I´m working.

I´m inside a small office which has two steel doors and plexiglass windows cover two walls. My office is inside the hold of a large container ship. My office doors are typical ship´s bulkhead doors.

Friends stop by, women stop by – trying to get me to go out. Women from my past. Unknown women who seem familiar to me.

Outside my office windows – there is a beach inside the cargo hold of the ship. A beach with an ocean (and small waves). Hundreds of people line the beach. I step outside of my office to see.

The Olympic Torch ceremony is taking place. A swimmer is transporting the Olympic torch in through the breakers. When ashore, a torch trade is made – a swimming version for a running version and the runner heads down the beach 100 meters to light the Eternal Flame. The official hands me the swimmer´s torch and asks me to hold on to it for a moment. The Eternal Flame is lit – and much celebrating begins.

A reveler approaches me and asks for the torch I´m holding – to keep it safe for his friend. I don´t know this guy from Adam, so I decline – and he grows agitated. Someone else approaches and makes a similar request – denied. People are watching this and getting agitated. Pushing and shoving occurs. In two moments – a riot has broken out.

Absolute chaos on the beach (in the ship´s hold).

About twenty or so people appear – wearing those giant padded “Sumo wrestler” suits (the one you can rent and mock Sumo wrestle in). These suits are different – they are hippopotamus suits (and a couple elephant suits) – pink and purple cartoon hippos.

The hippo people run as fast as they can and bowl into the crowd – knocking people over. The riot becomes increasingly chaotic. A group of people catch a hippo – and working together – rock it back and forth until they succeed in turning it on its back. I don´t wait to see if they set it on fire.

I see people in my office – I begin throwing them out. When I throw the last person out – I seal the bulkhead door. Someone else got in! I throw them out the second door and seal that one. Somehow, someone else got in!

This process contiues for a couple more intruders until I finally call security.

I look out the window. Full scale riot. Scrums of people are fighting over unknown loot. The hippo people bowl into the scrums – scattering them.

Security finally arrives. Security is “Bull” from “Nightcourt”. I try to explain the problem (while people ransack my office) – and he doesn´t understand. Finally he says, “Why are you working down here? Why don´t you work on the deck?”

I´m stunned. I don´t have an answer. The lonely cry of a Peruvian Leafcutter breaks the silence.

Everything fades.

Wait! Where´s the deck!

I wake up in a pool of sweat. No wind, muggy, warm at 5am. So much for the pleasant climate.

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Friday was my last day of work. Actually, it was only a half day – I was leaving at noon to carpool to San Francisco International to catch the red-eye to San Salvador, El Salvador. Two weeks of surf to remember what not working feels like.

There was too much unfinished business to actually leave work. (What kind of sick statement is that?!?)

I had one more major meeting to attend – to deal with, among other things, my supervisor situation.

This was what I did NOT say during that meeting…

“Since I have been ordered to not distribute any sort of written document, unless it goes through my supervisor first – and I have been told to never disagree with my supervisor in front of anyone else… I propose that I go back to my office and try to finish up work so I can leave for vacation on time. I also propose to leave this cardboard cutout of myself here instead. Notice the articulating “speech bubble”. It says, “Yes, I agree!”. The string to operate this I will leave with my supervisor.”

Instead, over the last two days – others have begun to support my position.

The majority of members of that committee had my back. I did not have to say a thing. Others brought up the issues that affected them. My supervisor was asked if he was going to support the system plan that I had written up (that represented the original direction before he got here anyways). His response was the quietest, most mealy-mouthed “yes” that I had ever heard him speak.

I had won a battle, but who knows where the war will go next…

Doesn´t matter – time to leave for vacation!

Just a few loose ends to tie up and I´m leaving at noon!

Except the data system had crashed in a new and unexpected way the day before. All of my time was dedicated towards training someone else to operate it – and trouble shoot the new processes.

It was not looking good.

Friday, 11:30am, the problem was found. I had to scramble to change some programming, write the procedure, and walk the new operator through the process step-by-step.

Friday, Noon. Stop by the office of the co-worker I was carpooling to San Francisco with. I open the door, say “Fifteen more minutes!”, and head back to my office.

Friday, 12:15pm. I finish each of the steps with my co-worker. We had written down a couple things to fix for Monday´s run – but everything had run successfully piecemeal. All I had to do now was run it as a batch process successfully and…

The power went out. For the entire institution.

