Before transitioning into a brief discussion of my return to Southeast Asia, I think a summer debriefing is in order.
Total travel stats for my Murrikan summer: 19 cities in 14 states/provinces in 2 countries, 10 flights, 9 train trips, one high-speed ferry, and one seaplane. Add to that many new friends, a nebulous number of craft IPAs, three weddings, and dozens of reunions with high school friends, college friends, SF friends, Thailand friends, and almost my entire extended family. In fact, all the quality time with people I care about has set a frighteningly high bar; traveling solo in the coming months is going to be a rude awakening when I won't have all those familiar faces around.
I'm not going to lie, the summer was pretty expensive, but incredibly fun and worthwhile. The weddings were the real anchor for my return from Asia and for my domestic itinerary, but it was really special to be able to see all my friends and family throughout the country. It may be a long time before I see some of those folks again, so I wanted to take advantage of my open schedule as much as possible.
In addition to weddings and reunions, another goal of the summer had been to do some bucket-listing of my own country. Some places (Washington, D.C., New York, Boston) I had been to before, but not as an adult, so exploring them almost felt like I was there for the first time. The more true exploration came during the Pacific Northwest leg of my trip, as I had been to only Portland before. The PNW has been on my bucket list for a long time and I feel very satisfied with my travels through there, especially considering that that area is numero uno on my list of possible places to live in North America.
As soon as my last obligation in the States (my college friend's wedding) was over, I was back on a plane to Southeast Asia, which begs the question: why am I going back? I guess the short answer is that I didn't quite feel like I was done exploring yet and I don't quite feel like reverting to the 9-to-5 office job life yet. Also, I'm only about six weeks away from "winter", which is a really great time weather-wise, so if I can dovetail great weather and a low cost of living for a few months, I'd be very happy with that.
In terms of traveling, my schedule is flexible, but I have a few things in mind:
Total travel stats for my Murrikan summer: 19 cities in 14 states/provinces in 2 countries, 10 flights, 9 train trips, one high-speed ferry, and one seaplane. Add to that many new friends, a nebulous number of craft IPAs, three weddings, and dozens of reunions with high school friends, college friends, SF friends, Thailand friends, and almost my entire extended family. In fact, all the quality time with people I care about has set a frighteningly high bar; traveling solo in the coming months is going to be a rude awakening when I won't have all those familiar faces around.
I'm not going to lie, the summer was pretty expensive, but incredibly fun and worthwhile. The weddings were the real anchor for my return from Asia and for my domestic itinerary, but it was really special to be able to see all my friends and family throughout the country. It may be a long time before I see some of those folks again, so I wanted to take advantage of my open schedule as much as possible.
In addition to weddings and reunions, another goal of the summer had been to do some bucket-listing of my own country. Some places (Washington, D.C., New York, Boston) I had been to before, but not as an adult, so exploring them almost felt like I was there for the first time. The more true exploration came during the Pacific Northwest leg of my trip, as I had been to only Portland before. The PNW has been on my bucket list for a long time and I feel very satisfied with my travels through there, especially considering that that area is numero uno on my list of possible places to live in North America.
As soon as my last obligation in the States (my college friend's wedding) was over, I was back on a plane to Southeast Asia, which begs the question: why am I going back? I guess the short answer is that I didn't quite feel like I was done exploring yet and I don't quite feel like reverting to the 9-to-5 office job life yet. Also, I'm only about six weeks away from "winter", which is a really great time weather-wise, so if I can dovetail great weather and a low cost of living for a few months, I'd be very happy with that.
In terms of traveling, my schedule is flexible, but I have a few things in mind:
- Hong Kong for a long weekend, mainly just as an entry point, but also to see a friend before he leaves for America
- Bangkok, since I mostly missed that last time around
- Phuket in late September and early October for the Vegetarian Festival and some beach time to catch up on reading (I'm currently working through Soccernomics, the third book in my economics literature streak)
- Chiang Mai in November for the lantern festivals
- Possibly Myanmar and/or Laos while I'm up north
- Possibly Jakarta in December for DWP
- Possibly traveling with (and being tour guide for) some friends that will visit in January
As much as I was always bothered by certain aspects of software development (namely, spending 8-10 hours a day sitting in a chair and staring at a computer screen), I do miss it. I must truly be an engineer at heart, because I miss the process of building something worthwhile and I miss the satisfaction of seeing it finally work and serve a tangible purpose. I'm skeptical that I'll be able to satisfy these cravings with freelance work, which is why my current thinking is that I'll need to find a "normal" job where I can contribute to something meaningful and much bigger than me.
I've considered the English-teaching route, which is always available in every country here, pays decently well, and would secure me a visa. As tempting as all of that is, I've decided that it's just not for me. While I definitely enjoy helping friends or strangers with English here and there, I don't have a desire to teach it formally. Doing so wouldn't be fair to potential students and I'd be taking a job away from someone else who really wants it. I've come to the realization that software development (or IT, as I have to explain it to people in Asia) is the football in the Venn diagram of "What am I good at?" and "What could I do that would really make a difference?".
I've considered the English-teaching route, which is always available in every country here, pays decently well, and would secure me a visa. As tempting as all of that is, I've decided that it's just not for me. While I definitely enjoy helping friends or strangers with English here and there, I don't have a desire to teach it formally. Doing so wouldn't be fair to potential students and I'd be taking a job away from someone else who really wants it. I've come to the realization that software development (or IT, as I have to explain it to people in Asia) is the football in the Venn diagram of "What am I good at?" and "What could I do that would really make a difference?".
One other semi-concrete thought I've had lately is that it may be time soon to find a place to park it for a while. I've been on the road for fourteen months now and I can feel a subtle weariness nagging at me. Usually that weariness is most pronounced when I'm packing up everything into my bag, which has slowly become a more annoying task each time it happens. Clearly it's time to make some moves in the direction of a more stable home, if only for a few months, which would be a welcome relief from my current nomadic lifestyle. Sometimes I have to remind myself that a home and a community are normal human needs that I've been sacrificing for a while now.
My current timeline is that I'm giving myself the winter (so, until February-ish) to figure out next steps. Until then, let the adventures continue!
