Category Archives: Essays

What now?

Posted on by
2

question-markTo say that things have been challenging as of late is an understatement.  I’ve spent the last couple of months slowly easing back into my previous life while at the same time having trepidation of what that life is going to hold for me.  I’ve used IT Recruiters in the past to help me find work, but using them recently has left me feeling incredibly underwhelmed.  I’m already tired of them telling me what I need to say and asking me to “tweak” my resume because they don’t think it will produce an interview.  This is despite the fact that I’ve never had issues with my resume generating interest in the past.

Going to interviews only produces a sinking feeling in my stomach as I walk into the building and feel like an animal being corralled into its future pen.  Even with work environments that are located in trendy downtown buildings, I can still tell within 5 minutes of being there whether I will have anything in common with the people that I work with.  I feel like such an outsider most of the time, knowing that my interests and stories from abroad only produce blank stares and questioning looks.  “You mean, you don’t go home to work on a project or watch TV?”.  How could I possibly convey to these people that I enjoy living my life creatively and trying to experience as many things that this life has to offer and *that* in no way affects my ability to be engaged and successful at work.  Nor does it cloud my ability to produce quality work.  And then when the rejection comes, it tears through me, reminding me that I don’t fit in.  Some days, I wake up with renewed energy and defiance resolving to use that energy to move forward and forge my own path.  And other days, well, I just wake up tired.

So I’ve been a bit melancholy lately while struggling to get moving.  In.  Any.  Direction.  I’ve started to look at volunteer opportunities. A friend from Swing Dancing put me in contact with the Latino Economic Development Center.  It would give me a chance help people in the Spanish community learn English or computers while allowing me work on my already poor Spanish.

Coco door smallAnd then, out of the blue the other day, another thought struck me.  Maybe I should check out CoCo.  CoCo is a Co-working and collaborative space for independent workers.  You must be a member to use the space.  At first glance, it may remind someone of going to a trendy coffee shop sans the cute barista working behind the counter.  But CoCo provides many networking opportunities for individuals seeking to connect with people in other industries.  The first day I arrived for my tour, I met a young woman striking out on her own.  We provided each other encouragement, understanding exactly where the other person was at in their career.  Returning the next week, I talked in length with the Community Manager about whether it would be worth my time to become a member.  I was almost holding back tears as she validated almost everything I was feeling at the time.  It’s moments like that when you feel like you might be onto something special.  Maybe you’ve found your tribe.  The feeling that you’re not alone and struggle is a common trait among us all.  My first Networking Happy Hour went well, where I was introduced to Matt, a member that has created hist own start-up, and Paul, an independent recruiter.  Matt was a fellow traveler like myself.  Talking with both men at length, I had the feeling that both gentlemen understood my frustrations and challenges.  It’s too soon to tell if CoCo will be part of my growth or not.  But I have hope.

My days are up and down a lot as of late.  Some nights I can’t sleep.  There have been a couple mornings I’ll wake up around 4am, unable to get back to sleep.  I’ll go for a 5 mile run, just to calm myself down.  But then there’s also that feeling of never going back.  That in all my adventures and risks, a seed has been planted.  And while that seed has barely grown into a one-inch stalk with two leaves, there is indeed growth, however small it may be at this point.

I know that I need to keep trying things and putting myself out there.  The rejection is difficult sometimes, but I know I’ll find something….. or hopefully create something of my own.

Adjustments

Posted on by
Reply

Before I left on a trip, I had been told that coming back would be an adjustment.  I had heard stories of travelers coming home only to break down and cry while staring at numerous options for one item in the grocery store, seized by an inability to make a decision between all the available choices.

Yet, I’ve had friends come back from long adventures only to restart up their old jobs and move forward with their lives like nothing is different.  At least I’ve made that assumption.  When I returned from my trip, I admit that I felt fine for the most part.  The first time I went to the grocery store, I didn’t have any issues selecting food.  Obviously, I’ve had a much more laid back lifestyle since I’ve returned.  I’ve taken my time looking for a job that will better suit me and hopefully provide me with the ability to lead my life in a more leisurely way.  I’ve been going to the gym and for the most part, I feel like I’m in good health.  So it has led me to believe that I’ve adjusted fine.