I smiled.

I turned and left, telling everyone to have a good weekend. I told no one in particular, “I have friends in high places”, as I gathered my pack and board and left to meet my ride.

In their office, the joke was that I arranged the power outage so I could leave as planned. I did not deny it – nothing wrong with leaving them guessing.

No problems getting to the airport. The guy at the TACA counter said to me, “I´m not sure why so many go to Costa Rica to surf, El Salvador has much better waves.

Another good omen.

After that, nothing bothered me. The screaming kid? Earplugs. Freezing cold plane? Fleece and beanie (although I was cold, and I hardly slept – I asked for a blanket too late after they had run out).

The new south swell, peaking Friday afternoon through Saturday morning – is supposed to be double-overhead on the biggest sets. Someone from Roca Sunzal will be at the airport to pick me up at the airport – and with any (more) luck I´ll be in the water by 10am.

Solid surf, and sickness)

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These unhappy [outer space] agents found what had already been found in abundance on Earth – a nightmare of meaninglessness without end. The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy and pointless death.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – The Sirens of Titan

In honor of empty heroics, low comedy and pointless death – it’s time to revisit the employment situation.

I last presented my employment plan while at a conference in Monterey.

Toward the end of that conference – my supervisor found me before we were each going to different workshops.

He told me, “You need to carry my things back with you.” – motioning to all of the free corporate-giveaway schwag and work-materials. He was renting a car, and leaving the conference early, to take a few personal days to drive and visit someone.

I was so surprised, all I could do was laugh.

As we were walking, I looked for clarification, “Let me get this straight, you want me to carry your things in my backpack – for the last morning of seminars – AND my half day of walking around town waiting for my flight?”

“It’ll build character”, he said as we split to our individual areas.

I did not reply to the voicemail to the room after I got back from dinner (it was a dinner invitation – from my supervisor – and an explanation of why he thought it was a better idea for me to carry his things, and his frustration with the front desk for refusing to give him my room number).

What an asshole.

Since then, our relationship has soured.

With that last act – my nearly six months of attempting to train him had finished.

He had neither taken any notes, learned any of the California regulations, nor bothered to learn our hardware and software solutions. He expected a dozen people to learn and integrate his outdated “preferred” software, mistakenly referred to regulation from the Small South-Eastern Company as if it applied to us, but interfaced with the senior administrators well.

He was your typical “well-qualified” middle-management ass-kissing sycophant – he would micromanage with an iron fist, and not know a single thing about the processes he was trying to micromanage – quite a few people felt he was perfect for the job.

So now, after butting heads for the last couple weeks – my supervisor is trying to get me fired. He is trying to build a case to show my incompetence, and how the institution would not miss me.

I drink coffee. I belong to a coffee club in a department 70 feet down the hall. My supervisor’s office has windows that look into the hall – so he sees when I leave my department to get coffee.

Lately, when I go to get a coffee, he follows me to try to catch me talking with other rank-and-file workers. Recently, I had taken the last cup of coffee, and was making a fresh pot. My supervisor walked into the room, looked at me, looked Mr. Coffee (the machine, not me), and turned around and left without saying anything.

Is this the pinnacle of evolution of our species? All that struggle to build civilizations for this?

In an effort to bring levity into the workplace, I am devising games to play. One of my favorite is “Supervisor Snipe-Hunt”.

In Supervisor Snipe-Hunt, I walk through the usual doors to get my coffee – so my supervisor can see me leave. Once I get my coffee, I leave the “coffee-office” through an exit door to the outside – walk around the back of the building and use my key to get in through the back door to the IT area. My supervisor – whose office window faces out into the public hallway (and not into the IT area) – has no idea I’m back in my office. After getting impatient, he walks into the coffee-office – and usually looks around without acknowledging the presence of anyone else. The rank-and-file workers in the coffee area are in on the game (and despise my supervisor also). When they see him looking for me, they ask “Can I help you?”

He usually will begin to explain – “I’m Mr. Supervisor, Director of This and That…”

At which point the rank-and-file interrupts, “Yeah, I know who you are – can I help you?”

At this point he usually leaves without saying anything. Sometimes he says “Just taking a walk.”

The emails I receive from the rank-and-file – documenting this behavior – all go into my formal evaluation of my supervisor.

