| 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!
Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com
- makers of travel journals. Writing
journals are the perfect travel
accessories. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com
to read more travel articles and
travelogues.
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