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Leaping into the unknown. On Aug 12th, 2021, I made a decision. I’m jumping into another adventure. I’m not a 100% sure what adventure I’ll pursue yet, but I do know this:

1. A year from now I won’t be living in the same city

2. A year from now I won’t be working the same job as I am now.

Leaping into the unknown is scary. In the past, I made calculated leaps, like moving to South Korea or thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. I prepared and researched enough ahead of time to help reduce the fall out of each leap. My mind and spirit is screaming: It’s time to do it again.

Why am I leaping into the unknown again?

TW: Mentions of depression and un-aliving

If you ask me: “Have you ever experienced depression or considered un-aliving yourself?”, I would tell you no. However, that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. I equate depression with sadness. With the exception of 2020, for most of my life I felt pretty ok inside. Not super sad, but not super happy. However in 2016, a few months before I decided moving to South Korea was a great idea, I was thinking about suicide and started to ponder it as a potential option. 😱 Although I didn’t consider myself to be depressed, at the time, I was insanely bored. My thinking during that time was in this context: “I feel so empty inside. I’m so utterly bored with life. If life is just being an automated robot, going through the motions, then I don’t want to live in this life anymore”.

Thankfully, instead of continuing down that train of thought or path, I realized that I needed to get out of my comfort zone. Pronto. Flying halfway around the world, to a country I’ve never visited before, where I don’t speak any of the language, or know anybody, apparently was the medicine I needed. Although Korea did have it’s excitements and frustrations, I can tell you one thing, I was NEVER bored while I lived there.

After my adventure in Korea and then the Appalachian Trail, I moved back to the same place I lived before Korea. I did this because it was the easy option. I knew where to rent a cheap apartment, how and where to get a steady, alright job, I already had some friends there, and it was a place where I could integrate back into the US and a regular 9 to 5 life without any major hiccups.

Nearly two years later, it’s not working for me anymore. Honestly, it never did. I’m going numb inside again. It’s time to feel alive and get back out of my comfort zone. Leave the easy option behind and start living vibrantly again.

What actions have I taken already?

I’m currently in the process of reaching out to former colleagues to receive the necessary letters of recommendation. Later this week, I’ll get fingerprinted so I can get my background check processed. If I continue down this path or option, it may lead to teaching in Korea for another year or possibly teaching in Spain.

I’m also researching bachelor’s and master’s programs in Germany and other parts of Europe. Later this week I will sign up to a program that helps international students apply to various German universities. If I continue down this path, I hope to get into a program that focuses on the environment or sustainability. I plan to fund my living expenses through scholarships and part time work (if I’m able to). If needed, I’ll even take out school loans.

Although the options above are great, they aren’t the dream life I’m ultimately striving for. Earlier this year, I made a vision board for 2023. When I posted it on Jan 8th, 2021, I wrote: “As of this date, I’m giving myself 2 years to save up as much money as possible for 2023. In the vision board below, these adventures are my top priority. By 2023, I hope to have at least 5 years of hiking expenses saved and/or invested to fund these adventures”. I currently have two jobs, and am working on building more sources of income to make this happen.

My Sustainability Goal — What I need to permanently live my dream life

Leaping into the unknown is scary, but it’s more manageable when you’re not worried about the money side of things. 😉 Although I’m currently more focused on building my investments and net worth up, I would love to find a way to have a steady source of $1,000 a month of passive/online income coming in. This is my base survival number I need to permanently thru hike and travel around the world. To help jumpstart that goal, in this year of Aug 2021 to Aug 2022, I will try to focus on creating more. This includes blog posts, photography, etc, in hopes of finding a hobby or a super flexible online job that can net a steady $1,000 a month by this time next year.

As I mentioned above, I am investing in my 401K and Roth IRA, of course, but I’m not quite where I need to be to live off of just investments. However, I don’t want to spend the next 3-5 years sitting in one place building up a crazy amount of money and being unhappy while doing it. I want to build up a crazy amount of money AND be happy while doing it. 😁

I know I might not be the best writer. It’s something I’m working on, but I invite you to follow along on my journey of escaping the 9 to 5 life and building one that I love.