6 ms·

Ask HN: If you had two months off between jobs what would you be doing?

Trying to get some ideas on how to spend my time off.

keiferski 8y ago
Personally I’d turn off my electronics, grab some books and go hiking in the wilderness. At least for a couple weeks. You may never get a chance to be this “unplugged” again.
- dharmab 8y ago
  To be less extreme, I'd go road tripping, carrying a camera and tablet/e-reader and not a laptop.
  - keiferski 8y ago
    To me, the point would be to unplug. Carrying around a camera and tablet defeats the entire purpose.
    - dharmab 8y ago
      The camera is because photography is fun and the tablet is for information which is invaluable on the road, especially in case of natural disasters like wildfires. (Twitter came in handy for avoiding wildfire closures on my last trip). You also need a way to contact your bank/credit card if you start getting declined. Just uninstall all your social media apps!
zimablue 8y ago
I had a similar situation, I just ran, hit the gym, dated and learned Clojure. Great times take me back.
ionised 8y ago
I'd go travelling.
giancarlostoro 8y ago
Ask yourself what is the biggest thing you always stop yourself from doing because you "don't have enough time" and go for it. For me it would be working on more open source projects and ideas.
bayological 8y ago
I'd travel to a different country, read some books, meet some new people & go on dates.
Aaargh20318 8y ago
I had three months off between jobs a couple of years ago. I did absolutely nothing, just sleep in, stay up late, read a few books, watch movies and play games. After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.
- tobbe2064 8y ago
  Lol
- taneq 8y ago
  Yep, if I had two months off right now I'd spend the first month just sleeping and unwinding. Second month I'd probably get bored and take a project off my ever-growing rack of "cool things I wanna build but will never have time to do".
  - thedevindevops 8y ago
    Care to show us your rack?
    - taneq 8y ago
      Well, the main thing I want to do at the moment is build an external tracking sensor for Windows Mixed Reality. That'd be a pretty huge product if done right since the one weakness of WMR is the inside-out controller tracking. To do it right, though, it would need to do on-board video processing so it doesn't add any load on the host computer, which would involve implementing SoftPOSIT in an FPGA. That's as far as I've got on that one. Then there's a ruggedized telepresence robot with enough flexibility that it can be used for inspection and troubleshooting on remote sites, so you don't need a person physically present. It would also let systems maintainers 'teleport' to a remote site for troubleshooting without having to lose a day to plane flights and paperwork. This might even be my next commercial project. No-one's done a self contained drone 'airport' yet which can hold a few small drones and launch / retrieve / recharge them. It'd be useful for a whole bunch of remote observation and monitoring applications, eg. early bushfire detection. This will be tougher to commercialize due to large incumbent drone operators trying to increase red tape to prevent new players entering the market. Another idea is a lawn weeding robot, using computer vision to detect weeds and some kind of claw to physically rip them out of the lawn. A few people have done hobby style builds but I don't think one's been commercialized yet. And then there's a few fun non-commercial project ideas like a license-plate reader based automatic opener for our front gate, facial recognition doorbell / automatic lock for the front door, and a couple of game ideas.
tmaly 8y ago
I would travel to a new country I have not been before and explore the culture and food. I would find a nice fiction novel to read, and I would try to build a habit of working out each day.
projectramo 8y ago
If you ask me before I take the two months off, I would plan to write a novel, write, shoot and direct a movie, take the CFA, back test some trading algorithms, and write three apps (one game, one very useful app in a new industry I know nothing about, and some social app) while learning new languages (mandarin and some variant of lisp). If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.
sarabande 8y ago
Travel, learn a language, read, code on a personal project, help others -- it could be anything. One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.
duiker101 8y ago
I just had 7 months off and I went travelling(mostly US and EU). Another time I did a huge chunk of South East Asia with 3 months. 2 months would also give you ample time to explore a lot of new places!
sjroot 8y ago
Spend some time with your family and friends. You could "combine" this with the many travel recommendations you are getting, by (1) visiting loved ones who live far from you or (2) traveling somewhere with them. Enjoy your time off!
bra-ket 8y ago
finish editing a couple of wikipedia articles
leesec 8y ago
Go see all my friends who are all over the world, and eat long dinners and drink nice wine and exercise everyday and catch up on my reading list and take aimless walks and prepare for my new job, but at a relaxed pace.
esotericn 8y ago
Open source development. I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.
