with my time.

efferifick 9y ago

one free month and money? => travel! one free month and no money? => read!

gravypod 9y ago

I'd try to.... - Find a server for cheap that I can virtualize GPU access Ideally >5TB HDDs, 512GB SSD cache, >64GB of RAM, cores on cores - Virtualize the system that I use to Steam Stream my games - Setup an at-home virtualized data analysis lab Python + Pandas + SciPy + Matplotlib + Mongo/SQL - Obtain some cool data sets and look at them - Setup a website and post informed conclusions from the data sets

zwischenzug 9y ago

I have a day off a week, entirely to myself. I negotiated it with my work (a very large $CORP) in exchange for 20% of remuneration. I end up tinkering with the things I'm interested in, and roaming London, going to places I've never been to in 40 years. It can be incredibly productive. I even published a book as a result: https://leanpub.com/learnbashthehardway https://leanpub.com/learnbashthehardway What I have found 'hard' is doing nothing. I find walking helps with managing stress, as it's activity but not cerebral.

borplk 9y ago
Just curious is it a very large $TECH_CORP?

JDiculous 9y ago

Travel to foreign countries I've never been, stay in cheap hostels, and document the experience. Leaving on Thursday :D

imrehg 9y ago

Read a bunch that has piled up (amazing books from writers I admire). Meet up with friends that I mean to meet for a long time, and somehow don't manage to. Maybe do some day trips to places nearby but still off my beaten track...

jlgaddis 9y ago

If it were a month of free time to work on anything I wanted, I'd spend the time working on learning various new technologies that I really haven't had the time to get started on. If it were a month where I truly didn't have to worry any damn thing, I'd pack my luggage, jump on the Harley, turn off the GPS, pick a direction, and just go. No particular destination, other than back here in 30 days.. I'd ride until I felt like stopping, find some random, relatively small town, and spend a few days there. Check out the little hole-in-the-wall dive bars, hang out with the locals, and, after a few days, jump back on the bike and pick another direction. I've done this on a smaller scale, but never for a whole month. It's incredibly relaxing and stress free and a great way to spend time. You can meet some really cool people from all walks of life, too.

sagebird 9y ago

I would search for nice enumerations of graphs, hash functions, types and functions. I doubt I would make any progress in a month or perhaps ever. 1. Find a nice numbering system for graphs. (Rooted trees already have a nice numbering system called Matula numbers. I rediscovered this independently but haven’t made any progress on graphs.) 2. I want to label every possible hash function with an integer. 3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer. 4. I want to label every possible function that can be expressed in a programming language with an integer. This might be somewhat related to #2 and #3. I don’t care about arbitrary mappings to integers. The mapping has to be “nice”, preserving some of the properties of the underlying system it is mapping. It needs to be one to one, and cover every possible element. I don’t know how to decribe it in general, but I get a good feeling when I see it. For example, I would be surprised if a nicer mapping between integers and trees than Matula numbers was found.

leksak 9y ago
> 3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer. Let me know if you manage to do this, the serialization application for this is boss.

jupiter90000 9y ago

I'd do a 10-day meditation retreat, and spend the other 20 hanging out with people I care about.

vidanay 9y ago

Without a doubt....travel. Domestically, internationally, secluded nature, popular tourist places, all of it. OK, I might need a year instead of a month.

tlrobinson 9y ago

Travel to somewhere relaxing. And depending on my current state of mind, either work on side projects / learn something technical, or try to unplug and maybe learn meditation/yoga or just read. But definitely travel. Don’t stay at home if you can possibly afford to go somewhere else.

moneytide1 9y ago

Get to work full-time on an off-grid self sustaining home, and after that start preparing the area to form a community. I am not interested in "sub-dividing lots" to maximize "profit". I want the very foundation of this future neighborhood to be the people and their shared possessions.

minikomi 9y ago

Make music and ride my bike around Tokyo.. same as any weekend, just more of it.

atsushin 9y ago

There are a ton of subjects I'd love to read up on that are more interesting than the classes I am taking now, so I would likely pour a significant amount of time into studying. Other than that, I would unwind. I want to visit a few museums and restaurants, maybe meet new people.

zapperdapper 9y ago

Funnily enough I will be taking a month's holiday shortly. I will be swimming in an open air pool, diving some wrecks, eating some great food, reading, climbing some volcanoes, relaxing and luuurvin'...

5iveMinutes 9y ago

https://youtu.be/HG-VClgOUCY https://youtu.be/HG-VClgOUCY This is what I would do! I have plenty of time right now to make more videos! You guys can send some topics my way and I can make up a new video for you!! 5ive Minutes Of Fame Like, Comment and Subscribe!