# A Premature Goodbye? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315 "2000-06-14T06:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SkySlash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SkySlash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkySlash)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/1 "2000-06-14T06:26:11Z")
…I don’t know…but yeah, that’s probably what this is. I’ve been thinking about life in general, the things I want and what I don’t, and I’ve discovered I’ll never figure it out until I’m 35, married, and full of regret what I really want out of life… I’ve decided to quit playing by the rules…and I plan to start soon… Starting as soon as I can name a price I’m putting my computer on Ebay for sale, probably tomorrow. I plan to call the bank and mutual fund companies and liquidate all my monetary assets over the next few days. When I get done with that I’m going to put everything I have with monetary value up for sale…and I’ll probably resign from my job in a month or two… I’m going on a vacation…a long one, a very very long one! I have a few options, friends in Israel, and also in New Zealand…but I’ll probably be heading to New Zealand to stay in a rural remote area. I’m ready to get out off all my comfort zones, to see if I really am ready for the world… I’m ready to find out what it really means to become a man! All the stuff I’ve been posting lately….soul searching, looking for answers, trying to find out whats next, it’s all led to this… I’ll probably be leaving at the end of the Summer. Maybe August, maybe September…If I can raise enough money then definitely sooner! My time has come…and I’m going to take advantage of it now, while I’m young, while I can…while I am motivated. I plan to live in a area with no television, no computers, nothing from the outside world with real modern convenience… I want to get away and find myself…learn a new language or two…maybe even get into hardcore good shape… This will be weird, scary, foreign and totally against everything I’ve been raised and told to do with my life. Most of all, it will change me…and that’s what I’m doing it for…that’s what I want! More to be posted as it falls into place. I’ll miss everyone for sure… -SS ---
**Author:** ![purrplebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90ced4/32.png) [@purrplebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purrplebear)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/2 "2000-06-14T06:44:44Z")
I, for one, will miss you, SkySlash. I have always enjoyed your posts, even though I don’t always have anything to add to some of them. But, I do understand the need to find yourself. If this is the best way to do it, then, by all means, do it. Good luck, take care, and drop us a line from time to time, let us know how you’re doing. Email me, I’ll give you my snailmail, and you can keep us updated. I hope your computer doesn’t sell too fast, so we have time to say goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/3 "2000-06-14T10:35:00Z")
So what are you gonna do with your wife? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/4 "2000-06-14T10:52:39Z")
I know all about it, SkySlash. I have been playing with that very idea for some time now. Maybe, one day, I’ll gather as much courage as you and actually do it too. Bon voyage, mate. I hear New Zealand is beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/5 "2000-06-14T11:24:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > So what are you gonna do with your wife? > \*\* You took the words right out of my mouth Ultress. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/6 "2000-06-14T11:37:32Z")
SkySlash, my buddy, If you do find yourself, be sure to exchange addresses so that you can keep in contact!! 😉 Tog go bog e, mo chairde, and the best of luck in the future. remember this, No matter where the wind will take me, or what challenges in the poisoned scroll, I am the Captian of my fate and the Master of my soul. (I hope I got the quote right!) ---
**Author:** ![Michi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@Michi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michi)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/7 "2000-06-14T12:19:29Z")
::sigh:: I wish I had the nerve to do something like this. Good luck, Sky. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/8 "2000-06-14T12:21:22Z")
Sky, I applaude you. What you are doing takes a lot of guts. When a friend of mine was volunteering at a retirement home, she began talking to an older woman. Suddenly, out of no where, the woman grabbed her arm and said “You know what really counts when you are my age? Adventures. Your kids move away, your husband passes on, your friends begin to go one by one. But the memories of adventures you had, that’s what makes you remember you’re alive.” New Zealand is amazing. I have a friend who was a museum curator and was in charge of an exhibit of Maori art. They are a mystical, beautiful people, if you can learn about Maori culture while you’re down there, try. Here’s to your Great Adventure. Write a lot. At the very least you can try selling them to travel mags and make some money. ---
**Author:** ![SkySlash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SkySlash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkySlash)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/9 "2000-06-14T15:58:48Z")
I don’t have a wife… I was kinda speaking in future tense, as in someday thats where I’ll be, and then it will be too late. I’m only 21 and single right now… I can still do this with no ties to anything to hold me back. -SS ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/10 "2000-06-14T16:57:07Z")
Skyslash, I did this exact same thing shortly after I turned 30. I found tenants to move into my condo and rent it from me, sold most of my furniture and all kinds of other junk (what little I didn’t sell, my family put in various rooms of their houses), packed up what remaining clothes I had and moved to Mexico, pretty much on a whim (made the decision to do it and was gone in a month). I did it for much the same reasons you’re doing it; I wanted the adventure, to live in a foreign country, experience life outside my little box. I had the opportunity and I said to myself, “I never want to look back on my life and say ‘I should’ve when I could’ve’. I can, so I will!” I have never for one moment regretted having done it. It is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. You’re about to embark on a very exciting journey. If you need any advice from someone who’s been there/done that, just let me know and I’ll impart any knowledge I gained to the degree that I can. You are going to have a BLAST! I almost wish I could do it again. And you know what - I just might. Europe has been calling my name for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/11 "2000-06-14T17:07:55Z")
I envy you. It sounds like a great adventure. I often daydream about hopping in the car and just driving untill I end up in a totally out of the way place. I’d stay a while and drive some more. Maybe check out the Florida Keys do a Hemmingway impression, and move on some more.Oh well the husband and the kids wouldn’t look to kindly on that. So instead I go to Vegas once in a while. While I’m there I go to New York , Paris etc…😉 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-premature-goodbye/22315/12 "2000-06-14T17:23:21Z")
I have done quite a bit of this in my time, I am sooo jealous! You truly are headed for a world of adventure and self discovery. I took off for much the same reasons. Of course it led to ten years of roaming to world. But I had a lot of fun, and so will you. Learned a lot about myself as will you. Happy trails, I promise you will not regret this.