I think I've always had the romantic ideal of "leaving it all" and "seeing the world". At the beginning of 2004 my hitherto complicated life (work, family, girlfriend) suddenly got simplified and I found myself face to face with the first (and possibly last) chance to make the dream come true. After some haggling with my boss I obtained a year's unpaid leave of absence, which combined with roughly 2 months of accumulated vacation gives me 14 months to travel. In the weeks leading up to my departure I moved out of (and cleaned) my place, said my goodbyes to my family, notified my now-ex girlfriend, and worked my ass off to wrap up loose ends at work. My co-workers gave me a gift certificate for REI (a camping/travel gear store), I did my packing in
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