January 1st, 2009. Plane to Auckland, NZ. So, it begins...

I’m not sure exactly when I decided that I wanted to travel around the world. At the age of 28, many educated North American women are on the career track or marriage track or baby track. And yet, I found myself earlier in 2008 feeling a little off track. Corporate, well paying job with opportunity for advancement, check. Relationship opportunities with potential, check. 1,200 square foot fully decorated apartment in fun, eclectic part of town, check. Who was I to complain? What was this deep ennui I felt? Where did I learn this pretentious French word to express my discomfort?

 

I had the time and means to volunteer, go out to eat with friends, take weekend trips, buy a gym membership, decorate my apartment and go shopping weekly at T.J.Maxx… so again, I asked myself, who was I to blather on about finding “deeper meaning” or “spiritual enlightenment”?

 

Less than a decision and more than a whim, today, on January 1^st, 2009 I find myself sitting in a bustling L.A. airport nestled between my carry-on and laptop case and waiting for my flight to Auckland, New Zealand. The entirety of all my belongings now amount to two checked bags, one carry-on and a purse. Less than 100 pounds of crap to drag with me around the world. Thank goodness for airport regulations.

 

Over the last 12 months I moved out of my apartment, selling my belongings and precious Target furniture purchases one by one on Craigslist. I down-sized step by step until I was literally living on the floor of a friend’s closet for the last four months, and living on half of my salary (the other half went straight into an online savings account with limited access for emergencies such as shoes, facials, fancy dinners and dirty martinis).

 

So finally in December I quit my perfectly acceptable Instructional Design job with benefits, threw my valuables into plastic bins and begged basement corner space off of willing relatives. And here I am. It’s just me again.

 

I find myself in the same place I was five years ago when I finished my teaching contract in Japan, before I left my small town and prior to the beginning of the bike trip I did before coming back to the states (see article below).

 

Over the next year or so, my plan is to travel all the way around the world. Starting in New Zealand, I’ll complete the CELTA course for Teaching English as a Second Language (http://www.languages.ac.nz/teacher_training/celta_course.htm) in January and then travel around New Zealand and possibly Australia, working on organic farms (http://www.wwoof.co.nz/) and staying with friends and home stay families through Servas International (http://joomla.servas.org/).

 

In March, I’ll head back to Japan for a few weeks for a conference with the Applied Improvisational Network (http://appliedimprov.ning.com/) – a group that promotes the use of improvisational theater in business. While there, I plan to help my friend James ring in the big 3-0 and also celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day (this should be interesting, folks). 

 

Sometime after that I may be in Cambodia helping a friend with her non-profit organization. I may also be somewhere in Thailand or Turkey, depending on the opportunities that arise.

 

The trip is fluid by design, and my goal is to be open to things as they happen. It’s a first for me, and verily I tell you, far far outside my comfort zone.

 

In the end, the reason for this trip at its core is self shock therapy. By shocking myself into becoming engaged in my own life, I hope to change the trajectory of my existence for the better. A choose-your-own-adventure on a grander scale.

 

Will I make it? Am I a scrapper? Do I deserve the things I’ve been handed in my life? Do any of us? How scared am I, really? How far am I willing to go, in spite of my fear?

 

And, most importantly, how will my life impact those around me?

 

These last few weeks have forced me to realize how much impact I truly have on those around me. Parents, friends and strangers have reacted strongly to my plans. And I thought I was in this alone…

 

I never realized how much power exists in deciding to follow a dream, no matter how irrelevant it seems to anyone else’s life but one’s own. Grown-ass women and men have had tears in their eyes as I explained that I am scared, but I’m still going to do this. Friends, both new and old, have broken down and admitted that there is this one thing they’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t think they could. Those same people have come to me later and told me that they were ready to try.

 

We must realize how powerful we are, and the impact our actions and words can have on others. We are powerful beyond our imagination.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. To all my friends and family who have supported me in my journey and the process of steadying myself for the journey to come. I hope we can take it together.