That was until this week.  I’ve finally started to notice that I’m having difficulty dealing with some things.  For example, the first month, I didn’t have a car.  Before that, I hadn’t been driving for 4 months.  I’ve since bought an old ’99 Toyota Corolla from a friend of mine and started to drive.  Now, after 5 months of no driving combined with a more leisurely approach to life, I’ve noticed that I drive like my grandmother.  The interstate speed limit around Minneapolis is 60 mph with a minimum limit of 40 mph.  Before my trip, I would typically drive between 65 and 70 mph.  Now, my speed is usually around 45, and sometimes drops below 40.  People on the highway scare the crap out me when they drive up my ass.  Most speed around me, and I’ve caught a couple glances from people like “Who let grandpa have a license to drive.”.  Of course it’s then followed by a shocked expression when they see me driving.

I’m somewhat nervous and anxious lately.  While spending time looking for work has it’s benefits, the thought of going back to a corporate, structured work environment has me feeling a bit dreadful.  The big smile I had plastered to my face after arriving home has been replaced with the numb expression I think I had most of the time before I left on my trip.  I feel tired and overstimulated, even more than before.  I’m not quite sure where to go from here or what to do with my life.  In an effort to give my life some momentum, I’ve started looking into volunteer opportunities.  For the most part, those interviews have left me feeling somewhat excited.

I thought after 2 months back home, that I’d be settled and comfortable, but I’m the opposite.  I left hoping to clear my head, and have found that after my return, my head is full of new options.  Some are exciting and others leave me fearful for my future.  There’s a new found pressure that I sense coming from myself.  A pressure that this time around, I need to do things better, and with more intention to what I really care about in life.  Yet, I know better now that I need to loosen that grip on life as well.

I worry about transitioning the theme of my blog from one that has mostly been exclusively about travel to my original purpose: my adventures and journey on my way to finding myself.  I want to write about the things that are important to me, and the other adventures that I have (not related to travel) that I hope will open up new doors for me.  My blog has lately taken a more serious tone, one that I hope to lighten over the next couple of weeks.

It’s the growing pains of growth, I guess.  Exciting and Scary.  I’m not settled nor am I content, yet.  I fear that I may never be.

Getting there

Posted on by
2

compass on map artisticWhenever I’ve talked about my recent trip with others, I’ve encountered many responses including:

“Wow.  That’s incredible.  I wish I could do something like that.”
“How are you able to do this?”

I feel like my explanation has become somewhat of a mantra where each verse indicates a sacrifice or life choice I’ve made to make my dream a reality.  I’ve stated over and over again that this decision and plan did not come about overnight.

If you haven’t read my earlier posts, I’ve mentioned that one of my prime areas of inspiration came from reading the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.  I suggest anyone that has a desire for long term world travel to pick up a copy and read this book.  But the question still remains.  How did I get here?

I started by taking stock of my possessions and expenses.  To perform any trip of considerable length, I knew that I would not want to be shouldering the cost of my mortgage while away.  I was in the middle of finishing off the basement of my house and knew that I would need to complete that before renting it out.  So, I prioritized many of my resources for the next year into finishing the basement and making some upgrades to my house to prep it for rental.

During that time, I also started looking at everything that I owned that was not getting used often enough.  Starting with a major spring clean, I donated most of my things in storage.  After clearing out my storage area, I started going through the rest of the items in my house.

I changed my lifestyle and stopped using my desktop computer.  I found that I preferred the mobility of a laptop computer.  Getting rid of my desktop computer allowed for me to get rid of the desk I used for my computer.  Also realizing that I rarely went back and re-read any of my books, I decided to get rid of most of my paperback and hardback books.  Other books, I stored in boxes and then got rid of my book case.  At the time, I started to get my books exclusively from the library.  Being an avid reader that bought books on a regular basis, this decision helped me to eliminate a monthly or bi-monthly expenditure.

I should mention that I do not watch TV.  Many years prior, around 8 years I believe, I had decided to get rid of cable television.  This saved me at least $50 a month.  But now, I started to realize that I could watch movies on my laptop and really didn’t need the television at all.  So, I sold the television and the entertainment unit associated with it.  With each item that I removed from my premises, I started to see how little of my house was getting used.

