More than a few times, I've caught myself sitting at work day
dreaming about dropping everything and just jumping on a plane.
In October of 2003, I did just that.
Life can grind you down when you get in a rut. In my case, I had
a particularly bad case of the blues in October 2003. My
girlfriend and I had apparently come to an agreement that there
was no need for me to exist on the face of the earth. My
glamorous and exciting Internet business had become a bore. All
and all, I was in a rut and needed a change. The travel gods
apparently agreed.
On a Wednesday, I made the final decision to sell my business,
get what I could for it and hit the road. The next day, I
received a call from a man in Chicago what wanted to buy my web
sites. This was particularly interesting since I hadn't actually
told anyone the sites were for sale. By the end of the day, we
had agreed on a price, signed a contract and he was wiring the
money.
First thing Monday morning, my bank verified the wired money had
been received and credited to my bank account. I picked up a
couple of American Express checks, packed a small backpack and
headed to the airport in Los Angles, known as "LAX".
The Dream Comes True
I walked into the international wing of LAX and did what every
traveler has dreamed of doing. I stared at the flight board and
just let the various destinations soak into my brain. After a
few minutes, Asia percolated to the top of my grey matter and I
started searching for the airlines with flights there.
After a few misses, I was able to get a ticket on a Korean
Airlines flight to Bangkok. I passed through security, picked up
a guidebook for Asia and headed to my gate. Three hours later,
we lifted off the runway and I waived goodbye to rut for three
months.
I've disdained heavy planning for my trips. I prefer a very
loose schedule because I want time to live out unexpected
events. If you ever get the chance to chuck everything and go
travel for a few months, just do it. You never know when you'll
get the chance again!
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