I like to make memories with my friends that we can always talk about later. I enjoy hanging out with people I know and trust and aren't with me because of what I own or have.
I already regret hitting the reply button -- as I have no real desire to strongly defend the guy having never directly conversed with him -- but this just seems kind of naive and silly for a number of reasons.
First of all, I think everyone would agree that going places with friends/family/etc. that you are close with beats going alone, but we're talking about a summer long "backpack across Europe" thing here. OK, you're a cool person who has friends that would love to travel with you. Super. How many would be able to tag along with you on such a trip? More to the point, would
you even be able to afford to do such a thing given how expensive it is and how hard it is to get away from one's responsibilities for that long? I know I'm in no position to do something like that. And if I was, I'm pretty sure that the only people who would be able to go with me would be those unable to afford it because they don't have jobs.
Secondly, the only reason that the guy can afford to take such a trip is because he's made lots of money focusing on this community. If I were in his shoes, I would absolutely be doing meetups with people. Whether he's genuinely interested in fostering this community because he cares about the users or he just cares about the money, this kind of outreach is savvy on his part. It probably wouldn't look all that great to disappear completely for months so that he could use the money he earns from running it to pay for him and his friends to live care free in Europe for a summer.
And again, let me reiterate that I'm not trying to be EviLore's #1 fan. Not to be a cynical hardass, but I don't care about his European vacation. The only thing I know about the trip is that he grabbed some girl's ass in Spain, and that's because there was a separate thread on NeoGAF and discussion here about it.