The Pull

The reasons are many for me choosing to live a life with a backup strapped around my back, giving up worldly goods, and choosing to live a life based on experiences and not material wealth. I came to this realization after a few hesitant starts; I always knew I enjoyed travel by visiting several countries. I would come home usually longing to get away again and never get felt satisfied with the amount spent abroad. The trip that finally won me over and really introduced me to experience culture and a new way of life was my trip to Egypt. Having visited Egypt, I came away wanting to explore further reaches from my home and to visit further exotic destinations. With this decision I made up my mind, I convinced myself to at least try and cover a continent starting Jan 2009. No one said this would be easy but then again I love a challenge and either way, I don’t have a choice, this is what I want and this is the price that I have to pay. I consider myself extremely fortunate and find myself in a cherished position to be able to take advantage of this opportunity when I can. I feel ready and feel the pull of the road at my feet.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Shawn, just saw your FB post & I checked out your blog! Remember Eric & I met you in Egypt when we were on our 'round the world year trip'?!?!? How funny was it being in Egypt & finding us on a tour, also from DC?!;) I'll never forget when you told us at the dam stop that you thought you ate 'old tough meat' and that the 'beef' was probably more like old camel. I'm pretty sure we experienced it too the next week:( HA!HA!

    Anyway, I love hearing that you and your wife are taking the plunge & quit your jobs for the adventure! It was during a hike in Cappadoccia, Turkey that we met someone who intrigued us with the idea of our next short term 'stop' (1.5 years) in Saipan, MP (a US Commonwealth in Micronesia near Guam, Japan, the Philippines) where we are now until a yr in St Croix Jan 11.

    I hope you both have the great fortune we did during our trip. Remember, if it gets tiring moving around so much stay one place a little longer to re-group like we did in Sri Lanka at a perfect, cute beach town called Unawatuna.

    Also, guard your passport with your life and don't 'lose' it in Vietnam like I did at the end of our trip. It was stolen on a plane from Hoi An -> HCMC (Saigon)!!! I had to go to the police station beg for a police report which no one wanted to write bc it happened out of their jurisdiction in the air (+ tears + translator), back to the US Consulate, to the Vietmanese Visa office, to the US Consulate for my temp passport X 10 visits each on moped(ssss) all while having Dengue Fever, leading to missing my flight - 4 days in Bali (our last stop before returning to the states) while Eric recovered from Dengue with the thump of house music:(

    We hope to see you both somewhere around the world!!! For Thanksgiving when we're back in DC in Nov we'll be sure to have some turkey, stuffing, mac & cheese and sweet potato pie (last year we had great Indian food in Kerala with my Red Cross colleague), then we'll head out in Dupont for some drinks:) Take care & lots of pics guys!!!

    Candice Dunston dunstonc@gmail.com

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