I have created a blog. It may not go down in internet history or ever have a single non-bot view, but it's here, it's my little bit of online accountability. If you have a travel blog, well then you should definitely travel!
I suppose the horrible getting to know you part that has to happen at the beginning of.. well everything. A year ago I was a starving artist from a small town in Michigan's lower peninsula. I lived my entire life within the borders of a single county. (That's county, not country) While I was in elementary and middle school my family traveled extensively around the United States, I was not otherwise 'traveled'. I have been to Tijuana and came home with the requisite sombreros and ponchos. I've also been to Canada; Toronto to see the Phantom of the Opera, and a small town on the coast to do some net fishing. Not something I even really remember. It has always been a dream of mine to travel, but I have never been brave or financially secure enough to make a start. I figured that life was for other people.
I lived in a nearly literal box.
On a whim, seriously, a whim, I signed up for an online TEFL course. Of course I would never do anything with it, because I wasn't one of those people, whoever I thought they were, that did grand things like live abroad. Fear of failure (and flying) had kept me in my place for years and it was doing it's best to masquerade as 'realism' and keep me from this adventure. I completed the course though, because it gave me that little flickering of hope that I might do something great, and that alone was worth the cost. I played around with online websites, poked at a few recruiters and soon became aware that the best place, from a financial standpoint, to teach was Korea. (South of course.) It paid the best and the flight was covered by the school. The downside.. it's on the opposite side of the planet.
I don't know what made me do it, there were so many points I wanted to back out. The goodbye in the airport was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done! I gathered my paperwork, and long story short (too late) I am writing this from my school sponsored apartment in Busan, South Korea!
Self doubt jumped in and said 'Well Desi, this is your year of freedom, then back to reality. So enjoy it, cause we are never doing this again.' Well the longer I've been here the more I find I can put self-doubt into submission. A month after arriving I hopped a bus from Busan headed north to the little town of Andong. I was a solo traveler and it was frightening! What if I get lost, what it I lose my phone, my Alien Reg Card, my money!?! But I made it there without a hitch. I took the right buses and made a trip out to the traditional Hanoi village, saw some amazing sites, and met some amazing people. Once I made it back to my apartment in one piece (Read, no lost phones, no lost cards) self doubt didn't stand a chance. I knew I could make it!
Now I'm addicted to the expat life! I've been here for almost EIGHT months and I have been dreading leaving. I mean, I love my family, and I love Michigan and I want to visit home, but I am scared that once I get there I will become complacent. I don't want to sink into that swamp of sadness, and never again go adventuring.
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| 'Move, please! I won't give up! Don't quit! Artax! Please!' It can make a grown man cry. |
I needed an obligation to travel. Even if it's just this little blog that only my sister reads.. I don't know.. there's accountability in the lines of this blog. If you want to achieve a goal, write it down! So here it is, my accountability blog. Obviously that's a terrible name, so I called it "From A to B by way of C." Because with the exception of my Andong trip, my adventures rarely follow a logical and reasonable path. I always wander a little off that perfect AB vector.
I'm sure my travels and this blog will be no different. I will most likely touch on other topics on occasion; art, science, video games and whatever else attracts my attention. Hopefully though I will always arrive at B. A thoughtful, or at least entertaining, bit of writing!
I pulled up my big girl pants and got on this plane!
(The worst plane ride short of Air France 447 )
(The worst plane ride short of Air France 447 )
