A 24-year-old man from New Zealand has quit his job to play Pokemon GO full time. This was bound to happen sooner or later, really.
Tom Currie (below) told The Guardian that he quit his job in Auckland to go on a two-month Pokemon adventure across New Zealand – his ultimate aim is, of course, to catch ’em all.
Currie said:
I wanted to have an adventure. I have been working for six years and I was desperate for a break. And Pokemon gave me the chance to live that dream.
The world’s most ambitious trainer has already visited six towns on the South Island, and has already managed to grab 90 of the game’s 151 Pokemon.
As you might expect, this adventure is keeping Currie in great shape, as he’s walking ‘miles and miles’ every day. On more than a few occasions, he’s stayed up till around 3am hunting ‘mon.
Currie travels from place to place by bus (since fly and surf are out of the question), and saves money by sleeping on friend’s sofas or crashing in hostels.
His mother, Tania Dobb said:
Tom is a very spur-of-the-moment, independent kid, he always has been. His nana and I don’t understand the game but I remember him loving it in his childhood. I am just glad he is out enjoying his life and seeing so much of New Zealand. I back him 100%.
How many other games can inspire people to quit their job and actually see the world? Pokemon GO continues to be awesome.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.