The travel bug

If you wonder how was my first day of being jobless, it was good, thanks for asking. Felt like Saturday. I also got a lot done.

The first time I thought about taking a long journey was few years ago, right after I came back from Peru. I was quite surprised how easy I could communicate and find my way around. I was thinking that will be easy to travel through the whole Central and South America, since they mostly speak Spanish (except for Brazil). At that time, it seemed to be just another daydream.

Very long time ago I made a habit to read the news every morning, right after I read my emails. I like to know what's going on in the world. One day I came across an article that caught my attention. It was about a British company that offers overland expeditions, London to Sydney, in 3 months, at a reasonable price. Pretty cool, huh? So I searched more and found another company that was doing the same thing, just a little bit more expensive, but in 8 months. I definitely think it was worth it. One problem was that I wasn't interested in a big part of the route, London to Pakistan. The other problem was the time. How the hell could I get 8 months vacation? It seemed impossible. Yeah, right, like this is ever gonna happen. But the desire was there. It will come back now and then, and the more I ignored it, the stronger it resurfaced. It would just not go away.

A couple of months ago, being very unhappy with the salary I was getting, I looked for another job. I didn't take long at all to get at interview for a job that way paying 80% (you read correctly, eighty percent) more. But when I had to take the job I freaked out. Should I have taken the job I would just kiss goodbye my dream of traveling around the world. Basically, I had to chose between time and money. So I look down into my soul and I made the decision.(Now, let me state here, just for the record, that a straight up alpha male type cool dude like me never uses this kind of expression - looking down into the soul - but at the moment I lack the inspiration).
It wasn't until I bought the plane ticket when I realized that I am actually going to do it. I felt butterflies into my stomach. The level of excitement was so high I could barely sleep for 3 nights in a row. I believe this marked the point of no return. As for the reasons I am doing this, I could make a really long list, but the bottom line is I want it, I can do it, and there is no better time than now.

Oh, by the way, I have created another blog here.

Today, but not tomorrow

Today I'm just like you. I have to wake up in the morning. Eat whatever I find in the fridge. Try to figure out how to dress. Push to get in the street car. Get off and take the subway. Change the line and get in the other train. Walk to the workplace. Sit in a cubical and stare at the monitor for hours.

I been doing it for quite a while now. I learned, got good jobs, made money, built a career. I remember enjoying it, but now I'm not so sure. I think somewhere along the way there was something wrong with this routine. I don't know why but one day I started asking myself questions. Is this how my life is supposed to be? That's the best I can get? Do I really like it? Does it have this way? Is it the only way?

I can't claim that I have the right answer. The more I think about it, the more I doubt it. I just realized that I will never find out it I keep going this way. Change is good, I always said that and so far it proved I was right. So I decided to quit my job and follow my (day)dreams. It's time to make them happen. Today, in my last day of work, I'm just like you. But not tomorrow!