Starting to get going!

I will be leaving NYC on 5/1. This is sooner than expected, but probably for the best. My first destination will be Utah for a week of national parks, then SF to say hi to a friend, then Hawaii for waves, water, scuba, etc. This will probably take me to mid-June, and then we get going in earnest to Japan. After Japan, probably Vietnam or Thailand.

I just finished Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts. This is the first travel book I’ve read before my trip, and it feels like a good one to start with. It does have specific tips, yes, and the resource lists in the book and at vagabonding.net are invaluable. But the book spends a lot more of its energy on overview, mindset, and attitude than anything else. And for this, I’m already grateful.

It’s pretty clear to me after reading that I need to pair down my packing list and invest in some good travel gear. My laptop probably won’t come for the ride, as much as it hurts me to spend this time without Ableton. Some goes for my Switch and Zelda - they’ll be here when I get back. And to split my allegiance between staying present, grounded, curious, versus disappearing into the magical world of Hyrule…well, it kinda decides itself.

I’m also gearing up for more flexibility in my scheduling. It seems like even accommodations can and maybe should be a bit impromptu. Probably the way to do it would be have set lodgings for a few days at my flight destination, whether it be Hanoi, Bangkok, wherever, and THEN explore day trips, surrounding towns, and smaller establishments local to the place to then book those. I’m glad I’m leveling up the “difficulty” of my trip step by step on this front - taking the train all around Japan will be a good first stepping stone.

The book does a good job encouraging play, awareness, curiosity, kindness, humor, and open-mindedness. I’ve never had a problem making friends when I solo travel, and this sojourn will be a good chance to more proactively seek out all kinds - ex-pats at hostels are great, but meeting locals is equally important.

It’s also clear to me that the roughly 7 months I’ll be spending doing this will easily get gobbled up. The world is big, and I don’t want to do the thing the book talks about where you sorta transiently pass through a place as a tourist, “seeing Hanoi” in a day or two before moving on. No, I’ll be spending several weeks per place, which means my list of places will get smaller.

From here, it’s a matter of knocking down basics - digital nomad insurance, immunizations, checking visas, and THEN just hitting up resources for each destination. Travel guides, reddit, expat forums, travel blogs, and so on. It’ll be a lot of reading to do, but as long as I just take a bit every day, it’ll be ok.

I think I’ll be aiming to get back to the States some time in January of 2024 - in time to hit ski season with some pals, so still vagabonding a bit, but very luxuriously.