Words can’t even begin to describe how excited I am to finally backpack in the Balkan region of Europe. It’s not only far cheaper than “common” European places, but in my opinion, it seems far more cultural and exotic. For many years I’ve been anticipating this journey and it is finally happening. I’ve spent the past month backpacking across some of Western Europe and it’s been incredible (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and a little of Germany). But the places I am going to venture to are going to be 10 times more incredible.
I am currently on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany looking back at how and why I even grew such a strong desire to go here. I think one day back in 2012 or 2013 I was at my little work desk doing my usual travel via Google maps and street views. I may have been looking at the eastern coastline of Italy. But to the east I saw a large unusual set of islands in the Adriatic sea that drew my curiosity. This is the country of Croatia. I dropped the street view pin on most of the islands and coast and eventually inland and was completely blown away. Although I fooled myself at first in beleiving I could escape Italian tourism to a “non touristy” destination like Croatia, I was wrong.
Croatia has it’s share of tourism, especially in the city of Dubrovnik, but it’s certainly not Rome or Milan. For many years after this, I studied the Balkan nations more and more and my curiosity drew me to love everything about this region. From the history prior to the Yugoslavia wars to it’s present day division and the socialist days of Romania and Bulgaria to it’s brighter days today. And of course I can’t forget my lifelonge dream country of Greece. At some point, I found myself dreaming of doing a several month, counterclockwise backpacking journey through the whole region, from Istanbul up to Belgrade, over to Ljubljana down Croatia and eventually to Greece. This would be one hell of an adventure that in my eyes whole stand out from typical European adventures.
So here I am on this flight to Istanbul, reality setting in that this freaking adventure is REALLY REALLY happening. I am the happiest person in the world right now and can’t wait to dive into so many amazing cultures. In this small region, I know I will learn many new words in new languages, meet so many incredible people, have an even broader taste in music, and have memories of a damn lifetime. See you soon Istanbul.
Ahh I’m the happiest man in the world right now :)))
How do I feel? Everything! I literally feel everything. Every emotion imaginable. A week ago I made a decision, a huge turning point in my life. A final decision that will lead me on a journey I will never forget. I could have all the plans in the world. All the money saved up. And all the Airbnb bookings and plane tickets in my email set. But I can walk away in a heartbeat and continue on with my 9-5 routine. Not anymore! Last Monday I sat down with my boss, laid down my plans of world travel this year, my resignation date, and my place of relocation; New Zealand.
I love travel and I love life. There is just too much to do and see, so many friends to make, and so much to learn out there.
The week prior was nothing but anxiety and restlessness. How I will be treated for the next few weeks. Is it too early to resign? Is this a mistake? Do I need more time to work? In my mind, I find these all to be normal questions. Realistically, I’ve been waiting for this decision for 6 years. From the moment I walked across the stage for my college degree until now and all the struggles in between. I sometimes forget, it’s better now than late to resign. Mistake? This will be the best decision of my life. You have worked hard enough for 5 years, two of those working 7 days a week with two jobs. I love travel and I love life. There is just too much to do and see, so many friends to make, and so much to learn out there.
I work a desk job, a 9-5er, sitting in front of a computer screen for 9 hours answering the phone every .98 seconds. People don’t realize that desk jobs in its own way can be really exhausting alike manual labor. Three years of being in front of a computer screen has been really exhausting. Every routine job can be exhausting. That is why people deserve breaks. In my country, Murica’ that is, it’s highly uncommon to take breaks such as I will be doing. A Year away from work to travel. ?What?!!!!” “I wish I could do that!” “OMG! You are soooo lucky!”. The problem is, people here don’t believe and realize that they can do it and wait too long until it is too late. Any body can be “lucky” as long as you want it bad enough.
The thought of waking up each day on my own time, doing and seeing whatever I want is the best liberating feeling in existence.
As far as how the conversation went, my boss was for a split second shocked but eventually happy for me. The whole office is, at least I think. It’s no surprise to anyone that I love to travel. Hell I talk about it always, and I have planned all 8 of my international trips accordingly along with whatever PTO (paid time off) I’ve accrued. It’s relieving and great to know that I have support at a soon to be former work place, it means everything. I may be leaving but that doesn’t mean that’s it. Not only a good rapport is important, but it’s psychologically important as well. It feels good to know that despite the seemingly long and slow moving work days I’ve encountered at the work desk, and all the patience I have used up, I can now travel the world and know that I left an employer on outstanding terms. Hey, references matter and who knows, “eligible for rehire” can go a long way also.
