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