In Chapter 9 of 16 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and programmer Joe Stump parallels discomfort encountered in foreign travel experiences - "You don't get any more uncomfortable or challenged than in a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok" - with the uncertainty encountered in Internet programming. Both motivate him to build new experiences in life and career.
Transcript:
Erik Michielsen: How has your love and embrace of world travel affected your life perspective?
Joe Stump: I’m going to start out my answer with a quote. One of my favorite all time quotes by Mark Twain is that “Travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice, and narrow mindedness.” So, I get out there…. It goes back to like “I like challenges.” That is why I’m in tech. I dated an accountant for a very long time. Accounting has not changed as a profession – before Sarbanes-Oxley – for 1000 years.
I’m in a profession where the technology, the knowledge I learned two years ago is worthless today. Absolutely worthless to me today. Travel appeals to me for that reason. I like being uncomfortable and I like being challenged. You don’t get any more uncomfortable and challenged than in a tuk tuk in Bangkok.