- stuxnet79 8y ago
  This is the ideal situation for me. I very strongly value personal development and I feel it's impossible to get with a regular gig. I'd prefer work that's more transient in nature and gives me time to explore projects for learning and personal interest.
StevePerkins 8y ago
This question depends very much on WHETHER OR NOT THE NEXT JOB IS ALREADY LINED UP. If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit. Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.
- tubbs 8y ago
  This is myself as well. I'm still working the job that I got right out of college. Even though I'm confident in my networking and programming ability, I would still be panicked into finding my next job immediately. If I had my next job lined up, however, I would be visiting family and friends, and likely traveling any practicing my photography. You're not offered that kind of extended leave often - I would certainly take advantage of it.
- ghaff 8y ago
  Don't you read posts here? If you have a pulse you send an email or two and have a new FAANG job paying $400K in a couple days. </s> Somewhat annoyingly (but not really), the one time I had 6 weeks or so off I did spend it job hunting. [This was during dot-bomb by way of context.] Somewhat annoyingly because the conversation I had with a company owner I knew literally about a couple of days after I was laid off led to an eventual job offer at the small company. But, of course, I didn't know that at the time. And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?" If I knew I'd have a couple months off, I'd quickly book tickets to someplace I wanted to take an extended vacation to.
  - malvosenior 8y ago
    > And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?" That's when I would normally say that I've been planning a trip so I can start in 2 months. Then you can relax with your next role lined up. It actually works really well for negotiation too. While interviewing say that you've been planning a trip/something else and that you weren't even really looking for a job but the position you're talking about was so interesting you thought it was worth exploring. That helps because it gives the appearance of: 1. Not being under financial pressure 2. Having many options for employment that you can choose at will Both are very helpful when negotiating. High end individuals usually won't have to rush into a new job right away and will often do some intercontinental travel or large personal project between roles.
shafiqissani 8y ago
I'd do nothing. Yes, a lot of that.
dsco 8y ago
Divide my time between ML and crypto, trying to understand the fundamentals of each discipline.
expertentipp 8y ago
Beware of "cool" things - it's a waste of time and money, likely dangerous for health. Skydiving and travelling to Cambodia or Mongolia is an unimpressive cliche. Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.
- atom-morgan 8y ago
  Skydiving is both fun and not that dangerous. It's "cool" for a reason.
mangoman 8y ago
If you don't already, workout every day! get in the habit while you have no excuse not to go. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop after you start working.
amelius 8y ago
Learn to use Blender. Or invent yet another new programming language.
lettergram 8y ago
I personally write blog posts I find interesting[1], catch up around the house (new jobs typically take up more time than old), and take long walks or runs (maybe play some video games or read). Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc). Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: https://projectpiglet.com/ https://projectpiglet.com/ Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week). [1] https://austingwalters.com https://austingwalters.com
- sam1r 8y ago
  You want to provide a promo code?:) Looks really cool! About to signup for the beta.
H1Supreme 8y ago
Probably just more of the same stuff I do in me free time. Work on music, cycling, beer drinking, and lots more sleep.
exabrial 8y ago
I just did that this summer. I saw a bunch of friends, went out a lot made more friends, traveled around my state to see old friends... But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to actually make a difference.
alemhnan 8y ago
Solo backpacking in Central/South America or Asia.
jdlyga 8y ago
I took a week off between my last job and current job. It really feels like you've dropped out of society. I don't recommend doing that for more than a week.
finleymedia 8y ago
I would finish a side project and hoping it would turn into something.
nodefourtytwo 8y ago
Studied and got an AWS certification. Played basketball. Traveled. It was a good summer.
- szilardboy 8y ago
  How has the certification benefited you since then? I am considering working towards it as well.
MikeLui 8y ago
Go around visiting national parks for some eco-therapy
towndrunk 8y ago
Ride my motorcycle across the U.S. like this guy did. https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI
vorpalhex 8y ago
My only semi joking answer has been to hire a personal trainer and follow John Cena's workout regiment in an attempt to get truly sculpted - while I hit the gym frequently now, making it my job would let me get some awesome results. Alternatively, I would take a hardcore tech break. Rent out a cabin in a remote area and just relax, write and hike all day. Maybe pick archery back up.
