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Ask HN: I am a depressed student, looking to travel + just be, please advice.

19 points by smhelp ↗ HN
Hi, I am depressed college student, and I have 2,000 dollars in savings. I am trying to take some time off, and looking for some advice with that in mind.

My plan is to read books, just lay down and do nothing, and think about life. What else should be I doing ?

I would appreciate it if you could recommend a place (with nice weather / internet / beaches optional ) where I can live cheaply for a month to six weeks. I am located in Atlanta, and any location would work.

Thanks.

25 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 69.1 ms ] thread
pedalpete
Travelling alone can be depressing. Don't just run from your current lifestyle, add something to it. Travel with a purpose.

Stuff like 'Homes for humanity' and many other travel related charities can be quite expensive.

But you can travel and work. Not travel and hack, just work. I'm not sure what is near Atlanta, and what's available. But you already have fairly nice weather.

No matter where you go, $2000 isn't going to get you very far, flights to buenos airies as an example are nearly $1600 http://www.kayak.com/flights/ATL-BUE/2011-05-03/2011-07-07

Cruise ships could be interesting work if you're into that. I've worked in Ski Resorts for much of my life, and the first few years where you aren't focused on making money or getting ahead, but just looking for an experience were amazing.

I'm a believer in the greatest path to happiness is through service to others. Discovering your purpose is a big part of that. If you don't have a purpose, the best way to find one is to do something, anything.

I hope that helps, though it isn't a direct answer to your question.

smhelp
Running from my current lifestyle is sort of what I am trying to do. I really can't think of anything else in the short term that would help, though I am open to suggestions. I did look into non-profits, but they want you to work for free, pay them application fees for stuff, which really sucks, if they had been nicer, I would have offered to re:design their website, but I really didn't want to offer any webwork upfront as I wanted to stay away from the computer for a while.

I am fairly good at web:design, but really that is not what I could call a purpose. I have dabbled in random stuff from photography to volunteering to build houses to skydiving, and I really don't find passion in any of that and I can't figure out why. Are there other ways to find what you love doing ? I remember a Steve Jobs speech where he says "...keep looking, and don't settle." But it gets disheartening after a while.

Thanks. Also, how does one get employed as a ski resort with no prior knowledge ?

rdouble
You don't need any background to work at a ski resort unless you want to teach lessons. Another idea is working at a national park. I worked at glacier national park after my freshman year of college.
russjhammond
I got hired as a ski instructor at Breckenridge in Colorado after having been on skis 4 times in my life, 3 of them on the mountains of North Carolina.

There were two reasons I was able to get a job.

1. I had been a white water raft guide the two previous summers, which I also had only done a few times before getting a job. I got into this because I paid $250 to attend a raft guide school, which as long as you make it thru they will offer you a job.

2. Mainly, because I was courteous and clean cut during my interview. I told them flat out that I was not the best skier but I would show up on time everyday and that I knew they would likely train the heck out of me. Plus I knew they would stick me with people that had never skied before. So I just had to be a little bit better than them.

That was about 3 years ago. I can tell you know it would probably be even easier as most resorts depend heavily on foreign workers for everything, not just low paid jobs, and visas have become very hard to come by. I would say a third of my fellow instructors were from another country.

follower
> Travelling alone can be depressing.

It can be. It can also be awesome. I recommend staying in hostels as a way to save money and meet people.

rdouble
Miami is surprisingly cheap if you stay in a hostel and buy food at the grocery store. You could take a bus there, or probably even find a $50 flight from Atlanta. I did this in 2004. Mexico is also inexpensive outside of the tourist resort areas but may cost more to get there.
smhelp
Thanks for the recommendation. Miami had completely slipped my mind. Hope you are having fun in Australia.
rdouble
No problem. I just got back. Regarding Miami, the only other advice is I think you need to go before June, when it becomes rainy.
Skywing
Well, I can say that $2000 would not get you very far if you're targeting beaches in CA. You would probably spend almost that amount just getting there. I recently spent about $8000 on a full relocation to Santa Monica, and found a "cheap" place 4 blocks from the ocean. Cheap out there though was like $1700/mo. =/
Mz
Google up info on Port Aransas. You can sleep on the beach for up to three days without a camping permit. It was lovely and I considered relocating there. It's about 30 minutes or so from Corpus Christi.
dbs
As someone who successfully overcome depression, I would humbly suggest to read "letters from a stoic" by Seneca. After that you may think twice before taking some time off as a way of fighting you depression. You can also try to travel to places where people's living conditions are way below those you generally get in the US (instead of going to the beach and do nothing for a while). Guaranteed to change your perspectives about life.
smhelp
Thanks for the book recommendation. I don't want to come across as arrogant, but my childhood till 13 years old was spent in moderate poverty in another country, so I really know what living in a slum feels like. When I think about what little I remember from those days, it makes my cringe because I do realize how lucky I am to be where I am, but then the motivation is short lived. What else if at all helped you overcome depression ?
zoowar
Stay in school where you can get free counseling for your depression.
sarahmccrum
Try listening to any of the materials here - www.oceen.com. Even if they are not exactly on the topic of depression they will all help. There's always something free on the home page. They will help you 'do nothing' in a constructive way that makes you feel better.

