Defining the New Transient

I'll try and keep this short and to the point. All my life I've wanted to travel the world to see just what's out there and it's high time I get off my procrastinating ass and do something about it. I've eyeballed atlas' and ogled globes, but I believe culture, like food, is best experienced first hand rather than observed.

My plan in a nutshell? Sell everything I own, say goodbye to my friends, family and pretty much everyone I've ever known, give a final kiss to my lovely lady, and travel by cargo ship across the Pacific. Who knows what will happen once I'm there. I'm of the opinion that traveling is best done with an open schedule. Sure, there are a ton of places in the world I aim to visit, and I plan on visiting them all, but I'm gonna keep my route as loose as possible. You never know what opportunities for adventure may present themselves at any given moment. I will say this though, I'm researching both New Zealand and China as possible points of entry into the East.

Traveling can be expensive, but no more expensive than living in Los Angeles when done correctly. My goal would be to work while I travel, paying my way as I go. I have two skills that I can sell, and neither one needs to be centralized to a single location. The first is as a graphic designer (print media), the other is as a musician. I will apply both if I have to in order to keep myself dry and moving. Look, I already know the music thing isn't gonna pay for squat, but often venue owners are happy to exchange a meal and a couch to crash on for a show. I'm anticipating making most of my money the same way I do now, by design gigs. Only now I will be working exclusively from a laptop and on the other side of the world.

Meanwhile, I'll be immersing myself deeply as possible into whatever culture I'm visiting. This includes eating like a local, living like a local, and speaking like a local to the best of my ability. If that means eating crickets and sleeping on a cot, I'm fine with that. If it means staying for a few months in one city simply to pick up a few extra phrases in Mandarin, well, that's fine too. It's impossible to see a whole city, let alone a country, in a week anyway... unless that country is Monaco maybe (a whopping 0.7 square miles, half of which is a casino).

This website is going to be pulling triple duty as the launching pad for my exodus from Los Angeles , my travel journal, and as a means to stay in touch with friends and family (both old and new) around the world. My estimated departure date is sometime near mid-Summer 2008. I have no return date, it could be anywhere from two months to never, hopefully somewhere in the middle.

Well that's pretty much it. Impossible? Well, I say, "Bah," to the nay-sayers. I'm gonna make it happen, and if it doesn't work out, well, at least I'll know I tried my best to follow what has pretty much been a lifelong dream. At the very least it will be educational. More than anything, I just want to see if it can be done. I know it's not going to be easy, but it will be rewarding whether everything goes as planned or not. In fact, I'm anticipating it won't go as planned, but that's why it's an adventure and not a vacation.

I'll keep you all posted as things progress. Subscribe to the feed or bookmark this page and check back from time to time if you want to keep updated.