hogu 8y ago
I had 3 months between jobs 3 years ago. I watched all of Doctor Who (never watched it before) and just generally relaxed, ate healthy, and exercised. I also spent 2 weeks traveling. This was very useful because I was quite burned out from the previous job. I have a year off between jobs right now (finance non compete) and I'm using the time to bootstrap a company
GavinMcG 8y ago
I went on a 300 mile hike
ramshanker 8y ago
I will study some math. Revisiting high school math textbooks. They really hide the application part in those years!
kowdermeister 8y ago
I had these few months and rather casually I'm putting the finishing touches on a side project. It was also beneficiary during the job hunting. I wish I had traveled more, but laziness and monitor addiction is real :)
embwbam 8y ago
Absolutely travel. Traveling solo is a hugely rewarding experience. Stay in hostels to meet other people and make friends. If money is tight, choose a cheap area. If you like outdoor adventuring, combine it with rock climbing or summiting some mountains. (I can provide recommendations if you want)
Tcepsa 8y ago
I would try to set up a healthier lifestyle, primarily by working on establishing consistent exercise and eating patterns.
loso 8y ago
I just recently had 5 months off between jobs. I was already being recruited for other jobs so I never worried about finding a new one. I relaxed and also studied different things that I always wanted to but didn't have the time.I basically wanted to enjoy a summer with no stress for the first time in a long time. I would have taken 6 months off but my car had issues again so I decided to answer some of those recruiters. I had a new job in 2 weeks making almost double what I did before. But I say that with adding the caveat that I was underpaid at my last job.
EnderMB 8y ago
This actually happened to me before I started my current job. I was leaving a senior-level role as a .NET developer, and was moving over to be a standard-level developer in Ruby and Python. I left mid-way through November, thanks to a ton of holiday I had booked for Christmas, and decided to join in January instead of at a time when everything winds down in a lot of companies. My Python knowledge was non-existent, so I spent most of my time sleeping in, and working my way through a set of Python books. I worked through Learn Python The Hard Way, and Data Structures and Algorithms in Python, and although I've not done much Python this year it gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to relax through the two months off, but keep my mind in code and get over the initial impostor syndrome I'd get from joining an established team with zero experience of their tools in anger. Frankly, I still feel like my Ruby and Python skills are beginner-level, at best, but those two months helped me hit the ground running at my new job, and nearly a year later I've come to appreciate different languages as similar in many ways. I feel that I can start a new non-trivial project and (if given enough time) I can write working code in either to achieve a task - something I didn't feel before, which I put down to the two months holiday I took.
atx-dev 8y ago
Two months is a long time. It's great to sleep in and stay up late and all that, but it can get old fast. Now is the perfect time to take care of some items on your bucket list. Don't have a bucket list? Great time to make one! On a tight budget? Take the time to catch-up with friends and family. Be a tourist in your area. Take some day trips to nearby areas. Seize the free time so that when you start back to work, you don't look back on it as a wasted opportunity!
hkchad 8y ago
With enough notice and time to prepare I'd drive the PanAmerica Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia South America camping along the way. Only thing stopping me right now is time away from work. Might take more than 2 months though.
pvinis 8y ago
Same thing I did when I had 6 days between jobs. Work on my side projects and have fun doing it. A lot of progress also!
schnevets 8y ago
A lot of folks would say travel, but last time I had a gap (3 weeks between jobs), I did the exact opposite. I made an ideal routine - I ran every morning, I started cooking, I read most evenings. Between 11am and 4pm, I'd find some "work" to take care of - mostly home-related and some favors for family members. I kept saying I'd do something audacious - join an open source project, write an app, yadda-yadda - but this would just bring me down. I can't be motivated to excel until I'm absolutely comfortable where I am. Sometimes it takes a few days of freedom to remember that.
superdex 8y ago
Riding my bike. A LOT.
mbrock 8y ago
If I were single, I’d go stay at a particular Zen-inspired meditation retreat center farm that I’ve lived at before between jobs. It’s a nice lifestyle of meditation, cooking/eating/cleaning, drinking tea, farming, etc.
Kagerjay 8y ago
Travel, read books, work on side projects
kapauldo 8y ago
I would code a side project and work 12 hours a day.
kamaal 8y ago
Relaxing. Siestas. Spending time with my kid, taking her to parks, playing with her. Taking wife to movies, dinner and reading books.
make3 8y ago
travel the world of course

