On my journey after quitting my job: I wrote an app and started a company

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A year ago, I left San Francisco, sold or gave away everything I owned, and bought a 40-liter hiking backpack.

I've traveled to 45 cities in 20 countries, 3 Disney parks, and 1 bunny island.

At the same time, I was spending 50 hours a week developing Moo.do, a to-do list app.

My total expenses are much less than rent in San Francisco.

Travel and vacation are different

A group called "backpackers" is being generated and growing. These backpackers are mainly composed of software developers, designers, writers, journalists, engineers and a series of people who are willing to share their passion and dare to experience the world; they have a very independent lifestyle.

In my opinion, this lifestyle is the right way to build a company. I work very hard to make Moo.do stronger on my own. I sold all my possessions to travel because it is cheaper and more inspiring than sitting in the same place thinking. Traveling is the most responsible choice for the company, finances and even personal growth.

I accidentally became a backpack entrepreneur

Three years ago, when I was about to quit my job at Microsoft and move to San Francisco to start my own company, a friend asked me, "Why would I go to San Francisco if I could work anywhere with a computer?" His question made sense. The more I thought about it, the more I suspected that "normal life" was just a false proposition in modern society:

I refuse to accept the 9-to-5 workday: I want to work while enjoying the warm sunshine, rather than wasting all the daytime hours indoors while fantasizing about my next vacation.

I refused to accept the idea of ​​settling: I wanted to experience new cultures and try new cuisines; not be stuck in the same neighborhood.

I refused to accept irrelevance: the size of the TV didn't matter. The world outside was far more interesting than the inside of my apartment.

I refuse to accept mediocrity: traveling exposes me to new places, people, and experiences. Since I started traveling, I have never been bored again, and I no longer want to play video games or watch TV.

I refuse to live a life of just a bucket list: I have a lot of things to do, and I am doing them.

So, when I walked out of the apartment, those crazy ideas followed me.

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However, the first trip did not make everything better.

After 6 months of traveling, I gave up and returned to San Francisco. Traveling was fun, but when I had a bunch of great ideas and needed to focus and execute them, what better place to be than Silicon Valley?

Soon I found myself getting too comfortable, which slowed my work pace and made me easily distracted, especially by watching TV. I would sit at my computer for 12 hours a day and not feel productive at all.

In New York, while my friends would go to work during the day, I would take my computer to a coffee shop in Central Park to work. Suddenly, I felt full of energy and more productive. I could accomplish much more in 6 hours at the coffee shop than I could in 12 hours at home with my computer. A few months later, the same thing happened when I went on a business trip to London. This trip even brought me better ideas because the constant new things around me kept my brain highly active.

After figuring out this model, I left San Francisco a year ago and dove into the backpacking entrepreneur lifestyle full time. This time, I finally figured out what failed me the first time. I'm happy, productive, have made amazing new friends, learned about global problems that need to be solved, and successfully built Moo.do.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the past year:

Traveling is cheaper than staying at home

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The above picture shows my actual average monthly expenses for a year, which are:

San Francisco, Upper Grant Avenue, average monthly expenses are about $4,800;

Capitol Hill, Seattle, average monthly expenses are about $3,700;

The average monthly cost of traveling in 20 countries is about $2,900;

The average monthly cost in Bali is approximately $1,200.

Obviously, traveling is a more pleasant and cheaper way of life for me. Considering that most of my expenses come from transportation, it is obviously much more cost-effective than staying in one place for a long time.

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My friends in San Francisco and Seattle ask me, “How come you travel so much? Do you have a lot of money?” The truth is, I can’t afford to live in San Francisco forever. I’m starting a company, and the cost of living in San Francisco is slowly draining my savings.

According to Business Insider, the average monthly rent in San Francisco has reached $3,120, and my average monthly total expenses for world travel are only $2,921. When I was in Bali, my monthly expenses were only $1,200. When I was in Chiang Mai, my average monthly total expenses were only $641.

Traveling makes me more productive

When I first started traveling, I was a great traveler, taking photos of everything I saw and doing all the activities listed in the guidebooks. After a few exhausting weeks, I realized that I wasn't on vacation. Now, this is my life in San Francisco. I slowed down and realized that if I have a month to explore a new city, I don't have to know it all at once. I can spend a few hours enjoying the city and then spend the rest of the time working.

I discovered, quite unexpectedly, that traveling made me more productive; and it totally makes sense. Why waste time on Facebook when I can spend a week in Rome? Being in new and novel environments makes me less bored, improves my concentration, and even makes me healthier and more creative.

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I returned to Seattle in June to work with my co-founder to discuss long-term plans. Surprisingly, my development process is not as efficient as when I travel. I still sit in front of the computer for the same amount of time as when I travel, but I am easily distracted by TV and the Internet. In September, even though I was constantly traveling between 6 cities, I was still able to effectively allocate 48 hours per week. The focus on work makes my free time more exciting. For me, this is a huge improvement.

9 to 5 is not the most ideal way to work

Compared to my habit of working during the day and resting at night in San Francisco, I now prefer to rest during the day and work at night. After all, I can't waste the best time of the day. I can always get out of bed quickly when I need to go out, and since I don't have to waste time commuting, I have more time to play. I like to work 7 days a week and have the freedom to schedule time. This way, if I want to watch a movie at 2 pm, I can give myself a day off.

When I was working at Microsoft, I would waste precious time on many things, such as commuting to get off work or being extremely distracted by the Internet. Now, I will classify my work into complete categories and make breakthroughs one by one. After working for a few hours, I will explore the city until I don’t want to play anymore, and then I will continue working when I come back. Sometimes, when I encounter a problem that I can’t solve by sitting in front of the computer, I will go out for a walk and think about it. Being able to switch freely between work and fun makes me feel less tired than before.

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During my time in Bali, Livit helped me reach new heights of productivity. Livit is a live-work space for entrepreneurs, with meals and lodging provided. This way, I could focus on developing Moo.do without having to worry about anything else. For $1,500 per month (cheaper than any major tech city), you can enjoy a comfortable work environment while meeting a group of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Traveling broadens my horizons

Today, I have friends all over the world whose life experiences are very different, which brings me many different and fresh perspectives. Through them, I learn about the problems that really impact the world, which allows me to focus on the future and shape myself into a better entrepreneur.

In fact, there are already many tools that can help us meet outstanding backpacking entrepreneurs, such as NomadList. Here, you can find like-minded people from all over the world and become partners with them. On Reddit and NomadList forums, many backpacking entrepreneurs will share their travel and work advice. In addition, this chat room also gathers more than 1,000 backpacking entrepreneurs; and NomadList also organizes meet-ups around the world.

Summarize

Before I became a backpacking entrepreneur, I had never been freer in my life. Not only was traveling cheaper than staying home, it also increased my productivity and made me more creative.

Although the backpacker revolution is still young, I can’t wait to help it. I hope you’ll run into me someday, wherever that may be.