Traveling the World

Welcome to the world of 2012, the year some claim will be the last year for the planet Earth. I have mixed feelings about this. I don’t believe for one second the world will end, but let’s look at it from another angle. IF you believe the world will end in 11 months and 18 days, then you might actually try to live each moment and cherish the time you have remaining. That way, when the end finally comes on 12/21/12, then you won’t have regret in your heart. If fear of regretting what you failed to try doing (not succeed, because let’s get real, it’s not a fear of trying, it’s a fear of succeeding that stops people dead in their tracks) got people to actually do stuff, then I wish everyone lived in fear for every second they had breath entering and leaving their lungs. It’d be the only way the human race would continue to evolve.

On the other hand, if people believe the world is coming to an end, then I believe it might promote the opposite effect: anarchy and laziness. If I thought I was going to die at the end of this year, and knew no matter what I did (just slight of building a rocket and escaping the planet, which presents a whole slew of ridiculous obstacles to discuss) would have no effect, then why shouldn’t I just spend all my money, kill tons of people, and act out every other desire or fantasy that I had (no worries, I have no desire to kill people.. maybe just give them the death stare).

In closing, why the F!@# do people listen to the media (i.e. who the hell died and made the Mayans in charge of OUR destiny?)

PS – Taking you back to reality, I’m having deviated septum surgery tomorrow, January 4th, 2012. I’ve elected to have this surgery so that I may regain the ability to breathe out of my left nostril. I will be out of commission for roughly a week, so any warm-hearted wishes would be appreciated! Calls are preferred over Facebook messages. If you don’t know my number, it’s because I don’t want you to call me

I think 2011 left a bad taste in the world’s mouth, so it’s time to turn our shitty frowns upside down and smile a bit more. The world needs people to be happy and loving again, so stop worrying about your financial issues, or your broken hand, or your broken heart. Open your eyes wide, take a deep breath of (hopefully clean) air into your lungs, SMILE, and LIVE YOUR LIFE.

This message sponsored by the Smile Foundation. We swear we have no affiliation with Mitt Romney OR Ron Paul.

Someone asked me a question tonight that is stuck in my head: “What do you REALLY want to do with the rest of your life?” It’s a question I’ve heard before, and one I’ve contemplated often, but it wasn’t until this specific person asked me that question that I really stopped and went, “crap.. what DO I want?”

I always looked at other people and thought: “It’s a shame that these people aren’t living their lives the way they want to. Most people get stuck in a place they don’t want to be because life kinda screwed them over, or they just happened to be in this situation.” But, now I’m coming to realize that for many people, it’s not their fault, but rather that life is just so long for humans that we don’t know what to do with all the time.

There are many things I want in life, and one of those things is money to be comfortable. The barrier to satisfying that is that the only things I see myself doing either don’t make much money, or requires me to give up other ideas to attain it (being a teacher vs running my own business). If I were to go back to being a teacher, I could maintain the easy lifestyle I have, but at some point you look at your life and go, I’m being lazy and not living up to my potential. Or rather, do other people say these things about you out of jealousy instead of shame/embarrassment?

Sometimes I agree that I’m being lazy. I think there are other people who are much more ambitious and who make a lot more money, but at the same time, they wish they could live in other countries and travel like I have. Looking at it from my eyes though, these people have good jobs that pay well and those jobs are most likely part of a career path with benefits and promotions. Teaching has none of that, and the pay isn’t all too good. I have only a little bit of experience running a business, but no engineering degree, business degree, culinary arts training.. my point is, I have no career skills (and I really have no desire to go back to school as a student). All I know how to do is dream big, teach English/Psychology, and travel.

If my only ambition in life was to marry a Chinese girl, have one or two mixed blood babies, and teach English and life a calm, peaceful lifestyle, then I’d be super happy. Those aren’t my goals. I’d love to have my own business, and I keep a list with all my ideas in it, but none of them are ones that I can attain at this stage of my life (be it that I don’t have the skillset to begin, or the money to hire someone to do it for me). I love writing and am working on my book, but being a life-long writer (and a well-paid, famous, prolific one at that) is very difficult to attain). Running a charity and traveling the world helping undeveloped/underdeveloped/developing countries sounds amazing too, but again you need money (in these times, getting money from strangers for anything is next to impossible).

