The Phenomenal Fortitude of Cambodia’s Emerging Capital
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: December 15-18, 2016 Gray and gritty…these are the two words that rise to the surface when I reflect on our brief 4 days in Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Gray in the truest sense of the word and color, in that it’s place that is in transition – moving from a dark and clouded past to perhaps a bright and emerging future. However, where the city lies on the gray scale spectrum is open to one’s perception. Some may see it as a place that is overwhelming, loud, dirty, and disorganized. Others may see it still as […]
Singapore: A Weekend in the Mouth of Asia’s Most Ferocious Tiger
Singapore: November 25 – 28, 2016 After visiting Kuala Lumpur in October for our first visa-run from Thailand, we decided to venture a bit farther south in November to the island nation of Singapore. I’ve always had a budding curiosity with visiting Singapore, yet it always seemed so far away from my travels. My primary introduction into anything Singaporean were the Singapore Airlines flights between San Francisco (SQ1) and Hong Kong (SQ2) that I’d taken a hand full of times. I’d always wondered what it would be like to take the final four-hour leg of the flight from Hong Kong […]
I62 – Yearning to Feel Limitless Rather than Limited
For someone who is a planner by nature and always organized, one of the hardest things to do is live in the moment. Your mind is always thinking about the next steps and playing out the “what ifs.” As a pilot, you’re trained to always plan for the next few minutes and all of the possibilities should something happen. So it’s not surprising that it takes such a long time for new pilots to truly enjoy being in the moment during their early flying days when the comfort of their instructor sitting beside them is gone. It wasn’t until my […]
An Affordable Getaway in One of Southeast Asia’s Super Cities
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: October 27 – 30, 2016 Long-term travel is truly whatever you make it. It can be fast or slow depending on your rhythm and needs. For me, it’s important to have a nice balance of “chill time” in a home base for several weeks before jumping around in short bursts. When we started out in April, we settled in Spain for 8 weeks but still found ourselves bouncing around the country visiting local cities on the weekends. Having a home base to return to after each trip, kept things feeling grounded and somewhat normal. We then set […]
First Month in the Digital Nomad Capital of Asia
Thailand: Chiang Mai & Bangkok | September 30 – October 27, 2016 Thailand, and more specifically Chiang Mai, has become the unofficial digital nomad capital of Asia in recent years. Its low cost of living, great weather, and relative ease with which a “westerner” can arrive and settle in town, have made it a primary destination for many on their nomadic journey. In addition, bloggers like JohnnyFD and ChristheFreelancer have continued to promote the community and the culture, attracting hundreds of life changers seeking to escape the “9-5” and make a new life for themselves. Ironically, our first month in […]
A Fool So Less Courageous – The Paradox of the Pivot
How best to handle freedom and opportunity? Might you bury yourself in the warm comfort of complacency or would you welcome the discomfort, challenge, and fight like hell to overcome some of your deepest fears? This is my current struggle and one that seems to grow louder with each passing day. In a previous Self-Care Chronicles post written earlier this year titled, 30-minute Mondays, I started it with this short paragraph. Freedom is a privilege, an opportunity, and a responsibility. Being able to wake up everyday and practically do whatever you want is amazing and I wish it for everyone […]
Brief Return to the Divided States of America
Chicago & Northern California: September 15 – 29, 2016 It’s been almost exactly 2 months since the day we stepped foot back in the US after the first 5.5 months of our nomadic adventure. For a variety of reasons, it’s taken me this long to simply collect my thoughts regarding our initial experience of what’s usually called, “reverse culture shock.” Our shock was a bit lessened given that we’d spent the previous 7 weeks in Montreal, Quebec, which in many ways felt like being back in the States – except that we were exempt from the political divisiveness and media […]
Mid-summer Moments in Montreal
Montreal, Quebec: July 22 – September 15, 2016 After 105 days in Europe, including stays in 4 countries and trips to 20 cities, a return to the “Americas” for a few weeks was much needed break in our travels. I’ve been used to working and traveling since I began my location independent adventures back in 2011. Yet, this time in Europe was different. It was a lifetime of fun packed into 3.5 months, but it was also tiring and the heat/humidity of the European summer was surely adding to the discomfort. So as we departed Madrid and headed back across […]
Pura Vida in the Mountains of Costa Rica
San José, Costa Rica: August 30 – September 9, 2016 Costa Rica was never part of our original itinerary. Well, at least not in the first six months. We had no intention of venturing through Central and South America until we already had made the decision to work our way back home to the States after our time in Asia. That was supposed to be next year. But after a few months of researching options for a minor elective medical procedure, my wife decided that a doctor and place of respite in Costa Rica were her best options. So at the […]
Thirsty – My Tongue’s Eternal Battle With a Knife
Stuttering. It’s a simple action (or lack thereof in its truest essence) that has dramatically impacted nearly every facet of my life. As best as I can remember, it became noticeable in my speech pattern at age 6, when my family moved from the South Side of Chicago out to its southern suburbs. Entering second grade with a completely new set of faces exposed a hereditary trait that I didn’t know I had. Soon, I found myself fumbling to say simple words, which caused anxiety and the anxiety caused further shuttering (or stammering, as it’s also called). Stuttering is a […]