My house is a modest 1300 square foot house in a twin-home setting.  It has 3 stories, and I started to see that I really only utilized 1 floor.  It was at this time that I discovered that I no longer wanted to maintain a house that I didn’t utilize and wanted a smaller living arrangement.  Any desire that I might move back into my house after returning from my trip disappeared.  It made more economical sense for a couple or family to live in my house.  Selling was not and option for me.  Renting my house, legally, required me to take a class with the city and have my house inspected so that I might obtain a renter’s license.  I also found a very reasonable property manager to manage my house while I was in another country.  I soon moved out after finding renters and lived among friends before setting off.

As lifestyles go, I want to also mention that I love to cook.  I’ve nurtured this interest and cook for myself as often as I can.  I’ve spent years cultivating skills that allow me to cook well enough that I don’t feel it necessary to go out and pay at a restaurant often.  I do allow myself the luxury of eating out once or twice a week.  However, I make it point to cook myself many of my meals during the week.  Typically, I cook myself a big meal every Sunday and then package the leftovers into meal-size portions.  On Mondays, I cook another good meal which also gets divided into meal-portions.  These two meals typically carry me through the week for dinner and lunches and keeps me from eating out all the time.  This eliminates a huge expenditure from my food bill.  And don’t be surprised if your co-workers look at your leftovers in envy while they’re heating up their cup of instant Ramen noodles in the microwave.

The interesting thing about all these choices is that after returning, I’ve continued to carry these choices into my current lifestyle.  I have no desire to obtain back all the things that I’ve gotten rid of.  Traveling is truly a lifestyle choice, one that I think is very positive to the overall growth of the individual as well as the collective impact to our society and culture.

While I know these points don’t allow for everyone to travel for lengthy amounts of time, I hope that it does prompt readers out there to evaluate their own lives to determine what they really need to survive and eliminate the excess so that you may find more time and money to do the things that you love.  I’ve read inspiring stories of other individuals that have done the same, or families that have traveled extensively together.  I’ve had the good fortune to meet people challenged by some handicap or problem and found a way to overcome it to do what they love.  For almost anything you desire, I believe you can achieve it.  It really comes down to our choices in life and the sacrifices you’re willing to make for them.

Simple

Posted on by
1

Settling back into my life in Minneapolis has been time spent reflecting, adjusting, and pondering what I want my life to look like moving forward.  I’ve spent the last 4 years making adjustments to my life, scaling back the number of hobbies and interests that I attempt to fit into my life, or ridding myself of all the things that weigh me down.  I’ve done this not really knowing where it’s leading me except for the ability to pack up and travel someplace with more ease and security.

You see, I’ve often spent my life thinking in terms of destinations.  I’ll convince myself that once I arrive at someplace, I can finally think of my life as successful or that I’m well on my way to achieving happiness and contentment.  I’ll often think about that next skill or success that will open up a door to greater success and happiness, while only whittling away more free time from just being or enjoying the time that I have.

I rented a car for the first week that I arrived home, thinking that I would find an old clunker to drive around within the first week.  I had intended to adopt all of the interests that I filled my time with before leaving on my grand adventure.  But a peculiar thing happened during that time.  I came to realize very quickly that I didn’t really miss having to pay for all the things necessary to operate a vehicle such as gas, title, insurance, etc.  I also didn’t miss having to fight for my safety against all the other idiots on the road.  After a week, I gave up my rental car with no other options than to ride the metro system.  My roommate also gave me a Go-To card for the metro so that I could get around.  We posited that if I could just get through the next couple of weeks until the snow melted and it became easier to be outside, that I might get used to the metro system.  Coupled with buying a bicycle, I might even be able to adopt a new healthy lifestyle where I might not even need a vehicle in my life.

It’s been a noble quest.  After almost 5 weeks of using the metro system, I’m finding that I have become more tolerant of the metro system and am finding it to be a viable source of transportation around the cities.  Obviously, anyplace that I want to go now requires more planning and effort.  But that is surprisingly okay.  I’m now forced to make a decision as to how much I really want to go somewhere.  I’ve now removed many situations where I go someplace only to be disappointed that I spent the effort and time to go.  And with limited space in which to carry things, I now shop for food in much smaller quantities.  I am finding that not only am I using less space to store food, but this constraint is also helping me alleviate the problem of food getting forgotten and spoiling.  Using the metro also requires me to walk a lot more than I normally would.  I’ve spent more time enjoying the scenery around me, and getting exercise without having to make an effort to get to the gym.  I’m starting to consider getting rid of my gym membership as well.  My world has become smaller in terms of where I go and what I do.

