I bet you've been wondering where have I been

Thailand is just about 2 months away. That’s about the same amount of time that it has been since I have last updated these pages. Unlike in May and June, when Thailand planning was at the forefront of my mind – I have been preoccupied with work throughout the summer months. You would think that as the trip approaches, the excitement would continue to build in anticipation. However, the opposite has been true. I have stopped researching, stopped reading the various Southeast Asia blogs, and stopped anticipating my future beyond the next week or month of work. Obviously with the lack of focus on the trip, the blog had also slipped deep into the back corners of my brain – scary!

When I made the decision and began my preparation, I was bored at work, and questioning my career. As it was pretty evident, I wasn’t entirely happy with my professional path – despite the success I had achieved. I wanted something to break up the monotony of my career, and figured a month alone in Thailand would be anything but boring. However, in the past several months, I have switched into a new division with my company and have become increasing focused on the work projects at hand. I have increased my responsibilities and especially my contacts in the company, and began traveling to our various offices throughout the US on a regular basis for meetings and projects. For business and pleasure, since I have begun writing this blog, I have traveled to Atlanta (3x), Chicago, Charlotte, LA, Vegas, Charleston, Boston, New York, Baltimore, and DC. My focus on work was renewed and my energy towards work has been rejuvenated. I have even contemplated moving to Atlanta to be located within the same office as the majority of the people I have worked with the closest. Obviously, all of these are good things.

However, due to these career changes, I could honestly say that if this trip was not already booked, I probably would not of the same mindset I was back in May and June, to plan on doing this. That isn’t to say that I am not excited for my adventure and I certainly do not have any regrets in making this decision, I’m just saying that I have tended to lose site of my place in life and long-term plans while I have been focusing instead on the more short-term goals of work.

But by just writing those paragraphs above and taking a step back to contemplate where I have been focused throughout the summer, I realize how easy it is to get stuck in your career and life, and not take the time to look around and explore and put myself outside of my comfort zone. If I keep the mindset that I have been focused on over the past several months, then I can honestly could picture myself at 35 once I’m settled with a marriage and mortgage looking back and wondering why I never traveled when I was young and single.

With Thailand happening, I want to ensure that I do not hold of my free spirit and that these adventures continue. If I had a year of my life to do anything without regard for practicality, then traveling the globe would no doubt be how I would spend my time. But from the practical standpoint, that is neither affordable or smart, but taking a month to do a trip each year is something that I could work into my schedule without stunting my career growth. So, its Thailand in 2007, maybe New Zealand in 2008, maybe South America in 2009, and definitely South Africa in 2010 (Safari and World Cup). So, that’s where I am and that is where I am heading. I do plan on making a checklist in the next several days of things that I need to do and accomplish over the next 2 months in order to prepare for my trip – so look out for that!