New Years

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions I believe in doing something today to make changes in your life.

 

In December 2013 I decided it was time for a change things were not going well and I was not happy. I knew I wanted to travel more and decided I wanted to try my hand at teaching English. December 2013 was when I started to make changes so I could finally do what all of the Aussies that I have met do…..travel for extended periods. I was in Banff for new years 2013 and met a girl from South Korea who told me I should move there as I would be good at teaching….what are the chances of meeting a girl from the country I want to teach at? Now it is December 31, 2014 and I am a month away from a 7 month trip that will end with my teaching. For the first time in a long time I am motivated. 2015 will be the year I get to spend more time with family, see some friends I haven’t seen in years and I will finally get to go to Australia……..

 

To all of my Aussies friends scattered throughout the world I will finally go to the bar with you guys and be the one the cute girls want to talk to because I have the accent…..

 

With that Happy New Years to all of my friends and family.

Tuna Tom

Purging

Today I started the first purge of my stuff. Over the years I purchased lots of dvds I was thinking of selling them but the thought of listing that many to get 2-5 dollars per dvd I thought why bother. I donated a wack load of them to a drop in center and the guy who took them from me told me that "I just made some kids Christmas as the kid won't have cable".......now I know where I will be donating even more of my stuff when the time is ready. I do have things I need to sell the only issue is if I sell too soon then I have no place to sit! Slowly bit by bit I will donate more and more things, sure when I move back to Canada I will need to buy it all again but hey its only money.......

Tuna Tom

Money

How am I financing this trip?

How much do you need?

How much is enough?

How long have I been saving?

Do I have concerns about money.......yes I do and I really have no idea how much is enough.

Let’s start with what I can answer or do know. January is a 3 paycheque month in other words one “bonus pay”. January 30th is my last day of work and I also get paid that day. One month after I start my travels I get one last bonus from work. Fingers crossed on this one I should be receiving a good chunk of money from a health spending account. After I move out of my apartment I will receive my damage deposit back. I will also sell a lot of my possessions.

Eventually I will have advertising on my blog and will receive some revenues from that. I have in the past and will again do online surveys. Both the advertising and surveys will not give me a lot of money but, when you just need 10 dollars for a hut on the beach and 10 dollars for food for the day, an extra 50 dollars from the above will give you an extra 3 nights stay and 2 days of meals. You do need to change your lifestyle and way of thinking when travelling – minimizing drinking will save you a lot of cash, cook more or finding cheaper places to eat, travel to cheaper destinations, stay in hostels, buy the $1.30 loaf of bread rather than the $5 loaf.

Aren’t flights expensive? Not when you happen to get two new credit cards with bonus aero point miles where suddenly a flight to Australia cost you 58.80 and 40,000 points :)

There are many other ways to save money cut back on eating out, don’t buy a car, don’t go out for that 4 dollar starbucks coffee, get a set of hair clippers and cut your own hair.  

If you want to travel like this start today. In the end there will always be something else that will come up financially, and if you want this bad enough you will find a way.

Tuna Tom

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.

Realization

When I first book flights, vacations or even talk to people about possible next trips I get excited. After the initial booking I usually don't think much about the trip until I am either on my way to the airport, that first beer or until I reach the new destination, but sometimes just sometimes it isn't until I either wake up or, until it just hits me that I am on vacation. I am about to leave my job, my apartment and my life behind. As excited as I am to travel for months and live in different countries there is a piece of me that is scared and a piece that is telling myself you are now on borrowed time the apartment will soon be empty, all of "my stuff" will be sold or given away, I will replaced at work, my friends will move on and that makes me a little upset. 

Nevermind I just saw pictures from other vacations........

Tuna Tom

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.

