Jason Demant and Sharon Duckworth are Great Recession refugees and they couldn’t be happier.
  The former Silicon Valley worker bees are unemployed. And untethered, unscheduled, unflappable and unapologetically off on the adventure of a lifetime.
  The San Jose couple had always planned to see the world, but when the economy tanked and Demant’s employer began cutting pay and benefits, they figured why not now?
  “He planned it,” Duckworth, 25, is telling me by phone from Sanya, China. “And he told me what he was thinking and I said, ‘That sounds great.’”

What’s the plan?
Quit their jobs. Sell their stuff. Head for China; then settle in South Korea for six months, learning the language and volunteering; then three more months traveling through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos and maybe a few other places or maybe not all those places. They’d see.
  It sounds nuts. And wonderful.
  See, Demant and Duckworth weren’t setting out on a vacation in the midst of a recession. They were setting out on a new life. A life that might mean there is no place like home—as in no place to call home. They’re trying out the idea of “location independence,” the notion that you can work from anywhere or nowhere in particular, at any time of day or night. Of course, you have to find the right line of work. ...

Discussion Questions

- What are the benefits of “location independence” work? What are the risks and drawbacks? Why wouldn’t it be the right lifestyle for most people?
- Would you consider the benefits worth the risks and drawbacks?

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