The Plan; Part 1 May 22, 2005

West Palm Beach, FL 5/22/05

I have been back from New Zealand/Australia a little over two months and now my passion for traveling consumes almost all my thoughts. At this point my future seems very clear to me. My plan is starting to get laid out, formulated. The next step will be implementing it and that of course is the true challenge.

Before I get to my plan though I just read through my last entry from Australia, when I was leaving Kangaroo Island. I wonder why I didn’t write more about that trip after that entry. I had plenty of opportunities. Hell I spent a whole day in Sydney by myself just getting some sun in the Botanical Gardens. I guess by that point it just felt like another day. The fact that I was sitting in Sydney Australia wasn’t new. I have been in and out of there 5 or 6 times now.

My last couple days there only added to my fondness for that city. Dave and I spent another night at the Grace Hotel and had dinner with Nij, Emily, Chris, Will, and others. Dave left the next morning. I had a great day wandering in the morning and then I met up with Dave’s friend Lisa that night.

I didn’t fly out until the afternoon on the next day which means more time to wander so I hopped in a cab to Coogee Beach. It is a nice beach area but not a lot to do there so in the future I’ll just head to Bondi. Of course I was happy with the experience though and I’m glad to say I saw it.

The flights home went pretty quick. Good movies on all the flights so the time went by nicely. Despite being on planes for 25 hours I was in such a good mood by the time I got to WPB I didn’t even mind that much that “they” had lost my backpack. Of course had I known that it would be 2 weeks before Qantas and Delta tracked it down and then when it did finally get to me it would be so badly damaged that I would have to write it off (a check I’m still waiting for Delta to send me mind you) I probably would have shown a little more attitude the night I landed. Instead I just jumped in the car with Marty & Josh and went to Bradley’s. The fact that it was Midnight and I had to work the next day didn’t mater to me. I had been awake for almost 25 hours. What’s a few more? Plus I had stories to tell!

That’s actually how the rest of the week went; a few hours of sleep, full days at the office, a cocktail party on Wednesday to kick off the Palm Beach Boat Show, St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday, relying more and more on atmosphere, adrenalin, and booze each afternoon and night to stay awake. By Friday night I was so tired that I crashed out early, slept a full night, and woke up the next morning feeling totally normal; no jet lag what so ever. Mat’s new cure for jet lag; just don’t sleep at all!

So as I was saying when I started this entry and before I digressed into a rambling chronological party report, I now have a plan. I plan to really change up my life.

In a nutshell, what I want to do is sell my condo this fall, put 70% of the profit in the bank. Then quit my job and go Backpack the world with the other 30%. Easy, right? Scary? Yes!

My reason is simple. Why not?!

I was so happy wandering New Zealand; meeting new people, constantly on the go, something new around every corner, no wasted time, never going through the motions, literally thinking that everyday and every moment in that day was a moment I would remember the rest of my life.

When I would talk to my fellow Backpackers about the places they have been and the places they were going I would get so fired up. They are doing what I want to do, but, and here is what launched the plan, they are doing it with far less resources than I have at my disposal. They are using all the money they have in the world. In some cases they are working as they travel just to have enough money to move on to the next place. They don’t have a resume, a network of business associates, and job connections to fall back into a career if they wanted too. They don’t have a car that’s paid off, a credit rating, health insurance, a pension, investments, etc. I could go on and on.

Of course most of these things that I have listed are usually the reasons I would think I couldn’t quit my job but something in me has changed. An epiphany of sorts but more like a fire building rather than clicking on a light bulb. These things are my tools not my burden. They should give me freedom. They should allow me to go places in life, both physically and metaphorically, not hold me back or anchor me to a single location.

Is it risky to quit my job and sell my place? Hell yes but when I really think about it I realize it’s not the risk that makes it scary. What scares me is the feeling of losing stability and security. It is fear of the unknown that keeps me plodding along and only occasionally making a major change in my life. The fear of "what if". Obviously that's no way to lead a life.

It’s letting go of the side of the pool. Well you know what? I know how to swim. In fact I know I’m a good swimmer. So letting go of the side and swimming out like I know I am capable should not scare me one bit. The side of the pool will always be there to grab hold of again.

All metaphors aside it comes down to these basic thoughts:

- I am probably not going to be anymore free in life than I am right now. Both financially and personally.

- It’s time to shake things up in my life anyway. I’m stagnant and not going anywhere new professionally or personally.

- I want to have a long term “Backpacking” experience in this life and the older I get the more that experience will be different. You can’t go to summer camp for the first time at age 30 and expect it to be the same experience as it would be if you were 12.….OK, back to the metaphors. I guess I just can’t stop myself.

So that’s the plan? What now consumes most of my daydreams are the details of the plan. What will I do with my stuff? Car? Furniture? Clothes? Can I continue my freelance contracts while I’m traveling so I have some income? Can I get some freelance work from the City when I leave? How much is health insurance? Etc.

I have more questions than answers but that does not worry me. I have simply resolved to find the answers or remove the question as a factor.

Right now just a handful of people know my thoughts. No one at work yet or my family knows. Mostly just the guys when I ramble off thoughts over beers and chicken wings. The big factor in all this is selling the condo so there is no use in alarming the family until I see how that is going to go.

It’s not an effective goal without a timeline though so I hope to have the condo on the market in early fall and sold by Christmas. I’ll head home, Philo Illinois, for Christmas, Key West for New Years, and then I think I’ll start with 6 months of wandering in South America.

Is this all a long shot? Absolutely but isn’t that what dreams are supposed to be? (Enter about a thousand clichés here on life and success)

It’s back to reality now though. It’s a quiet Sunday and one of my last for a few weeks. It’s time to go wash the Jeep. After that it’s book and sun time by the pool at the Yuppy-ville condo where I live and maybe an afternoon trip to the gym.

For all my love of spontaneous wandering I also love some weeks of daily routine. Don’t worry, this contrast has occurred to me as I daydream about living out of bag and wandering the planet. As usual, I think I can do both.

MJF