Trying to get some ideas on how to spend my time off.

Personally I’d turn off my electronics, grab some books and go hiking in the wilderness. At least for a couple weeks. You may never get a chance to be this “unplugged” again.

dharmab 8y ago
To be less extreme, I'd go road tripping, carrying a camera and tablet/e-reader and not a laptop.
- keiferski 8y ago
  To me, the point would be to unplug. Carrying around a camera and tablet defeats the entire purpose.
  - dharmab 8y ago
    The camera is because photography is fun and the tablet is for information which is invaluable on the road, especially in case of natural disasters like wildfires. (Twitter came in handy for avoiding wildfire closures on my last trip). You also need a way to contact your bank/credit card if you start getting declined. Just uninstall all your social media apps!

zimablue 8y ago

I had a similar situation, I just ran, hit the gym, dated and learned Clojure. Great times take me back.

ionised 8y ago

I'd go travelling.

giancarlostoro 8y ago

Ask yourself what is the biggest thing you always stop yourself from doing because you "don't have enough time" and go for it. For me it would be working on more open source projects and ideas.

bayological 8y ago

I'd travel to a different country, read some books, meet some new people & go on dates.

Aaargh20318 8y ago

I had three months off between jobs a couple of years ago. I did absolutely nothing, just sleep in, stay up late, read a few books, watch movies and play games. After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.

tobbe2064 8y ago
Lol
taneq 8y ago
Yep, if I had two months off right now I'd spend the first month just sleeping and unwinding. Second month I'd probably get bored and take a project off my ever-growing rack of "cool things I wanna build but will never have time to do".
- thedevindevops 8y ago
  Care to show us your rack?
  - taneq 8y ago
    Well, the main thing I want to do at the moment is build an external tracking sensor for Windows Mixed Reality. That'd be a pretty huge product if done right since the one weakness of WMR is the inside-out controller tracking. To do it right, though, it would need to do on-board video processing so it doesn't add any load on the host computer, which would involve implementing SoftPOSIT in an FPGA. That's as far as I've got on that one. Then there's a ruggedized telepresence robot with enough flexibility that it can be used for inspection and troubleshooting on remote sites, so you don't need a person physically present. It would also let systems maintainers 'teleport' to a remote site for troubleshooting without having to lose a day to plane flights and paperwork. This might even be my next commercial project. No-one's done a self contained drone 'airport' yet which can hold a few small drones and launch / retrieve / recharge them. It'd be useful for a whole bunch of remote observation and monitoring applications, eg. early bushfire detection. This will be tougher to commercialize due to large incumbent drone operators trying to increase red tape to prevent new players entering the market. Another idea is a lawn weeding robot, using computer vision to detect weeds and some kind of claw to physically rip them out of the lawn. A few people have done hobby style builds but I don't think one's been commercialized yet. And then there's a few fun non-commercial project ideas like a license-plate reader based automatic opener for our front gate, facial recognition doorbell / automatic lock for the front door, and a couple of game ideas.

tmaly 8y ago

I would travel to a new country I have not been before and explore the culture and food. I would find a nice fiction novel to read, and I would try to build a habit of working out each day.

projectramo 8y ago

If you ask me before I take the two months off, I would plan to write a novel, write, shoot and direct a movie, take the CFA, back test some trading algorithms, and write three apps (one game, one very useful app in a new industry I know nothing about, and some social app) while learning new languages (mandarin and some variant of lisp). If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.

sarabande 8y ago

Travel, learn a language, read, code on a personal project, help others -- it could be anything. One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.

duiker101 8y ago

I just had 7 months off and I went travelling(mostly US and EU). Another time I did a huge chunk of South East Asia with 3 months. 2 months would also give you ample time to explore a lot of new places!

sjroot 8y ago

Spend some time with your family and friends. You could "combine" this with the many travel recommendations you are getting, by (1) visiting loved ones who live far from you or (2) traveling somewhere with them. Enjoy your time off!

bra-ket 8y ago

finish editing a couple of wikipedia articles

leesec 8y ago

Go see all my friends who are all over the world, and eat long dinners and drink nice wine and exercise everyday and catch up on my reading list and take aimless walks and prepare for my new job, but at a relaxed pace.

esotericn 8y ago

Open source development. I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.

stuxnet79 8y ago
This is the ideal situation for me. I very strongly value personal development and I feel it's impossible to get with a regular gig. I'd prefer work that's more transient in nature and gives me time to explore projects for learning and personal interest.

