What Am I Chasing..?

Is it the impossible dream?

In 2004 I saw something that changed the direction of my life. I saw it and wanted it for myself. It's not some gemstone, a palette of gold bullion, or a suitcase filled with cash… I mean, don't get me wrong, that would be nice. What I saw was a place. A Place that I knew existed, I could point to on a map, but I never really gave it much thought beyond that. Then 2004 happened, and I saw (REDACTED) differently.

When I say that I saw it, I don't mean with my own two eyes. I saw it on television, and for that 1 hour of TV, I was captivated by it, drawn in by it; this place had my soul in its callused grip and didn't let got. When the hour was up, and the hand that reached out of my TV Videodrome style was gone, my need to be there wasn't. It became a dream. Maybe, an impossible dream.

Over the years, I've looked into ways to get there, but money was always in the way, as I didn't have any. And then you have the travel stuff, which I know very little about but would spend days/weeks pouring over information on visas and all the ways to get there.

A friend heard about this and mentioned a man named Tom Turcich, who has been walking around the world for 7 or 8 years with his dog. He lives on a minimal amount of money, primarily donations. Now, I don't want to travel for 7 or 8 years to get to my place. 7 or 8 months would be enough. But what this told me was it's possible. My impossible dream was very likely, and people were already doing it.

I started to rethink the whole thing, and a few years back, I decided to make this happen. Then I got a pay bump and was earning a decent wage. So I put it off, but only for a bit while I put money in the bank. Then came another pay bump and another, and for the first time, I was working a job I enjoyed doing and getting paid well. This went on for three years.

During a week of forced annual leave, I decided to quit and get started. Then two things happened. The guy I was working with, my bar manager, quit. Not being the kind of asshole that would give notice simultaneously means that the bar's two prominent and only full-time bartenders would be leaving within a week of each other. I decided to hang on for a bit, like six months. Then, When my bar manager left, I was given his job. That was thing number two. Of course, this came with another significant pay increase. I did say that I would only wait six months, but this was a good job, I enjoyed it, and the pay was great.

You might know where this is going if you've read a previous blog post entitled I Quit. I am now chasing that (Im) possible dream. That place that had me in its grip, I'm coming for ya. Big Time!

Carpe Deim, Mother Fuckers!