Travel Archives — Page 6 of 6 — Coming Full Spiral

Category: Travel

My 2017 World Tour

Right now my life is going through a serious overhaul. Like everyone else, I have also been going through significant changes. A friend once said that people generally go through big changes every 5-7 years. For a while now, my life has been stagnated, so it’s time to shake things up a little.

In less than two weeks, I will be embarking on a big adventure, where I will be circumnavigating the world for three months. I just came back from Iceland last week only to depart again very soon.

This involves leaving my job of nearly five years. While I like where I work and have made some priceless friendships at my job, it’s time to move on. I’ve already sold my 2003 Nissan Sentra, the only car I’ve ever owned for the past 14 years.

My journey starts in Cape Town, South Africa, where I will be attending AfrikaBurn, which is a Burning Man regional event. From Cape Town, I will then be exploring Southeast Asia starting in Ho Chi Minh City and ending in Bali, Indonesia. The last leg of my trip will be in New Zealand before going back home to Seattle.

This is a dream that I never thought could be made possible, and the gravity of it all is really weighing in now. I like where this is going, but it’s quite daunting to say the least. I don’t know what to expect. I haven’t felt this terrified in a long time. But there’s a kernel of faith deep down that’s always stayed with me, and it keeps getting stronger.

You know… I’m no stranger to pursuing my wildest dreams. The last time I felt this terrified was when I was 23, and that was a time when my life had hit rock bottom. I dropped everything and drove 3,000 miles to move to Seattle, the city of my dreams since I was 16 years old. Back then, I didn’t have the tools for coping with my emotional health, and while it was a very difficult time, I still made it work as my friends and family cheered me on. Because deep down, despite that I was very out of touch with my own soul, there was still that kernel of faith I held onto, even when on survival mode. The difference is being driven by inspiration rather than desperation: running towards what you live for, rather than running away from what you fear. Now that I’ve done two years of therapy, I’ve gained essential coping skills, including seeing from new perspectives without judgment. Keeping an open mind on healing is so important. So, now that’s with me, I will make this 2017 World Tour work.

There’s no better time to travel. I’m single and don’t have any cats of my own. I don’t own a house or a car, and have given away or sold many of my possessions. I just turned 30 and have a clean slate. This adventure needs to happen before taking on more serious endeavors. I have very little to lose.

The whole world has opened up. We keep going, in spite of fear. Time to enter the next chapter of my life.

Incredible Iceland

Honestly, I could have thought of a better way to ring in my 30th year than going to Iceland.

I collect currency from the places I visit. I’ve also started collecting patches.

I returned to Seattle around 9:00 on March 29th. The flight was delayed because the entire Keflavik International Airport had to evacuate because of a “security breach.” Good times!

The above photo is the living room of the AirBNB I stayed at. It’s called The Old Bicycle Shop, or “Gamla Hjolabuðin” in Icelandic. It apparently used to be a bicycle shop. It was such a cozy place.

My place came with a cat! Her name was Pumpkin.

Probably Seattle could learn a thing or two about having colorful buildings against the grey skies. It was mostly dark and cloudy over at Reykjavik, but the colorful contrast of these buildings made them stand out.

I don’t drink anymore, and I used to go out dancing. On the night before my 30th birthday, I was like, “oh why not.” So, I danced for a little bit at Reykjavik’s only queer bar, Kiki Queer Bar. My drink of choice these days is soda water with grenadine with a cherry on top. Sip, sip.

Reykjavik had no shortage of murals and art installations.

This one was my favorite, and it was on the side of a building for an LGBT organization. Running is how I get to know a city, and this was one of the first murals I spotted.

I took a ferry out to Videy Island. The sun was finally starting to come out a little.

I had made a new friend in Reykjavik, and we went off on an adventure.

The fuselage crash site at Sólheimasandur black sand beach.

We drove to the fuselage plane crash site at Solheimasandur black sand beach for my 30th birthday. This was the best birthday adventure ever! The story behind it was that the plane had to make an emergency landing back in 1973, and miraculously, nobody died. The crash site is actually about 4 km off the road, and folks have to brave the strong winds to get there. It sits on the shore of the North Atlantic ocean. The waves were so violent.

On my last morning there, my friend and I had coffee together at the Laundromat Cafe. Basically, you can do your laundry there while you eat. We didn’t try it, though it’s a pretty neat set up.

In case you’re wondering what an Icelandic sunset looks like.

Thank you for the good times, Iceland! Now I’m back and have hit the ground running. There’s so much to do and catch up around here, because I’m taking an enormous leap of faith pretty soon. You’ll see what I mean.

Let’s just say that I haven’t felt this terrified in a long time.