“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
What about me..... I am or was a corporate IT dude that lived hard in the fast paced corporate IT maze, working for the largest "blue" software company in the world….. WHO decided to shed all my North American lifestyles, trade the suit for a backpack and start an amazing journey. A journey shared with Raelan, an incredible and beautiful woman who has taught, amoung many things, me to be me, what love really is and just how much strength one can have.
Together we have sold everything, packed up our worlds in boxes and jumped on a plane to "over there".
I too start my own internal journey, to learn about me, learn about the world and see just what it is to wander the globe and meet as many people as I can.
I have always wanted to embark on something like this, and the possibility of living/working internationally has rumbled around once or twice, however never been in the "right" place for that decision to become reality. Until I decided it was long enough and really, when are you ever ready.
Stay tuned this will be an interesting journey, one that will change this writers life forever!
The next destination on this incredible journey was a place that Rae and I were both incredibly excited about visiting. Our next stop was Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a place where Rae spent significant time during her travels and developed a keen fondness for. If you find her blog (http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Raelan/) you will see that she spent almost three months there volunteering for a NGO supporting local, impoverished children (insert here my EXTREME pride in her BTW). Naturally, as a result of Rae’s time spent in PP and the extent of our communications and connection during that time period, I was very excited to see this intriguing place. She spent some quality time with me explaining that at first glance, PP does not find its way into the hearts of many without some time invested there to discover
... read moreNew Dehli lied only a few miles below me as we made our final decent, and already my head was filled with images of this great capitol. Most of our time was spent in the southern states and this was our opportunity to experience a different side of India – still India but with influences from other northern countries and the political, religious and cultural impacts they offered. I won’t declare to be in anyway worldly savvy of how this region, never mind how this country its put together. However what I can describe are only my interactions, observations and influences by those around me (there is my disclaimer if needed). Some of my first thoughts of this region revolve around its proximity to troubled countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Countries that are often in the
... read moreI am right in the middle of that fantastic (and HUGE) book Shantaram, which as I am sure a lot of you know plays out in India’s financial capitol of Mumbai India (formerly know as Bombay). 14 million people strong, with about 800,000 of them living in Asia’s largest slum Dharavi, Mumbai is a kaotic mashing of culture, religion, poverty, history and deep seeded values that predate any western way of life. The air is thick with a modern India and contrasts are everywhere. Stepping off the plane I felt I had no idea what to expect or what I was walking into. As with many of the cities we have ventured too there is always this day or two of unfamiliarity as you walk the streets and learn what is what and where. Here in
... read moreA bit to long of a gap between entries, however the last few weeks have been…shall we say interesting. Sadly we encountered the dreaded Dehli Belly (Ecoli for me though) and it took us down. Scary being that we where in very rural India (Palolem, GOA) where hospitals are close but empty with only a few nurse and staff to give attention to those in need. Not to mention they look and feel as if we stepped into the sixties. The experience was very enlightening; I felt the caring these folks gave even through the language barrier, the doctor coming quickly from the village and the rush into the “Casualty Room” with various young nurses running around taking my vitals. In the end everything worked out leaving me with yet another “India Badge”. The medical folks
... read moreEdmonton, Alberta ---> Frankfurt, Germany ---> Mumbai, India ---> Pune, India ---> GOA, India I have started this journey with a very open mind, or at least a culmination of the open mind I think I have to date. Knowing full well that what I think I know will drastically change over the next months. India so far has proven to be no exception. Rae and I have been chatting about what we have left behind, what we have in front of us and where we may be in the months to come. Our worlds back home packed up in boxes, stored for some unknown future date. Leaving everything we know and love off to explore and learn about who we are as much as learn about the world in front of us. The best we
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