My parents worked hard to get my sisters and I to where we are today. Especially these days, they're prodding us to save money, buy a home, find a spouse, have children, etc. Sorry mom and dad, but that's just not for me at this point in my life. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I wasn't a victim of the great recession. I didn't lose my job nor my sense of security. Don't get me wrong, I like what I do and the company I work for... but I don't want to sit behind a desk for the next 40 years and live the same life that everyone else lives. And that was how I thought things would go for me, but in the fall of 2008 things changed...
Patrick and I went to Buenos Aires and despite some minor misgivings and uncertainty, we stayed at a hostel recommended to us by a friend. Milhouse Hostel. And that's where I discovered an idea so uniquely foreign to Americans that I couldn't believe it. People taking months or years off to travel. And not just any people, but young people. In America, we work our whole lives saving money to get that nice home and nice car and summer weekends in the Hamptons. But for most Americans, travel is an afterthought for when you're retired and gray. But why wait? Why not see the world while you're young and able-bodied? Why not do it now?!
So I made a decision. I told myself I would do a gap year. Not immediately, but when I became ready - financially and mentally. So I kept traveling from that point onward, staying in hostels, guesthouses, and occasionally hotels all over the planet. Iceland, Thailand, Belize, Holland, Peru, Belgium, Nicaragua. I've learned a lot from my travels so far, but there's so much more to see, do, learn, and experience. The world is too massive that it would be a mistake to not explore and experience all that it has to offer. So that's why this June I'm saying farewell to the comfortable confines of NYC and traveling for a year.
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