Going back to ethics, people here generally worry about money, money, money. Travel isn’t as expensive as people make it to be. Once you figure that out, extensive travel is possible and cheap. But getting out of the work mindset is certainly a really difficult concept to grasp here. Vacations are the “ultimate getaway” here. That’s not a getaway, that’s a tease. Because once you spend that week on the beach in Jamaica, in no time, you are back to a job you probably don’t like. Once you realize travel is a beautiful thing, you want more time. You need more time and at some point you realize this shameful two weeks a year you get, “rewarded”, isn’t enough to really experience anything other than relaxation or shall I say …vacation. That’s why the thought of waking up each day on my own time, doing and seeing whatever I want is the best liberating feeling in existence. Jobs will come and go. Money can be made and as long as you spend wisely, money isn’t always as valuable. Time is! And a life well lived and invested in sits right alongside it.
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough
I may be spending two months of my time back in the states during my gap year, One month in New Jersey with my dad and one here in South Carolina with my Mom. I have spent the past 3 years working a routine lifestyle, missing some great moments with my family, especially my dad in New Jersey. This isn’t 4 weekends of time with family and the rest to an employer. These are two months of MY TIME, time that I will cherish beyond imagination. In regards to feeling multiple emotions, I am excited to see all the places I will see. Sad to leave behind my loved ones. Anxious to get going now. Afraid that I may screw up. And confident that I will succeed in every angle of this dream turned reality.
There is no other time in my life where I have felt so much in one moment of time. This is not just a trip, it’s a lifestyle; a life on the road. Going with the flow, with just a bag on my back, keeping my wits about me, and balancing my book + street smarts when applicable. My finances carefully spent on beautiful memories. My wardrobe rotating strategically in and out of my backpack. My hopeful career in travel investing in itself as each day progresses in a new place. My social life in unlimited mode. Country hopping, experimenting with new cuisines and different beers to chase them down. Moving around by plane, train, automobile and my very own feet. Resting my head on a couchsurfing host’s spare couch, a hostel bed, and if necessary, a “luxurious” 3 star hotel bed.
Unless human resurrection is a real thing, you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. People always say “Do it while you’re young” and I hear it even more so working in a doctor’s office where most of the patients that come in are older. They know better and have lived a life where they can share “real shit”. That’s why I am doing this now and why I couldn’t stress how beautiful life itself is. Embrace it and live it to the fullest. And if the globe is your curiosity, do your research, do what you can to save, prepare for that well deserved break, and go travel! 🙂
What does a miles discount of 21,000 Delta Skymiles plus a $5.60 tax mean for me. A one-way trip to Europe for 3 to 4 months beginning in Amsterdam.
…I feel like I naturally ask myself this question without even realizing it. Travel is a personality. It’s like asking a person what kind of person they are. Introvert, adventurous, spiritual, intense, etc. The same concept applies to the traveler. What do they want to offer? Is it for others? It is for themselves like self exploration? The destination may be the same but the experience and goal in each traveler is it’s own. Like a phone with its own serial number.
So putting a spotlight on this topic, I ask myself once again. What kind of traveler do I want to be?
-I want to be the traveler that shares my experiences in a whole new perspective.
-I want to be the traveler that people look up to for motivation to experience the same in their own way.
-I want to be the traveler that fits in a special place in the globe that contributes to a positively connected world.
-I want to be the traveler that can take the world in as my classroom and learn from everything and everyone as my lessons.
-I want to be the traveler that slows down life and takes things in day by day with the understanding that life does go by quickly.
-I want to be the traveler that makes people smile regardless of what they go through or are going through.
-I want to be the traveler that can simply leave a positive mark in peoples lives.
-I want to be the traveler that can look back in life without regret and say “I did it”.
I’ve known for many years who I wanted to be. It just took some time for these answers to be brought to light. I’ve gone from nothing to something. Paycheck to paycheck to having the ability to be content. Depression, sadness, and tears to tears of joy, positivity, to happiness within myself. Dreaming then to living realities now. The journey isn’t always a destination, it can be within. My journey, has come a long way, has become better and better by the day, and will continue that path.
