It’s January 5th, 2010 and I’m sitting at the Portland airport about to board a flight to San Francisco.
From there I’ll fly to Seoul, and finally land in Bangkok, Thailand. My new home for…I have no idea how long.
To say the last week (and past few days in particular) have been a whirlwind would not be doing me justice.
Between trying to see all of the people in my life who will not be venturing across the world with me, and tying up countless loose ends, I’m ready to hop on a plane and just sit. For a long, long time!
As I’ve been thinking about my imminent departure, I’ve realized that this could be labeled a defining moment in my life. You know, one of those moments where you make a decision that you know will affect how you live the rest of your life.
I am almost ashamed to say that I haven’t had many of those in my life. As I have written in the past, my life has been pretty easy. I’ve always known what’d be next.
Well, I have no clue what’s next.
I’m arriving in Bangkok at midnight on Wednesday/Thursday and don’t know where I’ll be staying or going from there.
This is the coolest and most terrifying thing I have ever done.
As scary as it is though (my stomach has been in knots for the last few days), I didn’t have much of a choice. Had I said no, rather than yes, I would have always wondered “what if?” What if I hadn’t went to Thailand to pursue my dreams? What if I hadn’t left my job? What if I failed to take risks when opportunities presented themselves?
Then I would be like 95% of the people in the world who don’t go after their dreams.
I couldn’t live with that.
Life will present you with opportunities to make decisions that will define how you live and what you do. Maybe it will come in the form of a new job opportunity? Perhaps it’s a decision to leave a current job with no plans for the future. At one point or another, you’ll have a tough decision to make, and it will probably scare the crap out of you.
Embrace it.
Me sitting at the airport about to leave for Thailand. This was the moment my life would change forever.
As difficult as it is, learn to embrace the change and I promise you that you will be better off for it.
The only things that I regret in life, are the things that I didn’t do. For instance, when I had the opportunity to study abroad during college, I didn’t take it. There really weren’t any insurmountable reasons why I couldn’t have, it was just easier not to.
Looking back, I feel like that is one of the biggest things that has led me down my current path; I guess I’m making up for the missed opportunity!
Or how about the time earlier this year when I had the chance to learn how to sail, for free, in the Caribbean for three months. Instead, I decided to stay at a job that I knew I wasn’t happy with, and to this day I can’t believe I passed on the chance. Those are my regrets.
I don’t think I’ll regret the decision to travel.
UPDATE: It’s now 5:17am PST and I’m sitting at gate E5 in PDX finishing up this post. To say that the feeling is surreal would be an understatement to say the least.
If you have been following Location 180 for awhile, you know how long I have been working towards this moment. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m proud to think about how far I have come.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me over the coming weeks and months. As I mentioned in the last entry, I’m hoping to get a few more posts written while in transit about both my packing list, as well as a recap of everything that happened in 2009.
Again, I also wanted to thank you for sticking with me over the past week, as I know I have deviated from my posting schedule. To be honest, preparing to leave kicked my ass more than I ever expected it to, but now that everything is taken care of I find myself in a state of groggy relaxation (also forgive me if this post makes no sense, as I said, it is WAY earlier than I am used to being awake!).
Here’s to a fantastic 2010 that already holds more promise than any year in recent memory!
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Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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