This week, I will go to a committee meeting – while my supervisor is on vacation, just so we can talk about him. I will either get the ball rolling for “fixing” my supervisor problem, or I’ve just been given enough rope to hang myself with. It’s exciting – kind of like bungee jumping – although I think the probability of survival seems to be the same for both cases.

Obviously, my supervisor suffers from “old man disease” – specifically, the inflexible mind. Unfortunately for him, in this business to stand still is to regress and go backwards.

Sometimes, when he is not annoying me, I feel sorry for him. And I tell myself (as a prayer? an affirmation? a reminder?), that it will never happen to me.

In the meantime, I will do what I can to improve this institution. I have selfish reasons for doing this – it will make my job easier.

My supervisor has been running this office into the ground and pissing people off while doing it. He has taken my workplace satisfaction away from me, and contributed to my decision to begin this Year of Living Frugally. I do not worry about losing my job in it’s present form.

In the words of Lester Burman – I’m just an ordinary guy, with nothing to lose.

(continue on to Week Fifty-Two)

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Employment Planning

The caffeine, carbs and sugars have finally begun to kick in. Arriving at the airport at 5am (Sunday), I am almost tempted to stay asleep. Do I need to be fully present for this portion of the work-day? My supervisor doesn’t look all that aware anyways.

The destination: Monterey Bay. Four days and three nights of a dual-geek-type conference (IT geeks and Research geeks). As usual for geek conferences – especially geek conferences where cross-species communication is necessary – all meals and social activities are pre-arranged. We will be locked into the conference area starting with the 8am breakfasts until the last call at 10pm for the late-night hospitalities.

No sight-seeing on this trip. At least none that is officially sanctioned by our corporate multi-billion dollar hardware and software sponsors.

Monday is St. Patrick’s Day – and alternative plans for the evening quite possibly need to be created.

“…the threat level is orange, please be aware of your surroundings and report any suspicious activity immediately…”

Fascists.

The threat level has been orange every day for nearly seven years at this rural backwater airport – but hey, maybe today is the day I can run into the woods and fight insurgency-style against the invading al Qaeda.

(Anybody else ever read “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”?)

Remember all the portrayals of Nazi Germany and their brownshirts, or the USSR and their KGB – wasn’t a big chunk of their power due to the fear they instilled by brainwashing their citizens to report each other’s “unpatriotic” behavior?

I look around. No al Qaeda. Just my supervisor and two dozen other sleepy people. My supervisor does look suspicious – he is making strange motions with his face, and sounds are coming out of his head.

He goes through another round of bizarre mouth movements and escaping sounds…

I slowly realize he is talking to me “… and during the layover in San Francisco I’ll need to use the laptop to check my email…”.

“Maybe you should carry it around during this trip – so you can stay connected.”

He replied: “No, I don’t need it all the time…” – and he continued to leak sounds out of his head.

(a note from my future self, my semi-cranky response did result in no more requests for the laptop after the layover)

The caffeine and sugar have a soothing effect on me – I engage my supervisor in conversation. It’s not that I dislike the personal version of him – it’s the professional version I despise. He insists on only supporting projects that were his idea. All of his ideas involve technology and solutions that are more than ten years old (a bad idea when dealing with technology and business intelligence).

For the next four days, I get to spend 12 hours+ per day with him.

My supervisor just asked me for advice and information to write a bad report about a human resources manager (who has been compiling bad reports from others about him).

What a tool.

If they made a sitcom about my office, it would be called “Tool Time”.

This is, of course, the perfect time to re-think my employment plan.

My Employment Plan

I have an analyst/programmer type job. These skills are my bread and butter. I imagine that this type of work is always available – as long as I keep current with technology. This work is as exciting as painting all the lane-divider lines on the highway – by hand. I did not major in analyst in grad school, but it has provided me with extra money while I was still a student. When I was pulling ‘spro in Minnesota, unable to get a job in my field – I was able to finally find full-time work as an analyst. When I needed a job in California to escape Minnesota – more analyst work.

Somewhere in here there should be a cautionary tale: when mentors and family warn you to take more math and less arts so you can get a job after college – be aware of the type of job you are training yourself to take.

Like the ingrate that I am, I’m ready to leave the analyst world for something more interesting.

As you can see from my flow chart, the analyst-type skills are the backbone of my current marketable skills. I have other marketable skills and interests – but the more time I spend working as an analyst, the deeper the job rut I create.

