Hello World! The sun's rising on Friday and the birds are singing. This experience in Fiji has been amazing, there is so much to take in and at times it is overwhelming. But before I go into explaining the Fijian life I want to catch up on this past summer and fill you all in on what it took to make this trip happen.
I can not believe we are actually doing it. I think I may have proven once again that it is possible to manifest your own destiny. Whatever it is you desire in this world you can have, all it takes is a little hard work and a dream.
I have been dreaming of a world adventure for years and at the beginning of this year my trigger finger was getting itchy. So in February of 2011 Siri and I began discussing the idea of traveling together. The idea sounded exciting, but we knew that embarking on a trip of this magnitude together had the potential to tear us apart. We also understood though, that if it didn't it would make our relationship that much stronger. Either way it would be an experience we could share, it would make memories that last forever, and it truly would be a trip of a life time.
So we decided to stay together and shoot for the stars knowing that if we only made it to the clouds it would still be one hell of an adventure. I began doing research on a trip from the US to Alaska, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Israel, and Turkey and came to the conclusion that a multi stop trip like this would would cost about $2o,ooo. This was a huge price tag especially considering the fact that Siri was a full time volunteer and I hadn't had a steady job in over a year and virtually no work for the previous three months. So at the time we decided to go for it we had no money and I was barely paying my bills, so $20,000 seemed impossible. But what the hell right, why not try.
So I decided I needed to make some big changes in my lifestyle and needed a good job (any job). Within days of deciding it was going to happen I was offered a job with my good friend John Fitzpatrick doing an office building install which put about $2000 into the travel fund for about a weeks work and at this point I realized the universe had already started its magic. Right after that job I started working for my friend Ron Andrews from King Cage full time and at this point the snowball was already picking up momentum. Shortly after this I moved out of my house and into my truck with my dog, started selling everything I owned, started building furniture on the side, got rid of all my unnecessary bills and started saving every penny I made. If these affirmations weren't enough, I was also finding a penny every single day, which is insignificant in the big picture, but gave me confidence daily that what I was doing was right. At times I would be walking my dog, and best friend, Takoma, and realize I hadn't found a penny yet and literally find one within seconds... Talk about coincidence.
It was truly hard to sell all my belongings I had become so accustomed to and move out of the house knowing that it would be the last place I called home for the next 2 years. But once it was all gone I felt free and realized how unnecessary this baggage was in my life. At this point it was all or nothing.
Takoma took the move hard at first, but slowly began to get used to the drifter lifestyle. We began to spend every minute together, which was great considering my future plans unfortunately did not include him.
I worked for a while and slowly began to realize that at this rate I would not be able to save enough for this trip, so once again I needed to make some changes. First, I needed to sell my motorcycle and second, I needed to find a full time job that paid at least $20 per hour. The night I made this realization I went to bed with the intent that I would have these two things. Within no more than a week I sold the bike and received a phone call from my good friend Dontje asking if I could help him on a job, which turned into a full time $20 per hour gig, once again proving the law of attraction.
Shortly after this I made the decision to buy the around the world tickets through Airtreks, which was the first time I realized this dream may actually become a reality. As the date neared we began purchasing the gear we needed and received an offer to take photos for next year's Gregory Backpacks catalog from my friend John Pieper, in return receiving our packs and duffel bags for the trip. Everything seemed to be falling into place.
The day before we left I decided it would be fun to add up all our expenses and savings up to that point and found that we had saved, in about 8 months, almost exactly $20,000 and I couldn't help but laugh. Manifestation, destiny, or coincidence, this is up to you to decide.
So what seemed to be just another pipe dream in the beginning has turned into the start of an adventure that will live on for years to come through our stories and memories. I truly hope that this trip will inspire everyone I know in my life to follow their dreams, whatever they may be.
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