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diff --git a/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md b/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md deleted file mode 100644 index 882b047..0000000 --- a/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,202 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: >- - Mr. Worldwide, Pt. 0: Bailtrain to Bailtown -description: >- - Wherein I quit my job and prepare to leave the country -series: mr-worldwide ---- - -## Denver - -In mid-2015 I moved to Denver, CO while continuing to work remotely at the -company I had helped to found back in Gainesville, FL. Florida had been my home -for my entire life, up until that point, and it felt like a change was needed. -Denver was certainly a change, and ultimately I think it was one in the right -direction, but it turned out to not be enough. - -{% include image.html dir="mr-worldwide" file="denver-2017.jpg" width=1696 %} - -While in Denver I'd rented a tiny studio apartment, which over the -course of two years I'd learned to live in. Living large is pretty easy; for -some reason we (generally) find it more difficult to throw something away than -to exert the effort to make space for it in our lives. It takes a non-trivial -amount of trial-and-error to figure out a smaller lifestyle with fewer things. -So minimalism is something I started to practice, and continue to practice, in -the literal sense of the word, often failing at it. But I find the challenge to -be worth it. - -I'd always separated my work-place from my living-place, mentally. Eventually I -realized that just because the two places were physically separate doesn't mean -they aren't a part of the same thing. At the most basic level I work in order to -afford basic necessities, like food and clothing and shelter. I have a dedicated -home because it's the most efficient way to keep myself fit and healthy and -clean, because it allows me to having my own ammenities and routines which work -best for me. - -But the more I work, the more I burn out and need to recuperate at home. The -more time spent at home, the more things accumulate there and the more upkeep of -the home is needed, which in turn requires money which requires work. The one -leads to the other, and so they are really part of the same thing. I neither -want to work nor spend a lot of time at home, but that's what my life had turned -into. It was unbearable, and I had to change it. - -## Mr. Worldwide - -In early 2016 I took a trip to Japan with some friends. It was the first time -I'd been out of the US (sans a family trip to Nova Scotia when I was like 9 or -something). Going to Japan might as well have been a trip to an alien planet, -and yet it was also familiar. I learned that no matter how different our -cultures are, the individuals of the world aren't that different at all. By the -end of that trip I felt as at-home in Japan as I did in Denver, if not more so, -because of how much time I was able to spend exploring (rather than being cooped -up working). - -{% include image.html - dir="mr-worldwide" file="kyoto-2017.jpg" width=5257 - descr="Kyoto at sunset, 2017" %} - -By the end of 2016 I knew I wanted to travel and see as much as possible, while -working as little as possible in the meantime (except on my own ideas, as they -came up and I felt like working on them). I began trimming down my life, with -the aim of only having as many things as would fit into a backpack. It probably -seemed to everyone like I was preparing to become a homeless person. In a way I -kind of was. - -My plan wasn't that I would never work again, or never live in a home again. -Vagrancy isn't a sustainable way for me to live. But finding a life which didn't -involve spending all my energy working while also not being homeless is surely -possible, I knew, though maybe I wouldn't find it in the US. I began saving as -much money as possible, and began thinking about where I might find that life. - -Europe seemed as good a place to start the search as any. - -## Leaving Denver - -By the end of 2017 I was ready to go. I had saved nearly $20k, had put in notice -that I'd be leaving my job at the end of the year, and had given notice to my -landlord of the same. My friends in Denver saw me off, and my friend Ibrahim -gave me a small notebook to take notes in as I traveled, with some helpful -phrases that might aid me along the way - -{% include image.html - dir="mr-worldwide" file="notebook.jpg" width=3036 - descr="Ibrahim made sure I was covered if I ever found myself in a tight spot" - %} - -I drove all my things back to my parents' house in Miami just before Christmas, -and enjoyed Christmas and New Year's with them. In mid-January I grabbed my -single backpack, said goodbye to my parents, and headed to the airport. It had -worked out to be cheaper to fly back to Denver before flying to Europe, so I -spent another day there saying hello/goodbye to everyone again, collecting some -recommendations of places to go while I was there, and continued on to Europe. - -## The Loadout - -(Wherein I give a summary of what I had with me throughout the trip, with -affiliate links sprinkled in, cause money. You can skip this section if you -don't really care). - -I'd already had a [40L backpacking bag](zulu) which had done me well enough on a -couple trips already, so I decided to try and only use that. Other ~~homeless~~ -backpackers tend to go a little bigger, but they risk not being able to fit -their bags in luggage overhead on planes. I also ended up needing a smaller day -bag almost immediately, since being out and about all day necessitates bringing -some things with you. The big bag/day bag combo is a classic