I like reading blogs. People have opinions and I have opinions. Some of the blogs may change my opinion or two. But this time I ran into a blog that just gives poor (IMO or IMHO) advice on things that a person has to do on the first day after being laid off. At this point, kindly switch to Jason “s blog and read it. Done? My turn.

Being laid off is one of the most serious cataclysms in anyone “s life. Stronger that this could be moving to a new house (been there) and American divorce (no practical experience here, just the horror stories from people who went through it).

If any person will tell you “I was laid off, but received good severance package. So I do not really care rdquo;, s/he lies to you. S/he “s very upset. Everyone should be upset receiving a sudden punch in the face.

Jason suggests to book a flight and see the world because “you will never have a better chance to see the world than right now rdquo;. I love travel, but I prefer to do so when it “s convenient for me, and not because someone kicked me out of the house as an Indian cow that stopped producing milk. It “s kind of weird analogy, but I just came back from India , and I went there not because of being laid off.

Then, Jason makes another cute statement, “You have a pile of savings and a severance package rdquo;. My sincere congratulations to the author, but I can tell you a little secret, most people (in the USA) neither have a pile not a package. The only thing they have is a burning painful thought, “How long can I last till they kick me out of the house rdquo;. Because these days American dream has converged from having a house to making money for a down payment.

One more gem, “You “ve got 6 months to a year before your skills start getting rusty rdquo;. If they are not rusty now, why not getting another job, and see the world when it “s going to be your choice, not their?

Moving along hellip;Jason recommends to fly to Thailand, and this is not a bad idea, if you go there when the sun is bright and the grass is green, which is not the case on the first day after the layoff. Contradicting to himself (remember the pile of cash?), the author states that Europe is crazy expensive, and you may even consider going to South Africa, where you get a room for $0.75. After years and years of travels, I “ve learned one thing: hotels cost pretty much the same everywhere in the world if you “ll compare apples to apples. Go online, take any hotel chain you like: Hilton, Sheraton, Four Seasons and pick any country in the world. You may be surprised to learn that the prices are the same.

Of course, college kids happily travel in Europe staying in Paris hostels for $10 a bed. But there is a big difference between the state of mind of happy campers whose main goal is to quickly get drunk and get laid (without off) with a different person each day, and a laid off guy/gal with a little pile in their hands.

Then Jason starts bragging, “Did I mention that I take about 9 months vacation a year rdquo;. Congratulation again, but the rest of the world are just not like that. Poor thing, he “start missing work after about six month away rdquo;. I feel for him. Staying in $.75 rooms for six months in a row must be worse than being an inmate in one of the American prisons. Jason reveals that he spends $1000 a month staying away from developed countries. Thirty five bucks won “t get you far, but you may try one of the Frommers guides like Scandinavia on 40 Dollars a Day ( get it for a penny at Amazon ) . Oops, it “s been published in 1987 hellip;Sorry. With today “s weak dollar, even Rachel Ray stopped telling her stories about $40-a-day travel and switched to a safer 30-min meals show.

To keep your skills up to date, you should take your laptop with you. I wonder if these $.75 rooms offer safe deposit boxes that can accommodate your laptop while you are out enjoying $3 lunch?

I can keep commenting, but here ‘s the bottom line: that blog gives a BS advice unless you are young just out of college kid and a cell-phone bill is your only liability. Get the e-book “Enterprise Software without the BS rdquo; (it “s a free download), and hopefully it “ll help you managing your career and be ready for layoffs, which suck. Really.