However, Minneapolis is no Chicago.  We lack an extensive subway / lightrail system that other large cities offer.  I don’t always feel safe riding some of the buses late at night, or even the lightrail for that matter, when the stop is right outside some bars.  I can pass the time easily during the day reading a book or my nook between destinations.  That is as long as the other patrons are relatively quiet and not screaming into their phones, or trying to pick a fight with someone, or arguing about sports or which is better, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Popeyes.  “I’m talkin’ bout the colonel!!  The colonel, man!  He’s responsible for all those hot sauces.”  It’s distracting to say the least.  And unfortunately, when I consider my own tolerance to the white noise of life, I find that I’m starting to lean towards buying a car for myself.

I mentioned in the last post, arriving at my friends storage shed only to discover that after living out of a bag for the last 4 months, that I could easily dispose of many of the things I had stored while away.  I’ve spent the last couple of weeks organizing and determining which things I’m going to rid myself of.  Being back and anticipating making some roots for at least the next 6 months to a year has caused me to fight my impulses for lightening my load a bit.  I try and convince myself that I will now need many of the items in storage.  But I know in my heart, I probably won’t.  I can probably get rid of my snowboard.  When I only snowboard once or twice a year, it doesn’t really make much sense to keep a snowboard around; especially when I can rent that equipment at a resort.  I’m finding that I don’t need near as many of the kitchen supplies that I think I do to make a good meal.  And I definitely don’t need all of the clothes that I’ve acquired over the last decade.

All of this has been an exercise in quantifying how much I need to be happy.  We make excuses for why we cannot have the type of life that others have.  Or, we make comparisons and assumptions about the quality of life that other people have without having the perspective of actually experiencing life in another way.  Rarely will we put ourselves in those situations by choice, but once placed into those situations either inadvertently or by circumstance, we readily adjust and find that what we had before wasn’t all that great and that how we live our life now is quite simply, better.  And that is the crux of my education.  I’m finding that rather than happiness being found by arriving at a destination, it is instead being found by simplifying my life so that I might spend more time enjoying the simple things in life.

Clarity

Posted on by
2

sky

I remember having a beer with my friend, Geoff, before leaving, and lamenting how disappointing it would be to go off on my adventure and return without having found what I have been looking for (purpose, vocation, etc).  Being one of my many wise and astute friends that I surround myself with, Geoff readily responded that my goal should not be to “Find Myself”, but only to find clarity in my life.

So there I was, 4 weeks before making my return home when my mother questioned me “How are you going to process this trip after you get home?”.  The truth is, I had already been sifting through my memories, looking for the truths and feelings that resonated with me the most.  I knew that upon arriving home, my friends and family would be curious to hear about my favorite adventures and hoping to understand some of the things that I took away from those experiences.  Personally, I find it difficult to define my favorite adventure or experience.  There were so many fantastic experiences that to choose one or two would somehow De-emphasize the others, and that unfortunately is something I’m unable to do.

For me, travel is about the people.  The places, adventures, and activities are just the icing on the cake. Those experiences really do not mean so much without the people that you encounter along the way.  The validation that I received from people was incredible.  Everyone I met, understood what I was doing and why I was doing it.  And everyone was full of ideas and untapped creativity.  It spurred me to think about my pursuits in an entirely different way.

Connection in this world may be the single most important quest in this life.  I don’t want to say that I have the answer to life, the universe, and everything (42), but it seems to me to be one of the most important quests I’ve ever undertaken; and one of the most enjoyable.  While on my adventure, I became very inspired reading about the Connection Economy in The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin.  The only way we are able to achieve anything of value in life, and to create the art that we’re capable of, is through the connections that we make along the way.  These connections can be personal, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual.

