6 months off to travel the world

What would you actually do for 6 months tho? Trust me it sounds nice but it gets boring when you have no actual purpose or goals.

Go for it. The world is all fucky now because of COVID and will probably remain fucky for the rest of 2021 at least, so now is as good a time as you'll ever get to do this probably.

Agree with others. While I think it sounds like a great idea, 6 months is a long time to do nothing. If you’re thinking 6 months you better have a plan. I would learn how to sail or play a new sport like tennis or golf or learn to surf or some shit and dedicate 6 months to just that. Something you’d never be able to learn casually.

People who tell you not to travel are idiots. Life is too short. While traveling - network during the day and set yourself up for buyside recruiting afterwards

You will not get bored travelling for 6 months if you are visiting new places. I travelled for 5 months in between a career change and was annoyed I couldn’t do longer (I ran out of money not time). It is an unbelievably enriching experience and if you have the desire to do it, you should do it now while you’re young and responsibility free otherwise you will regret it.

Two things to consider though. Firstly, I’m pretty sure it’d be a shit experience in the COVID world atm so that obviously has an impact. Secondly, if you can I would have a job lined up before you go for when you return. My job search took a lot longer than I ever imagined once I got back and I ended up in real shitty work for 9 months (although granted I didn’t have any banking years behind me at that point).

I know someone who did this but they secured a PE offer in the fall for the summer, quit in Q1, and then took off until July, having a blast travelling the world. They loved it and don't regret doing it at all. However, I think it's pretty necessary to land an offer first. Wouldn't quit without anything planned. Lots of on-cycle cohorts nowadays have off-cycle hires to fill in 1-2 spots (most shops usually leave a few spots for any hidden gems, acknowledging that on-cycle recruit is moved up earlier and earlier each year). 

Other option is apply to bschool in R1 and then quit your job upon getting admission

It is absolutely fun and worth it but you need to plan a LOT beforehand (otherwise you’ll just wake up everyday and be lazy, especially if you stay in places long term).

I’d recommend 5, 1-month stays at different places. That way you can do absolutely everything you want but also relax at times if you get tired. You’ll save a lot of money with 1 month leases but also give up flexibility if you want to move somewhere, so I’d say spend a good few weeks planning everything before going.

Decide on the first place and book the ticket ASAP, then use the time to plan next and next where to go. I may update this later but I’ve gotta lot of suggestions cba writing all. Part of the fun is just figuring out all this shit on your own tbh also, cause it’s mostly arbitrary and having a good time. Just spend time investing upfront on how to structure / ways to save money / planning your stats near grocery or in places you don’t need to u we or whatever. Plan as much as you can as it will go a long way because you’ll always be able to do shit in the moment.

One tip I’d have is also spending the first 1-3 days of every place you go trying to find everything absolutely possible to do so you ‘know’ it exists. And always message ur friends to come join its 10x more fun with even 1 more person.

Also rent in places can be negotiable, be annoying but not a huge asshole in trying to get price down. I’ve gotten a insane discounts on Luxury apartments because if you do the math (they markup hella in Airbnb) they need x% yield per month to break even (find comparable rental prices for the place) and then offer that because they will take it to moderate risk and have a guaranteed profit vs. uncertainty (especially now with covid)

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