The other jobs on the flow chart fall into two functional types – static and dynamic.

The static jobs are traditional full-time-type jobs. With a static job, I work for another entity. My analyst job is static – but I will leave this job after a year if nothing else is found. If my supervisor is run out on a rail – I will take his job (and run the office like a champ to make the most of the opportunity before leaving for a dynamic job). A teaching job is probably the only static job I can see myself thriving in long-term (because the work itself is very dynamic due to human nature).

The dynamic jobs are all centered on going into business for myself. These include consulting by programming and/or analyst work of some sort, teaching or tutoring, or writing. Of these, I currently find writing the most intriguing. After spending 50+ hours a week only using my left brain, the right brain likes to put words together for this webpage. However, dynamic jobs, while satisfying, are the riskiest financially.

The year of travel can actually have a positive affect on my employability for dynamic jobs – if pursued properly. Fluency in Spanish opens many doors in the western hemisphere (and other Spanish-speaking countries). Travel can foster an understanding of other cultures and business practices – in addition to providing opportunities for meeting those who may need your services. My year of travel will be more than catching waves, catching a buzz and lying in hammocks.

The flow chart is currently incomplete. At the moment, I am more concerned with my escape than what to do after I escape.

How many prisoners plan on where they are going to go before breaking out of prison? (I suppose the successful ones do…) The first task is figuring out how to escape – how to break the chains – then the possibilities will become more apparent.

(continue on to Week Seven)

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Employed? Uh, heh…

You don’t go out looking for a job dressed like that, do you? On a weekday?

Is this a… what day is this?

Escape from the Job?

The golden handcuffs.

I should be glad they’re golden. I’ve worked as an auto mechanic, in construction, general labor, as a security guard, dishwasher, barrista, clerk, pizza delivery driver and fast-food worker. I may hate working at a computer eight hours a day – but at least I’m not busting my knuckles, breaking my back, bored out of my skull, cleaning slop off plates, steaming the skin off of my hands while pulling ’spro for arrogant doctors, getting bit by dogs or coating myself in grease.

I have, by all accounts, a good job.

I have health insurance.

I have a pension package (although I am a long way from cashing in – if it still exists then).

Then why do I think about escape?

Eight hours a day stuck in the “chair pose” looking at an LCD screen is an unnatural act. No hunting and gathering. Other than some movements of my wrists and hands – not much movement at all. I spend the majority of the work-day inside my own head. Also an unnatural act.

If I we were to poll a classroom of fifth-graders for their ideal job… how many would say “sitting for up to 8 hours per day” (that phrase is actually part of my job description).

I’d almost welcome heavy labor some days – get the blood moving.

For now, the job keeps me from going to debtor’s prison – and it does have its moments where I do feel a sense of accomplishment. However, I could do most of the same work from home. I could do most of the work from Indonesia (hmmmm… how long til my job is outsourced?). Meetings would be a little more difficult – but isn’t it time we all learned how to use Skype?

The golden handcuffs are my reward – for showing up at the same time every day and staying the same number of hours, instead of working at times of the day when I can be the most effective. In exchange for giving up the prime daylight hours of the majority of my days, I get paid the same amount of money at the same time of the month. It doesn’t matter if it’s busy or slow, if I’m productive or lazy (within limits).

Doesn’t this setup encourage one to do the least amount of work as possible? I see quite a few people at work who have fallen asleep like this. It’s like they are serving a twenty-five year prison sentence (but they get to sleep in their own beds at night for good behavior).

Many cope by looking for creative ways to pass the work day (Thanks, R).

I need to seriously consider a new line of work before I fall asleep.

My options are:

1. Do as my parents did and get a job, sir! The bums lost! Condolences! The bums will always lose!

If that is how you feel about self-employed people, then you’re in the wrong place. Plus, I just had to throw another Lebowski reference.

However, I could keep the job if it still appears to be the best option after a year. What if the country sinks into a serious depression? A stable job would be key for thriving in those conditions (otherwise, one must live near the food…).

*Another warning sign* – my main motivation for keeping my job is fear…

2. Self employment.

IT consulting – need to learn more about consulting – my current work is too dependent on a particular hardware/software setup.
Writing – just need to finish that novel… then sell it…
Professional Surfer – not likely to happen (as the 8-Ball would say “all sources indicate no”).

