Come On, It's Adventure Time!

Dan in Yelapa, Jalisco, Mexico August 2015

Come On, It’s Adventure Time!

I am writing these words on the first day of the year 2018, waiting to board the plane that will take my daughter and I to Orlando, where we will be celebrating her 15th birthday. 2018 will be a year of milestones, including my 10-year anniversary of my employment with the same company. It will also be the year that I leave my beautiful, peaceful home town of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – to travel the world for a year and embrace the unknown.

In late 2017, I took the first steps towards a major life decision; I decided to become one of thousands of applicants for Remote Year (www.remoteyear.com). After several interviews and one deposit later, I was in; I agreed to fly to Split, Croatia, in August to meet up with the 50 strangers who will become my family for the year.

What is Remote Year? It is a 12-month work and travel program, spending each month in a new city around the globe with 50-75 other professionals. My cohort, Remote Year Exupery, will be taking me to Europe, Asia and South America, to some of the world’s oldest and largest cities.

I have felt the pull of travel intensively for several years; oh sure, I’ve “travelled” - road trips, spring break, but nothing longer than two weeks. I’ve got places that I love visiting, for example: Vancouver BC or Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. I’ve been to some popular spots in the US (Florida, New Orleans, Las Vegas, New York City), Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, London and Paris, but nothing that has taken me outside of my comfort zone. My French is strong and my Spanish is passable, so I feel at home in most of the Americas and most of Europe.

I consulted with a few close friends and family members before making the decision to “take off, eh”; they were all incredibly supportive. They all said “Do it!” Of course, I had second thoughts, some self-doubt and a little serving of fear of the unknown. To some extent, those feelings still linger, despite my impending flight half-way around the world. I don’t think these feelings will ever disappear completely, however it’s very therapeutic to write them down and put them out in the open. The great thing is: each of these negative thoughts are nearly completely eclipsed by excitement and incredible joy, as I am finally realizing one of my major goals in life, and already feel a heightened sense of accomplishment.

Leaving Everything Behind and Looking Forward

Obviously, the most difficult part of this decision was the idea that I’d be leaving everything behind; my friends, family, beautiful apartment, and familiar surroundings. I’ve always by driven by challenges; agreed to things I didn’t know if I could do, and was always able to adapt and be successful. I know that uprooting my life for 12 months will be a challenge; living out of a suitcase and wearing the same outfits week over week, packing up and moving all my possessions and the end of each month; and adjusting to a completely different language, culture and diet month-over-month.

Yet these challenges all present opportunities: making a ton of new friends and connections around the world, having unforgettable experiences, learning about new cultures and teaching others about mine, all the while eating some delicious food (and maybe drinking a few beverages along the way).

It's adventure time.