What does a miles discount of 21,000 Delta Skymiles plus a $5.60 tax mean for me. A one-way trip to Europe for 3 to 4 months beginning in Amsterdam. 🙂
So I sit here on my lunch break with a combination of anxiety, nervousness, and happiness all in one because I am only clicks away from getting my hands on my first one-way flight to places I’ve always wanted to see and for once, on my own time and schedule. No urgency to return to work. No PTO and putting in time off work. Just me, my cameras, my backpack, and creating memories to share with the world. A world whom I can, in my own way, be able to motivate to “snap out of it” and open their minds to the big world we live in.
So as I conclude this post, and I close my mind to the things I live for and the great things that will come my way once I set foot on that Delta flight. I remind myself, that the selfish ness of this new journey will not be perfect. I will feel pain. Others will feel pain. I will encounter struggles. And goodbyes will happen frequently. And as I remember all of the things I’ve been through, all the people I have met, the mistakes I’ve made, the lessons I’ve learn, and the reasons why I have lived this journey leading me to this work desk. I want the world to know and I am proudly confident to say, that I am ready to become the traveler that I’ve always wanted to be. :’)
I’ve always had an strong attitude in regards to doing what I loved in the moment. Like the 1996 Sable I had throughout high school and some of college that I wanted to “hook up (put rims on and a sound system in). Although that cost me lots of hard earned money, that I was barely even making, I successfully did so. For about a year I was rolling around the streets of Deltona, Florida with shiny 20 inch chrome rims with an amazing sound system heard miles away. While I eventually traded in the car for a newer one due to high gas prices and seeing my investments go nowhere but down the drain, it was a personal investment in my memory. I remind my self that if I really want something, I will work hard for it and get it. Today, I look and tell myself, “Yep, I did that.” But out of the many obstacles we may face in order to reach a goal the most intimidating one is time itself. It has been almost ten years since I successfully installed those wheels on my former car and I now have different priorities.
Sunset on an island in Kiribati. (Photo Credit: Nick Hobgood)
This is what happens over time. It’s normal and it’s life. You evolve! But what if I waited too long to find those wheels because I wanted to feel safe with money first. Or because my mom said I should wait. I probably would have been left with an unaccomplished dream buried deep in the past. And as time moves forward I will have another priority to work hard towards. Looking back, I am glad I broke the bank and traded in my investments for nothing. It actually isn’t always about money and what it will earn you later. It’s a great memory. In fact it’s more than just a great memory. That car was a symbol in my life that will live with me forever and prove something for my future. That is, that no matter what I go through, so as long as I want something badly, I will work hard for it, believe in myself, and I will get a full realistic grasp on it. This applies to anyone so as long as they have something to work hard towards. This could be anything from creating a foundation for a family, being your own boss, traveling to Antarctica, or like me at the age of 18, “hooking up” a car.
Somewhere Near Gallipoli, Turkey (Photo Credit: kambiyocu)
But the one key factor I have learned along the way is that you want time to be on your side. Sure, not everything can be done overnight or short term. Some things do require savings, schooling, research and my favorite word from mom, sacrifice. No person should turn you away from your dreams, after all, it’s not theirs to enjoy. It can be really easy to fall off of that path because people don’t believe as strong as you do. In addition, not all dreams are meant to be, at least at that moment or in that time, it’s life. Call it destiny or whatever you want. Like trying to relocate to Miami post college from Orlando. Miami is an expensive lifestyle and at the time, I was a little more reckless and had depression issues that needed working on. In my opinion, my relocation to South Carolina instead seemed to be the perfect thing for me despite how opposite of a lifestyle it has been for three years. It has helped me grow and in fact prepared me for a larger goal I could or couldn’t have envisioned in Miami.
In reference to time, age certainly does plays a role in decision making also. The worst kind of life I’d want to live is a one in regret not living my dreams because I waited too long. Saying I can do it later when all I had done was wait for the “best time” or “when I retire”. Working in a doctors office has showed me first hand so many genuinely kind people who do live in some form of regret for not fulfilling dreams early on in life, and now is too late. While I am fortunate to travel as frequent as I do thanks to family, people make up all kind of excuses not to do it. In the American culture, it’s is very easy to fall victim to this, because we are workaholics, but that’s for a different post.
