What do you do for a living?

[The Cockney Rebel]

Hello all,

I hope you don't find my question impertinent.

The reason I ask is that I've reached a phase in my life, where I don't know where to turn next.

Currently thinking about self-studying, to become a developer. My dream would be to travel the world with my MacBook, iOS devices, and develop apps, as I stay in nice hotels and meet nice people from all over the globe.

Is this an unrealistic dream? I don't know. I'm sure there are many people who do this, though?

So, If you don't mind sharing, what do you do?

My mind is open, so I'm willing to consider most things at this point.

Wising you all well.

 

[rm5]

No, it's not impertinent at all (to me at least)! These are obviously important questions for you to consider. I should preface this by saying that I'm only 17, and so I don't have any "real life experience," but maybe this perspective will be useful to you.

Is this a realistic dream? I have no idea... I think it depends on your background and experience. I think you should try and meet as many new people as you can, and try to "get out there" as much as possible.

For me, I am a musician (performer and producer), but I also really enjoy working with computers. These skills overlap sometimes—occasionally I'll have to help other producers with problems with their Mac for example, so there is some overlap. However, I think for you, you should make sure you have lots of experience (and have a pretty decent résumé).

Are you wanting to give workshops/classes on developing apps for macOS/iOS? Although I know nothing about developing, that's something you might look into.

I also think that the whole idea of needing a college degree to pursue something is not true. So many people I know either only have Bachelor's degrees or none at all, and yet, they're active on the music scene, teaching and performing, and making very good money. Obviously this depends on the field you want to go into.

Anyway, that's my perspective/advice on this. I have no idea if this is helpful, but if you have more questions, please ask, because I can definitely provide more information for you!

 

[Allyance]

What ever you decide to do, make sure you thoroughly enjoy what you are doing. It may take awhile to find it, don't get discouraged.

 

[rm5]

Very true. Take some time to explore other interests, too... just see what happens and see how things evolve.

 

[satcomer]

I'm retired Army then I went did tech working configuring Cisco routers for uptown 500 users! I did that for 15 year period before I retired! I think back and realized I have been to almost 30 different countries embassies installing crypto machines, those were the days!

 

[dukebound85]

Engineer for the last 18 years or so. Getting burned out in the field and work demands in general and hoping to make a career change/FIRE sooner than later

 

[HDFan]

Currently thinking about self-studying, to become a developer. My dream would be to travel the world with my MacBook, iOS devices, and develop apps, as I stay in nice hotels and meet nice people from all over the globe.

I went did tech working configuring Cisco routers for uptown 500 users! I did that for 15 year period before I retired! I think back and realized I have been to almost 30 different countries

If you mean developer = programmer in a large corporation it is unlikely you will travel, maybe to a conference or to get/give training. You'll get bug reports from around the world and work them in your office.

If you are a developer of an app maybe, as you will be doing all things - developer, marketing, etc. Travel might be necessary if the app is outstanding.

If travel if the priority then look for a job that requires it - such as the Cisco one above. The gotcha is that it can become a burden if you are always on the road, never home, and when in overseas locations you may not have time to sightsee, once done you are off to the next job.

If you work in support and you become the expert in a particular, company important knowledge area then you may have travel opportunities. I was the support expert in one area and as such made multiple training trips to our call centers both in the U.S. and overseas.

 

[satcomer]

If you mean developer = programmer in a large corporation it is unlikely you will travel, maybe to a conference or to get/give training. You'll get bug reports from around the world and work them in your office.

If you are a developer of an app maybe, as you will be doing all things - developer, marketing, etc. Travel might be necessary if the app is outstanding.

If travel if the priority then look for a job that requires it - such as the Cisco one above. The gotcha is that it can become a burden if you are always on the road, never home, and when in overseas locations you may not have time to sightsee, once done you are off to the next job.

If you work in support and you become the expert in a particular, company important knowledge area then you may have travel opportunities. I was the support expert in one area and as such made multiple training trips to our call centers both in the U.S. and overseas.

I did the travel as a solider! After I retired from the vArmy I took a job configuration of Cisco routers and installing crypto Macs and routers in many different embassies!

 

[Peter_John]

I'm a carpenter for 10 years, and it is always a tiring job as well as interesting to work on new projects!

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Thank you to everyone for your responses.

Wishing you well.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Sure, I am a Lead Engineer for my companies R&D division. We supply to the automotive sector and I work with clients like MAN, Volvo, JLR and McLaren.

 

[orionquest]

Sounds like you are interested in becoming a digital nomad. I would research that to find out more.
Chasing dreams are great and worth exploring, but you haven't mentioned how old you are and any prior work experience.