I’ve learned that we have it good in this country.  I’ve seen so much poverty.  People selling their handiwork on the streets with their children sitting beside them.  I’ve met so many people with the drive to try and make something / anything happen. The excuses that I’ve been making for myself cannot stand moving forward.  While I’m fearful of falling flat on my ass for trying something ambitious and crazy from time to time, I have a really good track record of walking away from such events with a minimal amount of injuries, both physical and emotional.

Attitude and perspective go a long way.  While we cannot control all the challenges that pop up in our lives, we can control how it affects us and how we treat other people along the way.  Treating people badly because we’re upset (even if the person in question is the one making us upset) never leads to anything positive. And getting upset or worried does absolutely nothing for us, except take away our peace of mind and cloud our judgement.

I’m much happier living a smaller or more simple life. Before I left, I sold many of my belongings and then stored the remaining things in my friends storage shed.  When I returned home and then traveled to his house to fetch some of necessary items, I was immediately struck by the number of items I had stored, that I now realized I could live without.  After living out of a backpack for 4 months, you realize how much you really need to be happy.  I think I’ve also started to look at ownership in a completely different way.  What good is having something when you only use it a fraction of the time?  Convenience?  Yet the “weight” of ownership bears down on our shoulders.  By “weight”, I mean the need to store said item; or the responsibility of keeping said item in good, working condition; or the worry we have if someone may steal it while we’re not present.  It doesn’t make sense to me the energy we expend to have so many things.  Understand though, I’m not suggesting we give up all our valuable possessions.  I’m only suggesting that we trim the excess of that which we do not use often enough.

I believe that it is necessary that we have passion in our lives.  I feel there’s an uneasy trend where passions are stifled, because it causes fear.  To feel so strongly about something that you would risk almost everything can seem a bit childish or impulsive.  But, coupled with wisdom; the wisdom gained from failure; passion is essential to pushing us forward and past all expectations and assumptions.  You cannot create something great without passion.  And we need to focus on our passions more.  More passion.  Less monetary gain.  We should concentrate on the things that we love, rather than the money or gain that we hope to achieve in the future.  Nor should we fear failure, for failure produces wisdom, which only makes us better at the art that we create.

And lastly, slow down and savor the moments in your life.  Appreciate them.  You will not always be happy.  You can escape and travel the world for four months; or maybe a year; but things will not always be what you expected.  You’ll be disappointed from time to time and you’ll be challenged by forces beyond your control.  To savor the truly amazing and memorable moments in your life is to appreciate the challenges and hardships that you’ve endured; and that my friends is what living life is all about.

Goldfish

Posted on by
Reply

“The things you own end up owning you. It’s only after you lose everything that you’re free to do anything.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

“It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” – Bertrand Russell

There’s a common myth that goldfish will grow in proportion to the size of their environment, meaning that a goldfish living in a pool will grow to a much larger size than a goldfish living in a small bowl.  The truth is that goldfish grow based on their diet and quality of the environment that they live.  Despite the above myth, I find a striking correlation between the myth of goldfish filling their environments and the way people accumulate things based on the size of their environments.

When I first moved away from college and got my first apartment, I had barely anything more than clothes, a computer, a bed, and a small 13″ TV.  After working in IT for a couple years, I quickly filled that apartment with a couch, 27″ TV, Hockey Gear, Kitchen items, etc.  The apartment had quickly run out of space.  After moving into my house, I once again felt compelled to fill the additional space that I had just purchased.  So, I bought more stuff.  Over time, I filled the space with an entertainment center, fancy kitchen table and chairs, deck chairs, tools, etc.  Like a goldfish, I was “growing” in proportion to the space in my new environment.

When I started planning my trip abroad, I knew that I would need to downgrade my lifestyle quite a bit and sell off a lot of my possessions.  I’d be living out of a backpack for awhile and knew that keeping a bunch of things around and unused for a long duration of time would be ridiculous.  I was actually looking forward to this, because around the same time, I noticed there were many items that had gone unused for years in my basement.  I decided to start cleaning up that area.  For the most part, it wasn’t difficult due to the fact that much of the stuff was not in the best condition.  But there were a couple items that I noticed I had some hesitation of getting rid of.  I hadn’t played hockey in years….. yet….. I found myself wanting to keep the equipment.  Over time, I finally realized I was being irrational and finally gave up the hockey equipment.

