About
While backpacking through Sicily in the fall of 2003, I met a fellow backpacker who had been on the road for years. He worked at hostels in exchange for a free place to stay and found some oddball jobs to earn a modest amount of money. He stayed in one city or country until he had the desire and the means to get to his next destination. And he had been everywhere. I was inspired.
I do believe in free will – the ability to choose my own path and the power to create my own future. However, I am not free-spirited, and I only take very carefully calculated risks. I am a planner. I am a control freak. I thrive in a predictable routine. In exercising my right to free will, I usually make choices that lead toward stability and comfort.
A series of such choices led me to a beautiful, comfortable life and the pursuit of the American Dream. After finishing school in 2007, I moved to San Francisco to start my career as a financial consultant. Over the next 3.5 years, I grew up, worked hard, lived fully, and loved deeply. I used my PTO to journey overseas, trying to quiet my travel bug. I attempted to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in Rome, I spent 10 days tromping through the rain forests of Costa Rica, and I was in Madrid the night Spain won the 2010 World Cup. But it was not enough, I was always left wanting more.
On December 11, 2010, I made a decision that enabled me to finally do what I have always longed to do: wander. Explore the world without an expiration date. Travel on a one-way flight. No plan, no itinerary, no return date. I left the States on March 29, 2011, armed with an open heart, an open mind, and an immense curiosity about the world. It is time to Wander.
Good for you, glad you are following your dream now. I waited far to long (37 years) before I made the jump across the pond.
August 25, 2012 at 6:11 am
Thank you! As you know, it takes a lot of courage and a bit of faith to make that jump. Better late than never =)
September 4, 2012 at 8:36 am
Hello, it’s your seating neighbor during the plane ride from Rome to Philadelphia. Hope you’re doing great and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
November 24, 2014 at 2:30 pm