 

[eyoungren]

Hello all,

I hope you don't find my question impertinent.

The reason I ask is that I've reached a phase in my life, where I don't know where to turn next.

Currently thinking about self-studying, to become a developer. My dream would be to travel the world with my MacBook, iOS devices, and develop apps, as I stay in nice hotels and meet nice people from all over the globe.

Is this an unrealistic dream? I don't know. I'm sure there are many people who do this, though?

So, If you don't mind sharing, what do you do?

My mind is open, so I'm willing to consider most things at this point.

Wising you all well.

Graphic Designer.

I was in newspapers from 1999-2018, but my initial schooling was in 1992-1993 (I graduated HS in 1989). By 'in newspapers', I mean designing ads and later on actually laying out the newspaper itself.

Right now, I design scorecards and yardage books for golf courses worldwide. There's only a small amount of companies that do this and I work for one of them.

I seem to fall into niche areas; certainly not what I was expecting to be doing back in 1999.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Graphic Designer.

I was in newspapers from 1999-2018, but my initial schooling was in 1992-1993 (I graduated HS in 1989). By 'in newspapers', I mean designing ads and later on actually laying out the newspaper itself.

Right now, I design scorecards and yardage books for golf courses worldwide. There's only a small amount of companies that do this and I work for one of them.

I seem to fall into niche areas; certainly not what I was expecting to be doing back in 1999.

You graduated high school the same year as me!

I went to college (not uni) from 89-92.

Then I went off the rails, sadly.

 

[eyoungren]

What ever you decide to do, make sure you thoroughly enjoy what you are doing.

This is a worthy sentiment, but not entirely realistic.

I'm a graphic designer and I do not wholly love what I do. But at the time I got in to it, I was looking to do something that involved computers and got me out of having to work physical jobs.

I love design well enough and have enough skill to remain employed and keep food on my table. But, if I did what I thoroughly enjoy, I'd be playing Dungeons & Dragons (or other RPGs) all day and be homeless.

My son, who is 19, is currently in his second year at ASU. Towards the end of the first year he was stressed and agonizing because what he'd chosen as his major turned out not to be thoroughly enjoyable to him. I told him that I'd always seen him as doing something in IT because he's always been involved with computers.

My best advice to him was to find something that he liked well enough to still be doing in 30+ years. Something that he wouldn't regret wasting his life on doing.

I doubt IT is thoroughly enjoyable to him, but he's much more relaxed and interested in what he's doing now.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

This is a worthy sentiment, but not entirely realistic.

I'm a graphic designer and I do not wholly love what I do. But at the time I got in to it, I was looking to do something that involved computers and got me out of having to work physical jobs.

I love design well enough and have enough skill to remain employed and keep food on my table. But, if I did what I thoroughly enjoy, I'd be playing Dungeons & Dragons (or other RPGs) all day and be homeless.

My son, who is 19, is currently in his second year at ASU. Towards the end of the first year he was stressed and agonizing because what he'd chosen as his major turned out not to be thoroughly enjoyable to him. I told him that I'd always seen him as doing something in IT because he's always been involved with computers.

My best advice to him was to find something that he liked well enough to still be doing in 30+ years. Something that wouldn't regret wasting his life on doing.

I doubt IT is thoroughly enjoyable to him, but he's much more relaxed and interested in what he's doing now.

I could have done with this advice, when I was young.

Well said, thank you.

 

[eyoungren]

You graduated high school the same year as me!

I went to college (not uni) from 89-92.

Then I went off the rails, sadly.

I was off the rails in 1989. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. By 1992, I was being told "Find a job, or move out." So, I found a job as a part time worker for United Parcel Service. That was a good job, but not really a career. So, I got into graphic design because I didn't want to be doing back-breaking work in my 50s. Design involved computers, something I've always liked so I went with it.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I was off the rails in 1989. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. By 1992, I was being told "Find a job, or move out." So, I found a job as a part time worker for United Parcel Service. That was a good job, but not really a career. So, I got into graphic design because I didn't want to be doing back-breaking work in my 50s. Design involved computers, something I've always liked so I went with it.

I’m genuinely pleased for you.

Wishing you well.

 

[smirking]

I'm a freelance developer and a sometimes photographer. The photography is a minor part of what I do so I don't often bring it up as part of my profession, but it's relevant here.

The traveling developer thing is tricky. There are developers and designers who've managed to have lives like that, but my sense is that they're either extremely gifted or just got lucky to land exactly the kind of jobs that would allow them to live like that. If you search online for people who've tried this, you'll hear a lot of stories about how it's actually pretty difficult to live on the road and work. I've done it to a limited extent. I can attest.

