7 - The Adventure Begins!

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost." - J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

April 2024

This morning, I officially began my journey around the world (hello from Portugal!). I’ve been in Texas since February and for most of that time, I’ve been more excited than nervous. After preparing for months, the time is finally here to replace the planning and thinking with going and doing! Still, as I was saying goodbyes to family, the bittersweet nature of the moment hit me, and the tears arrived. In a way, it felt similar to when I left Texas for California, though this time the decision to leave was completely my own. So now, I’d like to share my thoughts on the tradeoffs I’m making for the next year. I’ll also touch on some of the common questions people have asked me so far about the trip.

The Cost of Self-Discovery

The biggest tradeoff is what I just touched on - it’s terribly difficult for me to leave and be away from my family and close friends. I’m the youngest of three, and now that my parents are approaching/in their 70s, I can’t help but think about how much time I have left with them. Even my dad has said that he’d like for him and Mom to travel more with me while they are still in relatively good health. Do we have 5 years left together? 10? Dare I say 20 or 25? None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, but let’s be optimistic and call it 20 years. That would mean I’m voluntarily choosing to spend 5% of their remaining days thousands of miles away from them. It’s difficult to read that last sentence out loud. Is my need to find whatever I’m looking for so dire, so important, that it surpasses my desire to spend time with the two people who love me most in the world? Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, I miss you already!

I also think about my sisters, brothers-in-law, and my nieces and nephew. I will miss a significant chunk of their lives, too. For the next year, I won’t get to experience the ordinary every day with them (playing soccer, reading bedtime stories, asking about what they did at school only for them to respond “stuff” or “things”), or the extraordinary times that are on the horizon (one of my nieces’ first day of elementary school this fall!). I will now have to watch and love them from afar. I don’t mean to make myself feel bad about leaving, but it’s important to me to acknowledge what I’m giving up. I think that will help me better appreciate all that I may gain. The nature of the costs and gains also makes this difficult - the former is known and certain, while the latter is ambiguous and hypothetical.

In recent weeks,  my nephew has asked me multiple times, “Why do you have to go?”, which I’ve found difficult to answer (especially since he’s only 9). Never have I felt so strongly or confident about a decision than I have about this one. So, to answer him, it’s not so much that I have to go or even that I overly want to go. It would be more accurate to say that I need to have this experience. Reader, you understand what I’m getting at, right?

Another cost/tradeoff I’ve thought about is how I’m putting parts of my life on pause. It could be difficult to meaningfully invest in and develop my current friendships since physical presence is such an important piece of friendship. I have to accept that the depth of some of my relationships will flatline until 2025.

I’ve also mentioned how I want a family of my own someday. The traditional (maybe a better word is conventional?) ingredients for that recipe are meeting someone, dating for a period of time, engagement, marriage, and then kids after another period time. With this trip, I’m punting on any potential start date of that first step for a year, if I go down that path at all. I talked about my changing views on marriage and freedom in one of the letters to my past self, so you know that this topic isn’t an immediate, pressing concern for me, but I do think about it from time to time. I’ll add the caveat that this framework really only makes sense if I’m assuming I stay in the US long-term after my trip.

To end this thought on a lighter note, a trivial cost (but also non-trivial?) is that I won’t get to consistently GOLF! I got hooked when my buddy took me to a range in March and patiently provided a few pointers. I made decent contact on my last swing of the night, and I will now forever chase that bliss that surpasses understanding, that highest of highs 🥹. 80% of the time though, this is what happens:

Highly considering adding Korea to the Asia leg just to experience one of their white glove service golf courses. Also, do any of you hit better with women’s clubs than men’s? Because I think I do. 🤔

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ATW Trip FAQ

One of my friends recently asked if I’d feel lonely while traveling, or if I’m the type to relish going solo. I told her that I think both can be true. On one hand, I’m fully expecting to trudge through bouts of loneliness. While I haven’t taken a trip of this length, I’ve spent summers abroad living more or less on my own, and I learned that you simply can’t escape loneliness in those situations. I believe the key is to distinguish feeling lonely from feeling alone - two starkly different mental states. On the other hand, I’m very much looking forward to leaning into the loneliness while being alone. I’ve found these are often the best times to ponder life, meditate, and grow.

