It Starts!

In a few hours, I will begin my 6+ month journey heading west, to travel around the world… and I’m scared.

I won’t have any responsibilities – well, other than feeding myself, sleeping and making sure my limbs remain attached

The longest vacation/time-off I’ve taken from work since I began my career 16+ years ago, is 3 weeks. In both occasions, by the third week, I felt slightly guilty being a pile of flesh that mindlessly slept, ate and frequently worked-out its thumbs with digital screens. I definitely got my Netflix money’s worth those months! More importantly, the time-off came with the constant surrounding of family, friends and a Fortune 500 company backing my medical insurance should something go wrong. I had a nice security blanket.

My last day as an employee was Friday, March 16th. This will allow me to make the next 6+ months the longest I’ve ever been away from home and alone. Sure, I won’t have any responsibilities – well, other than feeding myself, sleeping and making sure my limbs remain attached, but it also means I will have no one locally to help me if I run into any issues. The nearest place in which I could feel completely safe will be thousands of miles away. But it’s not so much the physical things that can go wrong that trouble me, as the old saying goes: you could get run over by a car in front of your house, it’s the psychological aspect that I no longer feel secure. I won’t have friends. I won’t have family. I won’t have a home. And yet, paradoxically, therein also lies the excitement that I hope wins-out in my head every time I get homesick.

Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef even-though I don’t know how to swim

I will try my best to have the time of my life. See what it’s like to travel the globe without a care in the world and do things out of my comfort zone such as scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, even-though I don’t know how to swim. An active-retirement of sorts without being of retirement age. I will try to document my travels the best I can while balancing the enjoyment of the trip itself. This will be the way I stay connected with the people that feel like home.