This is a point which often worries me, I decided to skip higher education to travel and began programming (professionally for a company) when I had just turned

This is a point which often worries me, I decided to skip higher education to travel and began programming (professionally for a company) when I had just turned 19, now, 7 months in I'm starting to see that my friends who went to college and university are actually light years behind me when it comes to achievements so far. It's a bummer that I'll probably never work for the Facebooks or Googles of the world, but there are always jobs going in tech and once you have experience, your education is pretty much irrelevant. Your education shows your first employer that you are dedicated and know your stuff, when you go to your second job, it is your performance in job one which will instead be validated.