If you're under 30, you can probably still get Holiday work visas, depending on your country or countries of citizenship. The US had agreements with Australia and New Zealand and I spent a year in each, then got a real visa through my job in NZ. I told a friend about them and he got one for Ireland (I didn't qualify, you have to be in school of have just graduated. When I visited him, he introduced me to everyone as "This guy is there reason I'm in Ireland").
I spent a couple of years outside of the US, including 11 months living out of two bags, living in hostels and with friends:
https://battlepenguin.com/philosophy/perspective/minimalism/
