‘Round the world we go

Well, things here at Take Flight and Live might be looking a bit different for the next couples of months. Finding a happy heart and healthy body takes more than just exercise and nutritious food. Sometimes it requires flying far, far away. Right now, I’m somewhere over the China/Asia area. To tell this story, we need to have a flashback moment. About 8 years ago, I met a woman in her early 30s who spent 17 months traveling around the globe visiting every continent. I was wildly fascinated by her stories and never dreamed that this was something people could do. As we ended the convo, she handed me a book on how to plan a round the world trip (RTW as more commonly known). I buried it in the back of my mind not quite sure how I would ever have the time or money. Several years later I spent a lazy weekend floating in a tube on a lake reading a book called “The Lost Girls.” Here, 3 friends quit their jobs and their Starbucks addictions and take off to explore the world together on their own RTW trip. Again, the thought got buried but it was still there brewing, waiting for the right moment. Well, that moment came last year when I was working 80 hours a week flipping between night and day schedules, trying to finish grad school and totally burned out on life. I was at the point where I needed to start deciding what I would do when school was done. I really don’t have a definite time where the thought jumped into my head but I’m sure I was staring at the mirror one morning, horrified at the look of death on my face, and thinking ” I need a vacation.” Slowly, things started clicking. I was going to have to quit my job to look for a new nurse practitioner job. I hadn’t spent any money in a long time because of my crazy schedule, and I felt like I had lost all passion in life in order to finish school. So here I am today- a one way ticket to Krabi, Thailand and an unlimited rail pass in Europe. I’m on my 3rd of 4 flights to Asia, and have already had my own “Amazing Race” moment by sprinting through an international airport in Taiwan because my flight was 20 minutes late for my connection. Ironically, I saw a blond hippy chick in a floor length skirt also sprinting off my plane and thought “she looks like she’s headed for a Thai beach.” Sure enough, we raced through the airport together yelling out where to turn for connecting gates.

My tentative plan will have me start in the south part of Thailand where I can live island life for a while, then make my way north to Chiang Mai and then over to Laos and Cambodia and finally to Europe. Suggestions, comments, and encouragement are always welcome.

Take flight and live!

Saying goodbye to America as I board my plane in San Diego.