At first the effect will probably be short-lived - a little burst of energy and motivation. If you listen to one of them every day this will build up and become more stable.

Depression is essentially lack of energy/motivation. As soon as you get a bit more fuel into your system you feel less depressed. It's caused by many things which are not your fault in any way, but you do have the ability to overcome it.

We plan to make a series of materials (on the same site) specifically for depression, so let me know if you'd like to be a guinea pig.

whichdan
Have you considered "getting away" somewhere else in Georgia? Find a town with a lot of trails/hiking/parks, rent a cheap room, eat well, and spend some time alone with nature, a few books, and headphones.

CouchSurfing - http://www.couchsurfing.org/ - could also be an option.

thiagofm
Don't you feel like working on something with me? (anything stupid would do). I think I'm well versed in programming(I'm heavy now on node.js). I can teach you a little bit of it if you want to and maybe build something we can be proud of.

Also, I live in Brazil and I wouldn't mind you to come here. But if I were you, I wouldn't LOL!

Get in contact: thiagown at gmail dot com

I'm frequently on irc in freenode as Horofox (#startups, #node.js and other channels)

pitdesi
Do you speak Spanish? Costa Rica should be high on your list - you can get cheap flights from Atlanta to San Jose and live decently for ~$25-35/day when there. It's a great place to explore - There are volcanoes and beaches.

If interested in staying on a private island and doing some work, consider http://www.cocovivo.com/ It's run by a friend of mine. He would probably host you for really cheap and would like someone there taking care of the place anyway. It's in Bocas Del Toro in northern Panama - you can get most of the way there using public transportation.

bmelton
Upvoted for the private island idea.

If you're anywhere NYC, you could perhaps check out the Adirondacks. The camping season isn't open up there yet, but if you're looking for peaceful tranquility, peace, time to reflect, and the inspiration of a glorious nature scene, then I highly recommend the private island campsites on Lower Saranac Lake.

They're muni-run camp sites, so the costs are very low -- I think we paid $22 a day. The one catch is that they fill up quickly, and they're hard to get.

There are island camps with single occupancy, which is to say that there is only one camp site on it. And there are larger islands that are multiple occupancy, though we did the math, and even on the most crowded of them, the campsites are spaced quite far apart, and you will have at least an acre to yourself (approximately). We chose the single occupancy, and loved every second of it.

It's made much better if you own your own canoe or fishing kayak, otherwise boat rentals are fairly high. You CAN take a taxi out to the island and have them pick you up, but I wouldn't do this at the very start of the season or the very end. There isn't enough traffic there until peak season starts to ensure that somebody would be around if you got hurt, or were mauled by a bear or something.

This link has plenty of detail: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/24496.html

morganwatch
Sorry to hear about the weight on your chest.

I overcame my own depression years ago but I help others when I can. Elvis said, "I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to." I'm not a big Elvis fan but if you agree with the quote, then what is missing from your life? That's a good place to start.

For books, I'd recommend reading Epictetus' Discourses, he was raised a slave and became a great teacher, Way of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

olegious
The best advice I can give you is use www.couchsurfing.org - it will save you on housing, often get you free tour guides and make you friends.
coffeejunk
couchsurfing is always an amazing experience. not only because it's a free stay somewhere but because you get to know many interesting people you wouldn't meet otherwise.
staunch
Go camping anywhere. Fresh air. Silence. Money goes far when you don't have to pay rent.
gexla
I paid $850 for a round trip to the Philippines and what you would have left over is easily enough to live here for 6 weeks.
f2ender
I would highly recommend the book : "Learned Optimism" by Martin Seligman. It's a great book about understanding depression and the steps you can take to fix it.

It helped me a lot, and still does, when I find myself spiraling down.