It was August in Havana and I was in the back of a red 54' Chevy Bel Air. I remembered a conversation I had with my dad about the cars of Cuba and how cool it would be to be able to ride in them. He wanted a 57' but the 54' was the best I could do.
The night before I was with an Italian, Spaniard, Dutchmen, and German. We discussed our different ways of life and what had brought us to Cuba. The Spaniard's wife had just left him and he was rebuilding his life at 40, the Italian guy had recently gone back to school full time in his 30s, the Dutchmen was on an extended holiday, and the German guy had just broken up with his girlfriend, packed a bag and was starting a year long trip around the world. It amazed me that these guys were living and how they were doing it. Each were just trying to figure it out and while we were from different areas of the world and at different times in our lives, we shared similar views, fears, and goals.
Discussing expectations of us from others and our respective societies was one conversation that really stuck with me. Not focusing on their careers, building families, and homeownership would leave little to quantify in order to measure success. But even without fulfilling these metrics, I could not classify them as failures. I started thinking about whether I measured success or if others decided success for me.
This is an interesting time in my and my peer's lives. People are working hard to grow their careers, starting families, and buying their first homes. I am stoked for them and I hope it makes them happy in the short and longterm. For me, none of these choices feel right. But, what other options are there? These are the areas I "should" be focusing on but I have never viewed these as personal goals.
I had 18 vacation days per year plus national holidays with my previous company. The average American worker receives 10 vacation days per year, by that comparison I was actually doing pretty well. I started to think in order to travel for a full year it would take between 26 - 52 years based on a 1 or 2 week vacation each year. Being able to take a two week vacation consistently for the next 26 years sounds unfeasible and I most likely will be dead within the next 52 years. From what I have seen as our lives develop and we establish families and homes, the idea of traveling increasingly becomes an unreachable dream. I'm not married, I have no debt, I don't own any property, and besides HashBrown I have nothing and no one that relies on or needs me. Based on these parameters, it sounded like the perfect time to go away for a while.
Once I got back from Cuba I started planning and talking about my idea to friends. Reactions were mixed and overall positive but I don't think anyone actually believed I was going to go through with it. It doesn't sound realistic for an American who isn't wealthy or needs to work to pull off a trip of this scale. It also sounds counterintuitive for someone who is concerned about their future to choose to be homeless and unemployed. To choose to live in a way that is in alignment with my personal goals is different, uncommon, and scary. There aren't many resources or how-to guides to plan a trip like this. There aren't many Americans who have done a trip like this and while blogs are everywhere they are very generic and provide little direction on how to get it done.
I started planning the only way I know how, with excel and a spontaneous spreadsheet. I purchased a map of the world and I drew a line through the countries that I wanted to visit. I modified and changed my route many times. Originally my idea was to find someone heading to South America at burning man and hitch a ride south. The goal of the trip would be to travel by land and tick off as many countries as possible. I recorded the countries on the spreadsheet and started to do research around living in each of the countries. I wrote an equation to understand the relationship between average air temperature and average rainfall to determine the optimal route with the highest probability of good weather. I mapped out each day of the year to understand daily spend, travel expenses, and budget for activities on my "must do" bucket list. After evaluating the costs of constantly moving, scheduling SE Asia during monsoon season, having four friends getting married in the fall, and understanding how much I would be missing out on by always being on the move; I decided to cut the list to 13, shift the timeline, and flip the route.
With my spreadsheet I knew how much money I would need, vaccines requirements, visa processes, and timeline of events to complete. I also knew how much money I needed to make, how much to save, and what expenses I would need to cut out of my life to achieve these goals. I had a plan and I knew what dominos needed to fall and in what order.
I needed to change my current way of living in a significant way. My car lease ended and I didn't get a another car. I never thought it was possible to not own a car and never pictured myself not owning one. It's actually pretty awesome, I haven't had a parking ticket in months and never have to deal with parking. I wanted to be prepared for other methods of transportation and decided to learn and buy a motorcycle. I thought the motorcycle would provide the basic functionality of a car. Turns out I was dead wrong but I did learn how to ride and how to fix it; which will come in handy. I trimmed down my food budgets, going out, and discretionary expenses. Every dollar counted and living frugally is the name of the game. Every decision was planned out and took this trip into consideration. Even with trimming my lifestyle I do not feel as if I missed out on anything. It has been a great year of planning and I did a lot of really great activities, trips, and travel with great people. I was working towards a goal and understood the benefits of my choices. I learned a lot and it will certainly have an impact on my lifestyle choices for the rest of my life.
When I decided to do this trip I made a conscious decision to live my life opposed to being a passenger and just letting life occur. I can only impact things within my control and control my response to things out of my control. I have learned a lot about life since June of last year and my life is drastically different in so many ways. I have learned that I can always make more money but I cannot buy more time.
I am writing this website for myself to keep a record of my travels but if someone else enjoys it that's great too. I will be carrying a GPS beacon which will update a google map which is hosted through the site. The map on the homepage is my last pinged location and the "Travel Log" page is where I have been so far. Really looking forward to having that data in the future. I will be updating the site when I can but it might be sporadic as I will not be carrying a computer. If anyone reads this and has questions about planning, budget, and anything in-between I would be happy to help.
I have a year planned and scheduled but the itinerary is still loose. My plan is to know enough about an area/country to be dangerous but make decisions based on the conversations I have with people once I get there. Curious how the route will develop throughout the next year and where I will pivot. I do not know what life will look like a year from now but I am excited to find out.
That conversation in Havana planted an idea which changed my life forever. I am very appreciative to have had that experience and took the idea seriously. I once viewed this as a huge unattainable and unrealistic goal but once I was able to break it down, it isn't that bad. The next few weeks will be very busy saying goodbye and packing and it still doesn't seem real, but the departure date is quickly approaching. Whichever way this next year goes, it will be a great time and I am looking forward to seeing what happens.
-Joe
November 1st 2017: Nepal (Everest Base Camp)
November 25th 2017: India
December 24th 2017: Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos (Motorcycle trip north to south covering each country)
March 29th 2018: Iran
April 14th 2018: South Africa
May 10th 2018: Nicaragua
June 6th 2018: Island Hopping
June 10th 2018: Columbia
July 3rd 2018: Ecuador (Galapagos Island)
July 24th 2018: Peru
August 15th 2018: Bolivia/Chile /Argentina (Motorcycle trip ~3 months ending the trip)