amongst ~~the -homeless~~ backpackers. - -{% include image.html - dir="mr-worldwide" file="loadout-packed.jpg" width=4048 - descr="All packed up, one for overhead and the other for under the seat" - inline=true - %} - -{% include image.html - dir="mr-worldwide" file="loadout-unpacked.jpg" width=4048 - descr="(Almost) everything, unpacked" - inline=true - %} - -Most space in the bag is taken by clothes. Which clothes I actually had along -changed as the weather changed and I gained and lost things. But my general -clothing strategy consisted of a few key points: - -* All things need to be re-wearable, 2 to 3 days at least. This is more - difficult for under layers, but wool is ideal as it's durable, warm, and it - quickly-dries (which means the fungi/bacteria, which would otherwise cause - smell, quickly-die). Wool socks were easy to find on sale for $5 a pair at the - end of winter. Wool undershirts (smart wool or merino) are findable on eBay - with some difficulty. [Uniqlo][uniqlo] makes good undershirts to fill in - when wool undershirts are too expensive. [ExOfficio][exofficio] is worth the - money in the underwear department. A pair of leggings is also super worth it - for the cold. - -* For pants I went with three pairs; one beat-up pair, one casual, and one a bit - nicer, and a few wool shirts/sweaters. Later in the trip, as summer rolled - around, I'd pick up some shorts as well. My couple of wool shirts/sweaters - were trivial to find on eBay. - -* For shoes I went with a pair of flip-flops and a pair of [waterproof - boots][timbs] (also from eBay). The boots I chose for being able to be used in - basically any occasion where flip-flops wouldn't do (marathons excepted). - -* I really can't stress enough how great wool is. That said, I would have died - without [this jacket][jacket], which was well worth the relatively tiny amount - of space it took up. Same can be said for my [linen towel][towel], which - struck a perfect balance between packability and being a towel. - -* Other random things which were must-haves: rubber bands (for tying up - clothes), sewing kit, external phone battery, tape, super glue, umbrella, and - a small package of baby wipes. - -* I also insisted on bringing a laughably small and old netbook with me, cause - I get cranky if I can't code now and then. - -Even before deciding on doing this trip I had begun purging all my old clothes -in favor of a much smaller set of more durable, though perhaps more expensive, -ones. So a lot of these clothes carried over from that, and all that I just -described is really my current wardrobe. - -[zulu]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015SBLO28/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B015SBLO28&linkId=84ffbb4c20cf4dfcee00485312c1d5c3 -[uniqlo]: https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/men/undershirts -[exofficio]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M0MN0C/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B001M0MN0C&linkId=a1a2a1fac9c23c44c0633d0e7170fb98 -[timbs]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019CVV1AK?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=B019CVW406&th=1 -[jacket]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013HAXSLC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B013HAXSLC&linkId=44efbeb32af7cc0f303180ec70da207e -[towel]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WBC17N4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00WBC17N4&linkId=dec48e5d729a51790abad2286f08fe34 - -## (Lack of) Planning - -The trip was deliberately not planned out. I knew I would show up in Munich, -because I have a friend who lives there as well as a distant relative. But -past that I figured "show up and look around" would suffice. My motto for the -trip would eventually become "plans are just lists of things which won't -happen". From start to finish the only plans I had figured out at any moment was -a general trajectory and my next destination. Rarely was my next place to sleep -booked more than a week ahead of time, or my next bus or train ticket bought -more than a day before. - -It could not have worked any other way. For a short trip it might be viable to -have an itinerary with a list of destinations/sights which will be visited and -all the traveling needed in between, but the strictness of an itinerary always -adds tension. Rather than spend some pre-allotted time at each sight, adding a -feeling of being on a timer no matter where you are, I would rather just meander -around and spend as much time as feels right at each place. There's zero chance -of seeing all there is to see, no matter how much is planned, so might as well -see each thing in as much depth and detail as you feel like. - -And looking back, I don't think I _did_ miss all that much. Each city has its -notable sights, and you can know by looking around and talking to other people -which ones are right for you. Start with those, if there's time do the others, -but you won't feel like you've missed anything if you don't get to them. - -Much later in my trip someone would ask me and another backpacker (who'd been -traveling even longer than me) if we had advice for him. The other backpacker -immediately replied "Just keep your head on a swivel". As in, just look around -you, keep your eyes open, you'll see all you want and need to. My grandma gave -me similar advice before I left, when I asked her what I should do in Spain (her -home country): "Oh, you don'thave to do anything. You see something you like, -you go there. You see something else, you go there instead. There is nothing you -have to do". - -## Bailing - -In the next post I will actually leave and begin my _adventure_. |