Now, getting down to the nitty gritty, if you need money to help those in need (start a charity), and you can show people from around the world those people you want to help (funding the charity), then all you would need to do is start an adventure travel company (have your own business) revolving around the countries you want to help (make money and help people at the same time, booyah!)

Here comes the hard part: you need money to do it, so this isn’t a short-term goal. The short-term goal is to make money and save it. How I do that is what I’m working on now, be it through writing novels, or teaching English, or starting a pizza restaurant.

I’ve long been dreading this post for several reasons. I’ve had a few unpleasant dealings in the last month or so, but I’m doing much better now. I’ve begun physical therapy on my shoulder and it’s feeling better every day. I’m getting healthy again so I can move back to China!

I haven’t purchased my flights or visas yet because, to be honest, I don’t have a job or an idea of when I can really go. The best time for me to go is the middle of February, because the main job I’m looking at has a teacher leaving in the middle of March. This would give me ample time to get settled in before the job and then go travel for a little bit since I’ve been working 6 days a week non-stop since August, when I got back from China last time.

The business idea is still on the shelf, but tabled until I get there. I have more than enough saved for the idea and to still survive in China for a few years if it takes time to pick up. I love the idea of a wire transfer, and wish I had known prior to a month ago. That would have saved me a massive headache when I carried a few thousand dollars in cash in my pockets from China to the US back in the summer of 2010.. haha.

After a long bout of laziness and apathy, I am finally back to writing my book. Being away from it for this long has given me the opportunity to look at my words with fresh eyes, and thus make edits that have improved the overall structure and flow.

It came to my attention at work that I was being more of a dictator than a manager, so I am going to take each employee aside and ask them to be honest with me, because I yearn to grow as a person and a manager, and only my employees can help me do that (in this part of my life).

Two months to China..

When I was preparing to move back to America, the last thing on my mind was that I would miss China. The first thing I think now when I contemplate the move back to China is “will things be different?” I’ve become overwhelm with emotions during my psychological exploration of my mind, and I believe it’s something necessary. As much as I dislike the idea of returning to China as a teacher, I know it’s the best/easiest solution for me, and so I will take it. It’s only with this that I can promise myself a better future.

Every day, the news is filled with strife and madness. Economies collapsing, homes stolen, money disappearing, and people crying. No longer am I able to sit by and witness these atrocities. As one man, there is nothing I can do to help others, but I am able to help myself. That is why, despite the fact that I find America isn’t too bad of a place to live, there are many aspects of life missing for me that dictate I leave to search for them once again.

For my remaining time in the USA, I continue to write my novel, whilst working diligently for my father in his office. Cooking and working out take up the remainder of my free time, as the winter in China is much colder, and I must build up my muscle and strength. I’ve officially begun the job search in China, so wish me luck; I’m shooting for mid-late February.

My novel is coming along quicker than I could have imagined. I had spent the last 6 weeks struggling with scratching out a horrible 1/3 of a page per 2 hours (roughly 1/3rd page per day). My friend with writing experience assisted me tirelessly, despite my incessant harassment to read my newest iteration. Finally, one rainy night last week, as I was laying on my couch with the laptop nestled against my crotch, she remanded me, exclaiming in a rage that I needed to trust myself. Instantly, I popped back to reality and the artificial light from the computer screen shone into my eyes. I knew what must be done, and went about diligently learning different writing techniques.

Although my writing never feels good enough, I am beginning to delve deeper into my creative mind and pull out more strongly crafted emotive descriptions. In doing so, I am gaining confidence in my own ability, which has sped up the writing process, and pushed me to play with the words and methods I employ.

Aside from writing, I have joined a website called Interpals, which has been great fun. People from around the world message me on a daily basis to talk about random things, but the hard part is figuring out when they’ll be online (thanks timezones..) to continue the conversation. These meetings have fueled me to pick the site of my next trip (it’s a toss up still between Russia, India, Turkey, or a rehash of Thailand/Malaysia/Indonesia because I’ve missed a lot in those places).

The search for jobs in China officially begins today, but I remember the process being long and arduous. Hopefully, my connections within the Wuhan community will make the process painless and quick. The employees at work verbally count down the days until my departure, and I applaud their enthusiasm, knowing that they’ll be stuck here even after I’m gone. Another thing to appreciate is that this time my body won’t require immunizations that cost a billion dollars, I know where to buy flights from, and I know where the best places to work are and which apartments are the cheapest and best quality for my money.

China.. I’m almost there..