When I decided to finally sell my motorcycle, I finally saw for the first time the difficulty in parting ways with certain items.  But why?  It finally dawned on me one day when I started analyzing the items I was having most difficulty parting with.  It was the items that I associated my identity with the most.  The motorcycle, hockey gear, kitchen supplies, books, etc.  Even though I knew I would not have a need for any of this stuff in the near future or ever again, I felt like parting with it was also parting with a part of my identity.

I’ve moved twice in the past 6 months – once after I rented out my house, and the other time, just last week.  Each time, thinking I’ve parted with enough of my stuff and that the move should be simple, I’ve once again had my eyes opened to how much stuff I’m still clinging to.  I still have too much stuff.  So, I’ll attempt to “shed” my belongings again.  Initially, I had this romanticized idea of selling everything off and starting over.  With time and multiple rounds of simplification, I can honestly say that I’ve miscalculated how difficult this would be for my personality.  However, with each step at simplifying my life and reducing the number of items that I own, I feel happier.  I don’t worry about my stuff getting stolen or burned up in a fire anymore, and I feel much more free to live and enjoy my life the way that I want..

So what will happen after I’ve rid myself of most of my stuff and live out of a backpack for awhile?  That’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately.  I hope that the answer is much like the goldfish analogy that I just used, but instead of acquiring more “things”, it will be my spirit that will grow in proportion to the size of my new environment (the world) and be filled with (hopefully) all the wisdom and perspective that only my upcoming adventures can provide.

Momentum

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been two months since I started this blog and a lot has happened.  As it stands now, I’ll be leaving for South America on the 5th of November.  I’ve purchased two tickets thus far.  I stared with the ticket from Santiago, Chile to Hanga Roa, Easter Island which will actually take place 3 months into my trip.  I scheduled that for the beginning of February so that I could be there for the Tapati Festival.  However, this is done with the full knowledge that my schedule may change and my arrival in Easter Island could be pushed back.  Next, I purchased my starting ticket – a one-way flight to Ecuador in the beginning of November.  Right away, it felt good to be making some commitment towards my adventure.

And now, there’s a momentum that has formed that I’ve noticed is starting to take on a life of its own.  Despite all my insecurities and fears, I feel like I can’t stop these plans even if I wanted to.  I liken myself, somewhat, to a very manly Sandra Bullock, attempting to direct an out-of-control bus that cannot be slowed otherwise it will explode and could easily go careening off of some overpass at any moment.

This has prompted me to think a lot about how momentum gets created and then escalates and accelerates our plans.  Because I’m a huge procrastinator, plans sometimes take forever to materialize for me (or at least it seems so).  I’d love to be one of those people that can make a decision and instantly make progress towards their goal.  But instead, I tend to be one that thinks things over, second-guessing and triple-guessing myself and doubting myself along the way, until eventually, I force myself, arms flailing off the cliff into the dark, unknown abyss.

I probably don’t give myself enough credit.  I know myself, and many times I have to create a situation where I must force myself to create some momentum for the desired goal.  For example, when I was in college, I decided that I wanted to learn to ride motorcycles.  So, I took a motorcycle safety class so that I could get my motorcycle endorsement on my license.  Taking the class wasn’t the difficult part.  Instead, the difficulty came when I wanted to buy a motorcycle.  I mulled over price and style, procrastinating on the purchase, until finally I purchased a motorcycle helmet that I knew I would need to ride my motorcycle.  It’s back-asswards and weird……. yet, I had purchased something that helped me finally make the purchase that I ultimately wanted:  a 1979 Kawasaki KZ650 road bike.  It’s not for everyone, but it worked for me.  It’s the same with the airplane purchases.  While I was going back and forth on when I should buy my ticket to South America, I instead focused on one of my major goals for the trip, and that was to go to Easter Island.  And it worked – within a week after that purchase, I had purchased my ticket to Ecuador.

Of course, this trip is too big for me, and I’ve needed a lot of help and encouragement from the people around me to help make this dream a reality.  This past summer, I met a woman who turned out to be my life-coach.  Serendipitously, she had traveled extensively in South America and thought my idea was a grand plan.  While our initial meetings were centered around figuring out what my purpose and vocation in life should be, she also held me accountable for my dream to travel extensively in South America.