Anybody out there want to hire me to work for myself?

3. Unemployment.

Also not an option. Even if I was financially independent, I would still be doing something productive or creative. It would just be done during the midday tropical sun after the surf blows out.

So self-employment is the obvious answer. Can I give up the shiny golden handcuffs, though?

Since I’m at a loss on where to go with the self-employment thread – I’ll leave you with some gratuitous Big Lebowski moments. From time to time, I may throw in a quote or two. If this offends you, you should probably call it quits right now – to me, the movie get better every time I see it.

Do you remember the Big Lebowski? If you’ve never seen it, you need to rent it.

Here’s the condensed version, which you can watch in 2.5 minutes (if you’re looking for the family-friendly condensed version, you shouldn’t be watching the Big Lebowski anyways – but the second version is more family-friendly)

Movie by LuTELLO

The almost-family-friendly condensed version:

Movie by BunnieLebowski

And finally, in case you need a plot summary (not family-friendly):

Movie by jmheather

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(surfing is frugal)

Over the the month of January, I’ve had time to think about and refine my original idea. The premise is still the same – I can not continue along my present path.

Something needs to change.

I am currently finishing the task of paying off credit card debt, and working paycheck to paycheck with very little savings. My job takes most of my time and energy. I am renting too much house for just myself and my dog.

I am only one unfortunate event away from poverty.

Actually, most of us are only one unfortunate event away from complete poverty. We are not as safe as we try to make ourselves feel. This statement is not meant to make us live in fear. Quite the opposite – we should not let fear keep us from living the lives we want to lead.

In the face of all this uncertainty, I find it very difficult to work 40+ hours a week just to attempt to stay afloat. I can not buy into the system that says I should trade the next 20-25 years of my life working like a dog (and putting off the things I feel are important) – just so I have a chance of having a pension when I’m too old to do the things I find enjoyable anymore.

I’m in no position to walk away from it all today… and maybe walking away from it all is not the answer I’m looking for. That is what this year – this project – is all about. One year from now, I should be in a position to take a year to travel – or perhaps keep my job (for now) and buy a rustic piece of land and set up a homestead. These may seem like two completely unrelated outcomes, but they are similar in a way. Both options are about gaining more autonomy over the way I live my life.

I currently spend most of my time working for other people – who pay me a fraction of the value I create – so I can pay someone else’s mortgage on the place I live in and try to maintain the debt that I’ve incurred. This cycle started when I paid my way through college and grad school, and escaping this debt cycle is not a simple process.

After much thinking, there seems to be five categories I want to explore over the next year. these are:

Personal Finance

Enthusiastic frugalism. I need to pay off my debt and get my personal finances under control. I also need to put myself into a position where I do not need to be a slave to others. Over the next year I will chronicle my debt payoff and ways to achieve a state of happy frugalism. Is it possible to save enough money in one year to pay off debt and have a down payment or a year of travel? How much does my stuff really cost me?

Travel

What is the financial realty of a year of travel? I have quite a bit of research ahead of me on what it would really take to spend a year driving the coast to Chile and back. This section is the most enjoyable – researching and planning a trip brings me much happiness. What is the cost of the year-long drive? How much cheaper is it to not have a vehicle? Just in case, how much would an around-the-world year of travel cost?

The Economy and Real Estate

The value of money and employment, debt and real estate is largely determined by forces outside of our control. However, if we study and follow the money (or is it “follow the moneyed“), we have a reasonable chance of predicting what will happen next. Does anyone think it would be a good idea to purchase a Humboldt County, California house that is only priced 5% off its bubble price? What about buying a year from now? Is there a reasonable way to invest and/or save right now – or would it make more sense to pay off low-interest student loans first? What will be more valuable over the next five years – cash or assets? How about – dollars or Euros?

Employment

The golden handcuffs. I have a state job with great benefits and a pension – but not the greatest pay (compared to the work I am doing). Is it worth it in the long run? Will the pension even be there in 20 years since a good chunk of their assets are tied up in mortgage-backed SIV’s? Is self-employment a better option? How about overseas work? Are there ways that a year of travel could actually make you more employable?

