"I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I
    could do anything I wanted" ~Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

I constantly find myself daydreaming of getting on a plane (or boat, bus, or train) and thinking of where it could take me. I didn't realize it until recently but I'm becoming an addict. I see it happening with every passing moment. In my semi-attempt to live a responsible and structured life...okay I'll stop right there. So maybe I didn't give the whole responsible thing much of an effort, but it was a good thing because I would have been wasting my time.
Instead I've asked the simple question: what will make me happy?
You hear about all those people who conformed to the "real world"and decided one day to leave behind their prosperous careers and white picket fences, pack their bags and get on a plane. Well, I'm skipping chasing the American dream part and jumping right to the good stuff, my own dream. And don't worry about me. Even though I have little direction in my plans, I still have goals and the motivation to reach them. 

I've always had some sort of schedule or time line that restricted many possible travel plans. These commitments, silly things like an education, limited  But now? Well now I picture a calendar of the upcoming future and all the pages are blank. For years. 

This means I can do anything (well, almost anything) and be anywhere. Ask me where I'll be in 5 years, no, in 5 months. Who knows. To me, that's great! That's freedom and it's exhilarating. 

I have also realized that I don't have the desire or willpower to treat this little travel obsession. Instead I'm fueling it. I'm beginning to consider a traveler's lifestyle as my approach to the world. It started with looking at maps and reading about other cultures, other ways of life. Then hearing real-life stories of the huge world we live in and all it has to offer, only to find out that it isn't so huge after all, that it can be seen. Next, action was taken and I got a taste of just how fulfilling it is to become familiar with once foreign places until they weren't so strange and they became part of the collections of my memories. 

And now this addiction, this urge, is boundless. 

I can look at a map and draw those little dotted lines of where I've been and know that I can draw the next lines to anywhere from there. Endless possibilities.

You know how every adult says to kids to enjoy their childhood while they can? Well that's true and all. I mean, as a kid you don't have to worry about making yourself dinner. I'm still struggling with that one. But as an adult, you can make all your own decisions. And I'm deciding what I want to do with my life.
Travel.

Here's a little video to consider if you haven't seen it before....

Let Yourself be Pulled by the Unknown

     "Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the
     unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with
     action. They must be woven together" ~Anais Nin  

Through travel I want to explore what makes life meaningful, exciting and authentic. 

Am I ready to pack up all my stuff again and enter into a different culture? Guess so! I'm giving in and fueling my addiction of waking up on any four corners of the world.

This journey to step out into the greater world grew from the fantasy of my mind. But the best part of it all is that it doesn't have to be just a daydream. With a little encouragement and some effort, it can be a reality. Sure it will be difficult emotionally (good thing there's no such thing as "goodbye" just "see you later"), financially (but worth every penny!), and physically (those airport floors are not always the most comfortable), but this is all okay with me.

Right now, at this point in my life, I want to be location independent. I have little desire to pick a spot and commit to stay there long term. No, thank you, not right now. What led me to packing my bags again? Well it began when I hadn't even returned to CA yet and I'd already decided to jump ship. I was casually thinking aloud to my roommate in Italy: "Man, it would be really awesome to go somewhere exotic to become a divemaster and just dive and travel". Then I wistfully sighed and kept eating my gelato. Before I knew it I was thanking this roommate for her particularly loud mouth (She talks. A lot.) I had found myself committed to an unplanned plan. Casual acquaintances started asking me when my flight was departing and I found my excitement growing. Of course I had no idea what they were talking about, but soon I had heard it so often and said it was in the works that it actually was in the works.

Without even realizing it the decision had been made to go out into the foreign world again and have the opportunity to indulge in this fascination of mine. Now I'm all set to go to Thailand in a few weeks to start my dive training. Not only that, but I get to see my sister and brother-in-law over in Macau. Sounds good to me.

     "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be 
     lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations 
     under them" ~Henry David Thoreau

A new year, a new itinerary...

     "I have taken a vow: Never underestimate the power of 
     anyone's dreams. Not even my own"~Judie Fein, Life is a Trip

Apparently I shouldn't either, since these dreams have led me here- committing me to my my next adventure. Though I just got back from quite an adventure, I was there for "school" (if that's what we're calling it), and now that it's over I'm craving another. When I left last year the world was much bigger then. I knew only some of the language, and I didn’t really know what I was getting in to. It was intimidating, scary, overwhelming. It was the best decision of my life. I learned how small the world really is, and that it really is not all that intimidating, as long as you have a map (or at least a direction) and smile with a "thank you". 

Because of this little taste of this truly wonderful world, I've taken to looking at maps with a narcotic tingle of possibility, trailing my fingers along the atlas and imagining. It's been filling nearly every last second of my thoughts these days lately. So much so that I have chosen my next destination. Though I don't know where I will go after, I don't know what is next, and I don't really have a plan (I think it's best this way because it welcomes new encounters), what I do know is that I'm more than excited to find out what will happen. Frankly, I'm having difficulty waiting.

And this adventure will unfold itself in the deep fishy places, uncertain paths, and the sun flare over the sand.

     "Each time I go to a place I have not seen before, I hope it 
     will be as different as possible from the places I already 
     know. I assume it is natural for a traveler to seek 
     diversity, and that is the human element which makes him 
     most aware of the difference. If people and their manner of 
     living were alike everywhere, there would not be much point 
     in moving from one place to another" ~Paul Bowles