Additionally, I participate in many groups where I’m exposed to people from different countries and cultures.  I attend a weekly conversation group for french speakers, the 20/30s International Happy Hour Meetup, and Internations gatherings.  In everyone of these settings, I’m exposed to people from other countries and cultures, or expatriates that love to travel.  Talking to these individuals, I meet a lot of people that support my goals and offer me sound advice.  These people are my tribe and I’ve found understand me the best.  They nudge me forward when I’m feeling insecure and unsure about the path that I’ve chosen.

And lastly, I’m fortunate enough to have family and friends that support my goals.  I think most of my friends have been very supportive.  My parents were initially worried about my plans for world travel, but have since started to support me wholeheartedly.  I was on Skype with my mother the other day, and she informed me that my father had just purchased a South America map so that he could follow my adventures as I’m taking them.  How could one possibly give up their goal knowing that their parents will be following them every step of the way?

It’s imperative, I believe, to open yourself up and share your ideas and plans with the people that support you and / or have had similar experiences as the one(s) you’re trying to accomplish.  I helps to encourage you on your path and ultimately create that much needed momentum for achieving your goals.

Dangerous Ideas

Posted on by
Reply

“All men dream, but not equally.  Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”  — T. E. Lawrence

The whole idea started simply enough.  In 2009, I had decided to take my first transatlantic trip by myself.  Actually, it was the first trip of it’s kind for me.  I’d been to Canada on multiple occasions, Central America, and the Caribbean.  But France….. it was a long way for me.  Before I left, I had found a Vineyard in the Languedoc region of France that also serves as a Bed and Breakfast.  Arriving at Chateau Haut-Blanville can be a bit of a challenge considering there is no public transportation from its closest city, Bezier.  It was a major highlight of my trip, and one that I almost did not accomplish.  After being stranded in Bezier for one night due to problems encountered using my credit card to book the rental car, I thought I’d have to miss this part of the trip.  But I was committed – so I asked around and located a motorcycle dealership that rented motorcycles just 15 km away.  After arriving there and waiting around for 2 hours, I was able to finally acquire a motorcycle for 2 nights.  An hour and a half later, I arrived at the Chateau.

Later in the day, I found myself relaxing in an Adirondack chair reading the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.  I was glued to this book that was describing to me all the experiences I could be having traveling the world, and how to go about doing it.  Maybe it was my new-found confidence arriving at my destination, but I was immediately taken with the idea of traveling the world myself.  The book describes in detail some of the things a person will most likely need to do to make traveling for an extended period of time a reality.  For me, this included renting or selling my house, downgrading my life, finding cheaper ways to travel, do a better job budgeting my cash-flow, save enough money to sustain me for the duration of my trip, etc.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy and quite honestly, I’m not sure I fully committed to the idea right away.  But it infected me and once I finally committed to the idea, it helped me to focus my energies towards completing some projects and to organize my life to help make this dream a reality.  I was in the middle of finishing off my basement and doing some repairs to my house.  I also had a room under my garage full of junk and unused items that I knew I would need to get rid of.

It has been huge undertaking for me.  It’s quite possibly the largest project I’ve ever undertaken.  My magnum-opus, if you will.  I’ve had to undergo a huge transformation and conquer many challenges, fears, and insecurities along the way.  It has been almost 4 years since I sat in that Adirondack chair and first had this idea.  I’ve had to make many sacrifices and take a much different path than I thought I originally would have made.  I’m currently three to four months out from my departure and to be perfectly honest, I’m scared.  But, the trans-formative potential that this idea could have on my life is too great to ignore.  It’s an ambitious idea and I’m excited.

The idea is this – fly to South America and visit Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.  From Santiago, Chile, I hope to take a flight to Easter Island.  Easter Island has been a huge draw for me ever since I first saw pictures of the large Moai when I was in the 3rd grade.  After Easter Island, I hope to fly to Southeast Asia for some Scuba Diving.  I hope to be gone 6 months to a year.  Am I crazy for doing this?  Possibly.  But I believe that it takes a little bit of “crazy” to accomplish great things.