StevePerkins 8y ago

This question depends very much on WHETHER OR NOT THE NEXT JOB IS ALREADY LINED UP. If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit. Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.

tubbs 8y ago
This is myself as well. I'm still working the job that I got right out of college. Even though I'm confident in my networking and programming ability, I would still be panicked into finding my next job immediately. If I had my next job lined up, however, I would be visiting family and friends, and likely traveling any practicing my photography. You're not offered that kind of extended leave often - I would certainly take advantage of it.
ghaff 8y ago
Don't you read posts here? If you have a pulse you send an email or two and have a new FAANG job paying $400K in a couple days. </s> Somewhat annoyingly (but not really), the one time I had 6 weeks or so off I did spend it job hunting. [This was during dot-bomb by way of context.] Somewhat annoyingly because the conversation I had with a company owner I knew literally about a couple of days after I was laid off led to an eventual job offer at the small company. But, of course, I didn't know that at the time. And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?" If I knew I'd have a couple months off, I'd quickly book tickets to someplace I wanted to take an extended vacation to.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  > And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?" That's when I would normally say that I've been planning a trip so I can start in 2 months. Then you can relax with your next role lined up. It actually works really well for negotiation too. While interviewing say that you've been planning a trip/something else and that you weren't even really looking for a job but the position you're talking about was so interesting you thought it was worth exploring. That helps because it gives the appearance of: 1. Not being under financial pressure 2. Having many options for employment that you can choose at will Both are very helpful when negotiating. High end individuals usually won't have to rush into a new job right away and will often do some intercontinental travel or large personal project between roles.

shafiqissani 8y ago

I'd do nothing. Yes, a lot of that.

dsco 8y ago

Divide my time between ML and crypto, trying to understand the fundamentals of each discipline.

expertentipp 8y ago

Beware of "cool" things - it's a waste of time and money, likely dangerous for health. Skydiving and travelling to Cambodia or Mongolia is an unimpressive cliche. Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.

atom-morgan 8y ago
Skydiving is both fun and not that dangerous. It's "cool" for a reason.

mangoman 8y ago

If you don't already, workout every day! get in the habit while you have no excuse not to go. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop after you start working.

amelius 8y ago

Learn to use Blender. Or invent yet another new programming language.

lettergram 8y ago

I personally write blog posts I find interesting[1], catch up around the house (new jobs typically take up more time than old), and take long walks or runs (maybe play some video games or read). Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc). Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: https://projectpiglet.com/ https://projectpiglet.com/ Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week). [1] https://austingwalters.com https://austingwalters.com

sam1r 8y ago
You want to provide a promo code?:) Looks really cool! About to signup for the beta.

H1Supreme 8y ago

Probably just more of the same stuff I do in me free time. Work on music, cycling, beer drinking, and lots more sleep.

exabrial 8y ago

I just did that this summer. I saw a bunch of friends, went out a lot made more friends, traveled around my state to see old friends... But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to actually make a difference.

alemhnan 8y ago

Solo backpacking in Central/South America or Asia.

jdlyga 8y ago

I took a week off between my last job and current job. It really feels like you've dropped out of society. I don't recommend doing that for more than a week.

finleymedia 8y ago

I would finish a side project and hoping it would turn into something.

nodefourtytwo 8y ago

Studied and got an AWS certification. Played basketball. Traveled. It was a good summer.

szilardboy 8y ago
How has the certification benefited you since then? I am considering working towards it as well.