Time for a change

I see many people at work or around in general who look unhappy or depressed and I hear the same things from people "I am tired" "I am burnt out" etc. I felt these ways and asked myself the same questions such as "who cares" or "what’s the point". Today at the gym I asked myself those same questions and then it hit me how many things are connected. I have known for years I wanted to travel more and it was a year ago that I finally decided it was time for a change. Now I am eight weeks away until that change. At this point in my life I figured I would have been married with kids, debt free and well established in my career. I look in the mirror and what do I see a tired, fat, lazy, bored and lonely person who lost his smile. Why am I quitting my well-paying job, leaving behind the security of bi-weekly pays, my apartment, and all of “my stuff”? I don’t recognize the guy in the mirror and he is not who I am. I have two choices in my life I can continue with "my life" my “real world adult life” or “the life society tells me to live” or I can leave it all behind leave behind the guy in the mirror and find my smile.

From time to time while on vacation I see that smile and then when I come back to the real world it disappears sometimes the day I come back. This is a huge world with many different jobs, people, countries, cities, and opportunities and somewhere out there is the one that has the right balance that will allow me to keep my smile. By this time next year I should be living in Daegu South Korea and hear is my prediction;

I will be 30 pounds lighter than I am

I will be dating a great girl

I will have a constant smile on my face

I will love my job

I will have swam/snorkeled in some of the most beautiful places on this planet with amazing animals

I will have made many new lifelong friends

I will be on my way to being in the best shape I have ever been in

I will be well on my way to being debt free

I will have had countless new experiences

I will know how to speak other languages (but not well)

I will have new skills

I will be working towards being a full time presenter along with being a guide in the mountains

And

I will ask myself why I didn’t change my life sooner

Tuna Tom

Planning

The next best thing to travelling is planning the next trip. Once you are planning a trip that covers multiple cities, countries, continents and seasons you are now in a whole new game of planning. It is one thing to plan a few days or a few weeks but when you are planning months there is a lot to think about, money getting from point A to point B to point C to point D (ok you get the point). You also need to plan how you are getting to the different areas plane, train, heel toe express? What clothes do I need? Where are you going do you know the language, culture, will there be festivals, will it be busy, any major things in the news such as governments being over thrown, disease outbreaks.... speaking of diseases what shots do you need and when? Travel insurance…….it is not fun for multiple months. Visas, your passport, credit cards – to make a long post short there is a lot to think about and consider.

Am I telling you that you need to plan every day, every hour……god no - besides aren’t you leaving that behind. What I am saying is have a rough idea of the continents & countries you are going to.

I am an outdoor person I love spending time in the mountains and one thing I like to always say is – there is no such thing as a bad day in the mountains just bad gear!

As much planning as you do realize that things will change and that isn’t always a bad thing! You may meet people on the way and travel with them, maybe find a better route, hear about a place you NEED to see or places to avoid. Always be flexible when travelling you don’t want to miss out on a really cool event, place, people or festivals because you planned everything out exactly. Sometimes not having a plan but an idea, and knowing when and where your next point A to point B is all you need.

If it seems like this went in circles it probably did…..sorry! Basically have an idea but be flexible you are travelling not working!

Tuna Tom

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.

9 weeks to go

Mondays are tough enough as it is never mind the fact that I am 9 weeks away from leaving Mondays and everything else behind. What I find difficult right now is trying to focus on everything. My pre travel list is getting bigger not smaller it seems and my mind is focused on getting things done in my personal life. Right now I have courses to do, shots to get, travel insurance, things to sell and many other aspects to look into. The problem with being a traveler is ordinary life is just that too ordinary…..conversations about the weather and weekends are just not that exciting to hear but then again it is because I haven’t been doing much on weekends. Life is what you make of it and right now I am not making enough with it. I am looking forward to only having to get up early because I am travelling or because I truly want to not because of work.

A lot of people who I tell I will be travelling want me to email them which is why I started a blog instead besides I hate email well emails that are endless or would be best answered by a 5 minute conversation. I think before you go on a major trip like I am about to you need to enjoy your life today in order to help you to focus on all the things you need to do work and non work related.

