I went straight to work. I took about 6 months and many interviews to find a job, so I did some labouring work while looking for a coding position. Travelling around the world seemed too scary / not me.

In retrospect I wished I had given a PhD a go. Even if I dropped out I'd just get a job, and the stipend was generous enough for a single person to live.

I encourage people to consider travelling even if they thing it's not for them. It doesn't have to be like everyone else does it. I'd go back and travel to meet other like minded tech people, go to tech conferences, and get some nature walks in amazing places. It would be light on the partying and well trodden backpacker routes, using non-plane transport as much as possible. It also could be 2 weeks initially with an option to go home or carry on.