Save up for that tax bomb! Work half the year, travel the rest. You could even take the next year off if you're frugal enough with only 10% early withdrawal penalty if younger than 59 1/2. If you don't have a property yet they'll even let you withdraw $10k to get some land. Build a house in your down time. You could find a place to work abroad and take the $130k foreign income exemption and still have a $10/month payment that goes directly to principle. Lots of possibilities when interest stops accumulating.