Tuna Tom

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.

What is "stuff"?

Slowly but surely me leaving the company to travel is getting around the office. Some people are shocked that I am leaving to travel. I can understand why so many people are shocked what I am doing as it is a risk and they have families and mortgages meanwhile I have an apartment full of stuff and a travel addiction. Lots of people are focused on the stuff asking questions like what about all of your things? It makes me realize how focused people are on their possessions.  When I really look at what I have an old tube tv, dvd player, movies, video games, some furniture, clothes, dishes and other useless junk. The most important things in my apartment are my outdoor gear, souvenirs from earlier travels and passport. I am baffled how critical people think stuff is. Sure it costs money for all of this "stuff" but so what? Too many people don't own things rather their possessions own them. I do have some people say "good for you" or "congratulations", or "must be nice". It would have been nice at this point in my life to be married with kids and a nice house in the burbs but that hasn't happened. I am realizing the more you make the more you spend. When I was a student a trip was a weekend in Toronto which I could hardly afford a 25 dollar meal was very expensive. You make more money and you go from a 20,000 dollar car to a 30,000 to a 50,000 dollar car and instead of spending 1,000 dollars on a couch maybe its 3,000 dollars. I drive to Banff for a weekend and my car is full of "stuff" meanwhile I can travel to five different countries over a span of three weeks with one backpack. I've had people tell me I need a new tv because mine is old but hey it works. I know other people who need the latest technology and get a new phone every year other people who have to wear the latest fashions.

So what "stuff" is really important to me? Family, friends, beer, tasty food, being active, exploring something old (ruins, past civilizations), cultures, the nature, animals, outdoors, those moments in life when your heart is just pumping from being scared or adrenaline, feeling good about yourself, helping others, the surprises that happen in life, music, new experiences.....living life for what is is and what makes you feel good not because it is what society tells you is right and wrong.

We all need to make sacrifices and decisions in life but sometimes you need to see them for what they really are.

Tuna Tom

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.

it all starts here

This is a blog for my travelling adventures. It is nine weeks  before I begin my journey. I have handed in my letter of resignation and it has become official at work that I am leaving. It hasn't sunk in yet that soon I will be homeless and jobless........it kind of scares the crap out of me but I am looking forward to not having to wake up to an alarm clock, have meetings, or have to remember an additional hundred different user names and passwords such as Pa33word7!#

I do have several flights booked the first one booked nearly 3 months ago.

Like many people working I knew I needed a change but it was a matter of what, where and when. It is not an easy decision to figure out what you want to do. Before I get into this more I want to talk about my past travel experiences. 

The first trip I did was to Panama City Beach Florida during the Canadian Spring Break (no girls gone wild just drunk Canadians singing the national anthem). The first time as a Canadian when you have your feet in the sand in February is something hard to imagine or explain. This trip might have been the start but the first real trip was October 2008 to Holguin Cuba. It wasn't cold yet but to fly for a few hours and land in a whole new country where nobody knew me and I knew nobody and nothing that was it I was hooked. After Cuba I went to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica (over Christmas and New Years) Vancouver for the Olympics, and then I did my first backpacking trip to Central America where I met my good Aussie friend Tuna Dave.

Dave is an inspiration for me as he enjoys life and you can't help but to just laugh when hanging out with him. This was the first time I met someone who was travelling for "until the money runs out". He told me he was saving to buy a house when he decided enough was enough and started travelling. It is now November 2014 and he is still travelling and I am getting close to my first escape. At the time I would have never dreamed of packing it all in as I had a girlfriend and loved my job. This trip changed my way of thinking and travelling forever.