Health and Fitness

Just the process of the “traditional” job and work-week is unhealthy. I’ve hardly surfed during the last 2 months – because there is not enough light before or after my work day. Besides that, wintertime brings serious surf here. It is not a good idea to paddle out into bigger surf if one is out of shape. Weekend warriors take beatings in the winter surf here. The 40-hour traditional schedule is not very compatible with a serious pursuit of surfing. Is it possible to avoid “old man disease” and continue to surf actively?

It has begun.

I have just submitted my 30-day notice to leave the house I’m renting. For my first step in Personal Finance – I now have one month to downsize.

(continue on to Baseline Budget)

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During the summer and fall, I can’t think of a place I’d rather be. I love it here. However, sometimes I really hate the damp dark rainy Pacific Northwest winter climate. Once the darkness sets in, and the rain starts, and the average local buoy reading is 20-foot plus and sideways rain blowing onshore – there’s no clean surf for months. There are the rare days, when the winds die and the ocean calms – like this New Year’s Day (although the surf was too flat) – but that was the exception rather than the rule. The average surf go-out during these times means looking for waves wrapping around the protective headlands and hoping it filters the chop from 12 feet to a more manageable 5.

To survive, many of the long-time locals take this time to vacation in warmer climes. A co-worker told me I should plan next year’s winter vacation now to make sure it happens.

So on a warm sunny day, feeling the happiness, I let myself think of the ideal winter vacation (instead of the usual driving south to couch-surf with friends-and-family for a week over the last week of December).

Why not go around the world?

My ideal trip would be to drive the Pacific coast from California to Chile, then catch a round-the-world flight stopping in Brazil, Spain (with a side trip to Morocco), South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bali, Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and a Pacific Island stop or two before returning to Los Angeles (broke and jobless).

Specifically, that would be crossing the USA-Mex border shortly after Christmas 2008, catching El Salvador in late April 2009, Spain and the fall surf in October 2009, South Africa in December 2009 (their summer), southern hemisphere late-summer/fall in Sri Lanka and Bali (January 2010 through April or so), then finishing the trip in Los Angeles one year after the flight portion started, October 2010.

It’s nice to dream sometimes…

That return date would have me back home and looking for a job a few months into my 39th year. I suppose the 40’s are the new 30’s, and that would be a good time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, no?

But… what if it is possible? What would it take to make it a reality? It seems that if one could make some money while traveling (or save up enough before starting), that it might work. I’ve also seen travelers with no money, continuing on sheer determination and the serendipitous encounters with others.

How long would you want to travel? What would you want to accomplish by traveling? How much would it cost? Would you still be employable upon return? Employable while traveling? What about my dog? How dangerous is the world these days? Could I ever give up my golden handcuffs (my job)?

A trip like this has always been an escape fantasy of mine. However, due to all the debt I accumulated in college, I’ve only been able to do a 3-month trip in Central America (back in 2000), plus some other weeks here and there. I was also on the never-ending college-graduate-school conveyor belt, which did not leave me time for extended travel (although many month-long trips were had). I finished attending college in early 2003 (after making it to 26th grade), and have been working ever since. Once you finish with whatever college experience you choose – then what? Is there a goal after that? Is a goal necessary?

Get a job, get married, have kids, work until the body and mind are wore out, retire. I see people at work trying their hardest to make every day (and every year) as similar as possible so the time passes without too much difficulty until they can retire. Are they just doing the best job they can to make themselves comfortable until they die? Are we hard-wired to enjoy our routine?

The ever-present credit-card debt (which began 15 years ago) will finally disappear in a few months. The student loans have about 18 more years, but it’s locked in at a historically low rate and manageable. I will soon be in a position to seriously consider this path for myself (escaping, not the mind-numbing rut).

Over the year, I will share the results of my research to explore how feasible this type of travel can be. If it goes well, this will shift to a travelogue explaining the preparation for such a trip, then the trip itself.

I suppose I can just stay at my job and be happy with my 2 weeks of vacation a year. You know, plunk down the credit card and charge the yearly pre-packaged trip – but most of those trips are 8 countries in 10 days in the bus full of drunk tourists who cashed in on one-to-many drink vouchers. This potential travel will include spending more time in each place to learn about the world, to become fluent in Spanish, to see where I can take my surfing abilities before the long, slow decline of “old man disease” really sets in, to explore employment and living situations in other countries, and most of all – just living in the present and experiencing the world.

The time may be now or never.

(continue on to The Year of Living Frugally)

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