where are you going?

Posted: 12/14/2017 | December 14th, 2017 There always seems to be something bad in the news. If it bleeds, it leads right? Even if it doesn’t bleed, it is still there. And all that bad news seems to dampen the world’s spirit. The economy, climate change, politics, pollution, terrorism, nationalism, poverty, disease – the list of challenges and things to worry about seems endless. The future, while always uncertain, appears even more so lately. Will the planet be inhabitable in a few decades? Will some Jihadi get his hands on a nuke and blow up Paris? Will Israel go to war with Iran? Will there be enough water and resources to go around? Is the sky falling? Polls frequently show that people, while optimistic in general, are worried about the short and medium term state of the world. Globalization, a force that forces us together, has accelerated change in the world. People don’t really like change. It scares them. But I’m optimistic about our future for ...

Posted : 6/13/17 | June 12th, 2017 In 2013, I created a list of 19 things I wanted to do before I turned 35. This list was going to serve as a guide for all my travels until I hit that all-important (OK, not really) birthday. Last year, when I turned 35 and realized I wasn’t even close to completing it, I mentally tweaked the list title: it would now be 19 things to do through age 35. Today, I turn 36…and out of those 19 things on my list, I did a whopping FOUR. Yup, only four. In a sense, I failed pretty badly. I set out with a simple list of goals to accomplish over a three-year period and didn’t even finish a third of them. But, as I look back at that list and think about it, I realize I just don’t care. I often called it my “non-bucket-list bucket list.” You see, I don’t actually like bucket lists. I mean, I love lists and making plans, but to me, bucket lists convey this idea that only things on that list are worth doing and that accomplishing those things will somehow...

Posted : 11/03/16 | November 3rd, 2016 “The days are long but the years are short.” I’m not sure where I first heard that phrase but, over the past year, I’ve come to believe it. This time last year I was boarding a flight to Southeast Asia. Spurred by a friend’s death, I decided to stop putting off a final “big, multi-month” trip and just do it. Just a few weeks into my trip, I meet a girl. We spent the next few days traveling together — then quickly we became inseparable, changing travel plans to meet up with each other. I feel in love. Eventually, she told me she felt the same way and we spent New Year’s together. She moved to Australia for a working holiday visa and I went to South America but after doing the whole “are we or aren’t we?” thing, I flew to Australia to be with her. She was the first girl I ever met that, when I pictured a life with kids and the white picket fence, I didn’t immediately want to run away. I actually liked — and welcomed — the idea. But, in the...

Posted: 01/23/2012 | January 23rd, 2012 With the end of my trip coming hard and fast, I’m at a crossroads. As I prepare to move on to the next stage of my life, two roads lie ahead of me, and I’m not sure which one to take. I’ve always had this dream of living in Europe. I’ve traveled Europe a lot, but I want to live in one place, learn the language, and experience European life as a local, not a tourist. I’ve always envisioned myself living in Paris, enjoying cheese and wine, sitting in smoke-filled cafés, and strolling down cobblestone streets at night with pretty French girls. But I think the life I imagine in Paris is the one I’ve seen overly romanticized in movies. The Paris of the silver screen is different from the Paris of everyday life. As I’ve come to that realization, the other city that most appeals to me in Europe is Stockholm. Paris pulls me with its mystique, but really, Stockholm is a more realistic option. I have many friends there, the city is one of my fa...