This trip we went to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. I learnt a new type of traveling what I consider real travelling - backpacking. When you are backpacking you might visit several different countries and a new city every day or every couple of days. Backpacking is just that you with a backpack on your back and maybe front as you never know what you will encounter whether a chicken bus in Central America, boats that seem to appear out of nowhere, sidewalks that barely exist, and you could be walking across borders, or walking up endless flights of stairs who knows.  After Central America I went back to work and over the next few years I went to Europe three times and one of those times was to visit an old friend, I went back to see the rest of Central America, Vegas, New Orleans for Mardi Gras and back to Cuba. During these trips I met more and more people like my friend Dave who were travelling for six months, or a year or more and yes most of them Aussies. I kept asking myself "how can people do this", "why not me"? Several years of travelling, failed relationships and then an unhappiness at work has led me to where I am today spilling my guts on this blog and about ready to start a seven month journey......

About a year ago I decided enough was enough I want to see the grass on the other side and become like my many Aussie friends and travel for an extended period of time. I signed up and have since been certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). By becoming TEFL certified it meant that I can now teach English in 30 or more countries and can earn while I travel. With a degree in business, a small business diploma,  a diploma in accounting and nearly eight years in oil and gas experience it means I have a unique ability to teach others in elementary, middle school, high school, adults or professionals who want to learn business etiquette in North America, or to teach them the business or oil and gas lingo. Hey we all need to work at some point so I might as well have a few things I can fall back on. My plan is to leave my job January 30th, 2015 and start travelling January 31st, 2015 (no not wasting time!). I plan on teaching English in South Korea starting in August 2015.

January 31st I will fly to Houston Texas for the night and catch a flight to Antigua Guatemala February 1st. I will spend a week in Antigua seeing the way a language school works since I will later be teaching English I need to know what my students will be facing. After Guatemala I will go to Honduras to Roatan Island and Utila Island. I am going to Utila Island in hopes of snorkeling with whale sharks. After Honduras back to Guatemala and work my way up to Belize and onto Mexico. Happy coincidence it looks like I will be in Cancun Mexico for part of the American Spring Break. After Central America I will come back to Canada and then drive to Whitefish Montana for hopefully some powder filled days of skiing. After skiing I will drive home to visit my parents and family in Ontario. I may drive to the East Coast but who knows!??!?! I need to make my way to New York City to catch a flight (and to get some real New York style cheesecake) to San Francisco where I will hangout for a week and then catch a flight to Australia (sorry mom you can't come). I have wanted to go to Australia for a few years but it is my moms biggest dream which I do have a guilty feeling that she can't come. I will visit friends who have couches who slept on my couch wohoo! After Oz I will go to where the Kiwis and All Blacks come from - New Zealand. After New Zealand it will be Asia not 100 percent sure yet but Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. I might go to China as well and with any luck I should be heading to South Korea to teach after. 

That is the plan so what am I doing now? I am trying to save as much money as possible and am taking 30 percent and soon to be 40 percent of my pay directly off into a savings account. January 2015 is a three paycheque month with the last pay coming January 30th (the day before my first travel coincidence I think not). I will also have a bonus come in March as well as a damage deposit come after I start my travels. Besides saving a lot of trying to forecast/budget how much money I need and will have coming in. I have lots to sell, new passport to obtain, more flights to book as well as hostels. 

I picked some of the locations as they were cheaper alternatives ie Whitefish Montana over Banff Alberta. I also used aeroplan miles to book my flight to Australia and my flight to Guatemala for a combined total of 60,000 points and 140 dollars. I had signed up for credit cards earlier in the year just for all of those precious points. I am now also cashing in all of the other rewards programs, petro points, air miles etc. 10 dollars here and there will make a difference when travelling abroad. I am also gathering all of the currencies I have in my possession a few dollars from Guatemala and Honduras from earlier trips along with left over American and Euro dollars. This might not seem like a lot but having a few dollars in local currency can save you a lot as now you have money for local transit, or cab fair and enough for maybe your first tuk tuk ride, meal or drink!

Tuna Tom  

Life is a long road with many crossroads but there is no going back only going forward.