Other questions I’ve gotten:

1. How much stuff are you bringing?

   1. Here are a few pictures + a list of my gear. I’ve been a meticulous follower of the /onebag subreddit while planning, which helped me tremendously on deciding what to get and how to get everything in, well, one bag. This is already heavier than I thought it’d be, so I may cut out some stuff as I go (currently ~23 pounds, would like to get to ~18-20).

Lots of black, as you can see

Before I stuff in the smaller daypack

• 2 packing cubes (Thule)

• 5 T-shirts (Lululemon, Uniqlo)

• 1 button up (Lulu)

• 1 merino wool base layer (REI)

• 1 packable puff jacket (Patagonia)

• 1 packable rain jacket (Columbia)

• 3 shorts (Lulu)

• 1 pair of athletic pants (Lulu)

• 1 pair of casual pants (Lulu)

• 5 boxer briefs (ExOfficio)

• 4 pairs of socks (Smartwool)

• 2 headbands (Junk)

• 1 pair of strap-in sandals (Xero)

• 1 pair of trail runners (Adidas)

• Journal & pen

• Water bottle (Owala 32 fl oz)

• Kindle

• Battery pack (Nitecore)

• Keychain flashlight (Nitecore)

• Bone conduction earphones (Shokz)

• AirPods

• Mirrorless camera (borrowing my sister’s Olympus)

• GoPro

• Resistance bands

• Laundry drying line

• Hat

• Big bag (Ultra Dragonfly – 30L)

• Small bag to put in big bag (Osprey Daylite – 13L)

• Toiletry bag to put in small bag to put in big bag

• Not pictured: MacBook Air (oops, meant to include that in the picture), charging cables, GoPro accessories, and a small crossbody sling bag

2. How much are you budgeting for your travels?

   1. $4K/month with a 25% buffer, so up to $5K/month. I’m mostly traveling to low cost of living areas, so I don’t expect to use all of this budget (though I do have a few big ticket activities planned – safaris, scuba diving, trekking to find gorillas).

   2. This does include the cost of all my flights, which I got mostly with credit card points, and the gear.

   3. I’ll provide a country-by-country expenses recap throughout my trip.

3. Are you FIRE’ing (financial independence, retire early)?

   1. Unfortunately, no 😔. I will be returning to the workforce next year.

4. Are you going to be broke after this trip?

   1. Fortunately, no 😅 (thank you Mom and Dad for teaching me the value of saving and frugality).

   2. Ironically, the divorce made budgeting for this trip easier. We had to sell and split up joint assets, so I had some cash sitting on the side that I hadn’t invested yet.

5. Are you going to be traveling alone the entire time?

   1. Nope! I’m blessed to be visiting friends who live abroad, and to have friends and family join me at a couple different stops along the way.

6. What country are you most excited for?

   1. This is such a hard question to answer. For now, I’d have to say Indonesia, but I think that’s because I’ve recently been researching scuba diving spots. I’m super excited for every place I’ll be visiting.

7. Where are you going to live after your trip?

   1. Not sure yet. I’m keeping an open mind toward all aspects of my life over this next year like where I’ll live (Dallas, New York, Taipei? who knows!) and what I’ll do for work (taxes? financial planning? slam poetry? who knows!).

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Thanks for making it through this post - it was the longest one yet. I’ve tried to stick to a weekly cadence since I started the blog with the intention of slowing down once the trip starts. Going forward, I’ll post 1-2 times about each place I’m exploring, so stay tuned, and follow me on Instagram (@livelaugh.leo) if you’d like to see more frequent pictures/video updates.

Now, it’s time to wander - through cities and countrysides, islands and deserts, mountains and oceans.

Let’s go!!