I think the key is to wait for a local maxima in savings and employability before you take off on your big "deferred life" trip.
The trade-off is always portrayed as between ending up an unemployable 22-year-old with $10,000 in credit card debt, or a 70 year old widower who tried to put it off until after kids but missed the window.
But there's a middle road.
I, for instance, saved like crazy until I was 27 before taking off on the first big trip. By then I'd established enough of a professional reputation that I could quickly find a job when I got back, and enough savings to not worry about going broke on the road. Over the next 13 years I averaged about six months off every year, getting more employable at every step and usually ending each year with more savings than the last.
I don't think there would have been any chance of pulling that off had I started off by maxing the credit card on a gap year trip straight out of school.
Yes. If you shop around, you'll find that wives come in a portable model that you can take with you around the world. In fact, they're much easier to find if you're already halfway around the world, as then they've at least demonstrated the capacity to get there and a predisposition towards traveling.
Kids are pretty portable for the first several years as well. We've only had this one for a little over a year now, but he's got a dozen flights and seven countries under his belt already.
(And heading off the inevitable 3rd piece of that question: Yes. I've found that houses can remain happily unoccupied for months on end, so long as you either bring along enough money to keep paying their mortgage or pay it off before you leave.)
The trade-off is always portrayed as between ending up an unemployable 22-year-old with $10,000 in credit card debt, or a 70 year old widower who tried to put it off until after kids but missed the window.
But there's a middle road.
I, for instance, saved like crazy until I was 27 before taking off on the first big trip. By then I'd established enough of a professional reputation that I could quickly find a job when I got back, and enough savings to not worry about going broke on the road. Over the next 13 years I averaged about six months off every year, getting more employable at every step and usually ending each year with more savings than the last.
I don't think there would have been any chance of pulling that off had I started off by maxing the credit card on a gap year trip straight out of school.