MikeLui 8y ago

Go around visiting national parks for some eco-therapy

towndrunk 8y ago

Ride my motorcycle across the U.S. like this guy did. https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI

vorpalhex 8y ago

My only semi joking answer has been to hire a personal trainer and follow John Cena's workout regiment in an attempt to get truly sculpted - while I hit the gym frequently now, making it my job would let me get some awesome results. Alternatively, I would take a hardcore tech break. Rent out a cabin in a remote area and just relax, write and hike all day. Maybe pick archery back up.

hogu 8y ago

I had 3 months between jobs 3 years ago. I watched all of Doctor Who (never watched it before) and just generally relaxed, ate healthy, and exercised. I also spent 2 weeks traveling. This was very useful because I was quite burned out from the previous job. I have a year off between jobs right now (finance non compete) and I'm using the time to bootstrap a company

GavinMcG 8y ago

I went on a 300 mile hike

ramshanker 8y ago

I will study some math. Revisiting high school math textbooks. They really hide the application part in those years!

kowdermeister 8y ago

I had these few months and rather casually I'm putting the finishing touches on a side project. It was also beneficiary during the job hunting. I wish I had traveled more, but laziness and monitor addiction is real :)

embwbam 8y ago

Absolutely travel. Traveling solo is a hugely rewarding experience. Stay in hostels to meet other people and make friends. If money is tight, choose a cheap area. If you like outdoor adventuring, combine it with rock climbing or summiting some mountains. (I can provide recommendations if you want)

Tcepsa 8y ago

I would try to set up a healthier lifestyle, primarily by working on establishing consistent exercise and eating patterns.

loso 8y ago

I just recently had 5 months off between jobs. I was already being recruited for other jobs so I never worried about finding a new one. I relaxed and also studied different things that I always wanted to but didn't have the time.I basically wanted to enjoy a summer with no stress for the first time in a long time. I would have taken 6 months off but my car had issues again so I decided to answer some of those recruiters. I had a new job in 2 weeks making almost double what I did before. But I say that with adding the caveat that I was underpaid at my last job.

EnderMB 8y ago

This actually happened to me before I started my current job. I was leaving a senior-level role as a .NET developer, and was moving over to be a standard-level developer in Ruby and Python. I left mid-way through November, thanks to a ton of holiday I had booked for Christmas, and decided to join in January instead of at a time when everything winds down in a lot of companies. My Python knowledge was non-existent, so I spent most of my time sleeping in, and working my way through a set of Python books. I worked through Learn Python The Hard Way, and Data Structures and Algorithms in Python, and although I've not done much Python this year it gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to relax through the two months off, but keep my mind in code and get over the initial impostor syndrome I'd get from joining an established team with zero experience of their tools in anger. Frankly, I still feel like my Ruby and Python skills are beginner-level, at best, but those two months helped me hit the ground running at my new job, and nearly a year later I've come to appreciate different languages as similar in many ways. I feel that I can start a new non-trivial project and (if given enough time) I can write working code in either to achieve a task - something I didn't feel before, which I put down to the two months holiday I took.

atx-dev 8y ago

Two months is a long time. It's great to sleep in and stay up late and all that, but it can get old fast. Now is the perfect time to take care of some items on your bucket list. Don't have a bucket list? Great time to make one! On a tight budget? Take the time to catch-up with friends and family. Be a tourist in your area. Take some day trips to nearby areas. Seize the free time so that when you start back to work, you don't look back on it as a wasted opportunity!

hkchad 8y ago

With enough notice and time to prepare I'd drive the PanAmerica Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia South America camping along the way. Only thing stopping me right now is time away from work. Might take more than 2 months though.

pvinis 8y ago

Same thing I did when I had 6 days between jobs. Work on my side projects and have fun doing it. A lot of progress also!

schnevets 8y ago

A lot of folks would say travel, but last time I had a gap (3 weeks between jobs), I did the exact opposite. I made an ideal routine - I ran every morning, I started cooking, I read most evenings. Between 11am and 4pm, I'd find some "work" to take care of - mostly home-related and some favors for family members. I kept saying I'd do something audacious - join an open source project, write an app, yadda-yadda - but this would just bring me down. I can't be motivated to excel until I'm absolutely comfortable where I am. Sometimes it takes a few days of freedom to remember that.

superdex 8y ago

Riding my bike. A LOT.

mbrock 8y ago

If I were single, I’d go stay at a particular Zen-inspired meditation retreat center farm that I’ve lived at before between jobs. It’s a nice lifestyle of meditation, cooking/eating/cleaning, drinking tea, farming, etc.

Kagerjay 8y ago

Travel, read books, work on side projects

kapauldo 8y ago

I would code a side project and work 12 hours a day.

kamaal 8y ago

Relaxing. Siestas. Spending time with my kid, taking her to parks, playing with her. Taking wife to movies, dinner and reading books.

make3 8y ago

travel the world of course