It's difficult to be a globe trotting developer because you need to be good to have that kind of flexibility and if you're good you will get challenging work, but if you have challenging work, you will have pressure and you will spend much of your time deeply focused on your projects. Tourism and sustained deep work are hard to mix. Being somewhere else may unlock your creativity, but you can't run in two directions for very long before you have to choose one or the other so traveling and working at the same time becomes impractical. However, if you just want to live a more nomadic life and go someplace new every year, such a life is more plausible.

I've managed to do some light travel-work as a developer who's also good at photography. I started side projects doing marketing for small business districts that allow me to blend my two skills. I travel to do the photography, have meetings, and do some light programming. The heavy lifting is done when I go back home. For the most part, the places I go aren't going to be on anyone's bucket list, but it's still fun and a welcome change of pace. Unfortunately, while these projects are fun and I enjoy them, they don't pay well and when there are conflicts, the clients who pay my bills always get priority.

This means I know first hand just how much it sucks when you get to some place you want to explore and you have panicked people on the other end of the phone calling you non-stop. You can't even get out of your hotel room, much less go out and see the town.

 

[JamesMay82]

I think we should all be open to change. I think with the current trend of being able to work from home which obviously means we can then live anywhere in the world is a fantastic opportunity that we are all wasting!

if only I could think of what it could be!

 

[eyoungren]

I think we should all be open to change. I think with the current trend of being able to work from home which obviously means we can then live anywhere in the world is a fantastic opportunity that we are all wasting!

if only I could think of what it could be!

I've been WFH since the pandemic started. At some point my company wanted me to return, with the idea of learning all that the prepress guy knows and eventually being able to replace him as he advanced elsewhere.

I realized soon enough that a large part of what he does is physical. That's fine, but I'm 50+ now and I got into design/computers for the express reason of NOT doing physical work.

So I went back to WFH and it's been that way ever since. No intent to change.

 

[compwiz1202]

This is a worthy sentiment, but not entirely realistic.

I'm a graphic designer and I do not wholly love what I do. But at the time I got in to it, I was looking to do something that involved computers and got me out of having to work physical jobs.

I love design well enough and have enough skill to remain employed and keep food on my table. But, if I did what I thoroughly enjoy, I'd be playing Dungeons & Dragons (or other RPGs) all day and be homeless.

My son, who is 19, is currently in his second year at ASU. Towards the end of the first year he was stressed and agonizing because what he'd chosen as his major turned out not to be thoroughly enjoyable to him. I told him that I'd always seen him as doing something in IT because he's always been involved with computers.

My best advice to him was to find something that he liked well enough to still be doing in 30+ years. Something that he wouldn't regret wasting his life on doing.

I doubt IT is thoroughly enjoyable to him, but he's much more relaxed and interested in what he's doing now.

And the biggest things is my favorite lines from a movie. Central Intelligence: "No I'm good at my job; I don't like my job" And that can be things other than just work; although, most of the time if it's not work, you wouldn't do it if you were good but didn't like it.

 

[eyoungren]

And the biggest things is my favorite lines from a movie. Central Intelligence: "No I'm good at my job; I don't like my job" And that can be things other than just work; although, most of the time if it's not work, you wouldn't do it if you were good but didn't like it.

There's a scene in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Frank (dad) and Ray (son) are discussing what Frank used to do for a living before retiring.

Ray mentions something about accounting as his dad's career. "Career?" Frank exclaims! "That was a job!" I had kids, a wife and a mortage. I needed to put food on the table. I hated that job!"

This leaves Ray shocked and dismayed because he had always believed and was proud of his dad's 'career'.

Retirement with a pension was Frank's out.

 

[adrianlondon]

A digital nomad ... I think that could be great fun when you're relatively young (hard to put a number/age on that) but after a while it's nice to settle. Make friends who you become close to. Have your own place you can feel cozy in, cook in, entertain in, decorate etc..

 

[fanboy-ish]

I'm a linguistic mediator, translator and interpreter, I work in the political asylum field.

Each and every day my hatred for every single part of my job grows and I believe I'm very near the burn out point, I'm looking for a new job, hopefully in a completely different field, but I do have a permanent contract, and finding another permanent contract is quite hard, I'm in my late 30s, so I have to think through before making sudden - and possibly stupid - decisions.

Since December I've also had a side gig though, I'm a social media manager, I create content for a page with very few guidelines, and I like it a lot because I can be creative, both with the content itself and the presentation, the pages have seen a nice growth and the owners have told me several people complimented my work.