I think that a lot of us are now re-considering our options in life, and on how we want to live. Ten years ago, it was all about consumerism and keeping up with the Jones. Now, the cool thing is dropping out of the rat race and living as a minimalist, or leaving your cubicle job and travelling the world while working as a location-independent freelancer. My niece spends up to six months in a different country. She works in restaurants, teaches English, house sits, designs websites, leads travel tours--pretty much anything. She has a fancy degree but can't find a suitable job in Vancouver. She'd basically be living to work--the after-tax pay would cover her shelter, food, insurance, etc, but she'd be living paycheque to paycheque. In the last three years she's been all over Europe and Asia and is currently teaching English in Malta. In January she will be house-sitting in Norway for five months, followed by another teaching gig, this time in Italy where she will be staying with a distant cousin while teaching English to business professionals. She is having the time of her life!