Baracoa, Cuba (Photo Credit: Juan Carlos Cabañas Díaz)
Today, Saturday May 9th 2015, I asked a patient about a trip he made to the country of Micronesia that I overheard him speaking of a week prior. After he shared his travels, I told him that I had intentions of doing a Work/Holiday Visa in New Zealand and Australia before I turn 30 (Because that’s only obtainable between 19-30 years old). In transit, I have high hopes in seeing a good number of Pacific islands. Since he spent much of his life as a scuba instructor and had experience, I was curious to know if he had done the Great Barrier Reef in Australia but said he hadn’t and would love to. I told him “It wasn’t too late”. His response, “It is too late. I’m old, always in pain, and can’t fly for more than two hours.” This is coming from a man who flew many hours to islands in the Pacific straight from the US. He asked my age, told him “26”, and he smiled with a slight gesture of sadness. In that moment, I read all of his emotions, expressions and exactly what he was thinking and wanted to say before he left the office. This brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that life is short, my youth is still at it’s prime and that it’s far from too late for me to fulfill my dreams. I still have all the might, motivation, and energy to work hard and go see the world in a way I probably would struggle to do in my 40’s and older. Not to forget, (knock on wood) I am in good health and still have all my bodily functions at 100%. I am not relying on routine doctor visits and not carrying around multiple prescription bottles, I AM GOOD TO GO!!!
Somewhere on the Big Island, Hawai’i Islands (Photo Credit: Camilo Gaivoto)
Finally the prime reason I wanted to write this post! The 15th or March this year, en route to work, another vehicle turned into me at an intersection totaling my car. Thankfully, the other driver and I came out fine. Needless to say, although this wreck set me back financially, this could have set me back permanently. They say things happen at the blink of an eye and this literally happened on that day. Now I may be a exaggerating, but realistically, this could have turned out worse than it did leaving me to dream my dreams and never live them. This is the one thing that I fear on a daily. With that being said, I grasp time oh so dearly close to me and plan on fulfilling my long term travel goals sooner than I envisioned. Dreams are little by little becoming a reality, and just like my old car, my future is going to be lived saying, “yep, I did that.”
Here I sit, at the airport once again, ready to set off on another adventure. In the past few days, in preparation for the next two weeks backpacking in Central Europe, I seldomly asked myself if I had made the right choice in taking this trip. After all, I did take two weeks to visit, Yellowstone Country and the Dutch Caribbean six months ago. Been pulled to the side at work about my “excess” time off allowance at my day job. Losing my weekend job because of the same ”excess” time off reasons. The worry I put both my family and girlfriend through venturing into the even further unknown on a whole new continent, in places that speak a language I can’t comprehend. The selfish sacrifice made with time away from home, solo and without them. Putting behind the comforts of familiarity for hosts abroad, the lack of sleep from blaring bars and sex engaging hostel bunk mates. The endless confusion of foreign languages on signs for hour(s) long car, bus, and train rides. The trust barriers raised up with strangers I have yet to meet.
But then I raise the next question. Why wouldn’t this be the right choice? Why wouldnt I want to break through the frontier of “my unknown” to see the beautiful places I’ve only seen in photos. Why wouldn’t I sacrifice bucks on a 5 star hotel to further extend my stay in Budapest. Why wouldn’t I venture off into cultures to better richen my views of the world and life perspectives to share with loved ones. No photo or postcard can explain the destination than the actual state of being. Viewing places with your own eyes, conversing with others with your own thoughts, leaning and actually resting your body on a century old bridge in Prague, the authenticity of tasting desserts in Vienna’s old city center, walking on an century old castle.
Sure it was worth the side job loss, because without it, the liberties are far more endless to the world unknown, even traveling at home. I understand American work ethic, but as for time off, I pushed limits. How could I have known that my work appreciates me as a traveler without trying to take off more time than my time off allowed. It was a chance I took, and was worth it. Because no matter where I work or not, who I am with or around, and no matter the judgement, traveling has always been, is, and always will be the right choice.
