This is the first installment of my own personal career break blog. I have decided to republish my entries on a weekly basis to allow you to get to me better and see some of the places I visited. My career break lasted from March 2007 until November 2008. I traveled around South America, Europe, Turkey and Egypt.
The blog entries ended before the end of my career break due to some technical issues I had with the system I was using. But, there is still plenty to share, all of it from South America. Look for my personal blog entries to appear over the weekends. So, grab a cup of coffee and follow me around the world.
Originally published March 18, 2007
Well, now it’s for real. After months of planning, I am finally leaving the country. The past month has been a complete whirlwind. I sold the house (to the first couple that came through), closed, had the garage sale, made multiple trips to Goodwill, then stored the rest. I tried to get together with as many family and friends as possible, but I still missed many, many people. As I sit in the airport waiting to board my flight to Buenos Aires (aka BA from now on), I finally have a chance to breath and reflect a bit. The past few weeks have been about taking care of the details of my life – some huge, others not so much – that could not wait to be wrapped up. It probably won’t hit me that I’m on the trip for a few days or weeks. But, I have waited to take this adventure for so long that my adrenaline is just pumping. I know a crash is coming at some point.
I woke up this morning at the Valencia Hotel in downtown San Antonio (great place by the way – hip, fun, stylish) at 7AM to get ready. Packing up the backpack is still a chore. I really hope that packing gets easier. While I don’t think I’ve packed a ton of stuff, my backpack says otherwise. I was a little late meeting up with mom and dad for breakfast. Finally at 9:30 I showed up at Jim’s Restaurant (yes, we really went out of our way for my last meal in the US) which for those of you not familiar with it can only be described as “Denny’s chic”. My friend Tim from DC was still in town after having come in for the weekend.
We had a few final errands to run so we ran around Alamo Heights making copies, dropping stuff off at the storage unit, blah, blah, blah. Eventually it was time to say goodbye to mom and dad. This was very hard. I tend not to get visibly emotionally effusive at these goodbyes. I’ve done it before. But, this time was different. Maybe it’s my age, their age. But, probably more than anything else it’s that over the past four years since I’ve been back in Texas, we’ve had a chance to reconnect. And, while we’ve all changed over the years, it’s probably me that’s changed the most.
As a kid while growing up you go through a phase where your parents can do nothing right and all the advice is discounted. But, as you age, you see your parents differently, certainly in my case, through more mature eyes. I really enjoyed being closer to them the last four years. And, with this period coming on the heels of my coming out to them earlier in the decade, I think we just had time to get to know each other all over again. I believe that everything happens for a reason – even if it’s not always clear at the time. So, if my move back to central Texas was solely so we could reconnect, then it was definitely worth it.
OK, enough reflection. Now it’s time to work on the site. It’s completely fallen off the radar with everything else going on. So, luckily I’ve got some plane time to work on it and pull it together for launch. Originally I wanted the launch to coincide with my departure date, but that wasn’t meant to be. Luckily this will be an ongoing project that will only finish once the world tour is over.
If you like this post, sign up for our newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up with Career Break Secrets’ career break and travel advice.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Jung. Jeff Jung said: Here's how it all began 3 years ago! Day 1 of my 2-year careerbreak trip. http://su.pr/Ajqqga #rtwsoon #rtwnow… http://bit.ly/9YxfCZ [...]