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A few years ago, I quit my job, sold most of my stuff, and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand to do some volunteer work after the Tsunami. I knew the trip would continue afterward, but had no idea where to or for how long. What I did know was that there was a fire burning inside and the only way to squelch it was to hit the road for a good long while. I'm not sure if it was squelched or inadvertently fed in the end, but whatever happened, it's been good!

I arrived on the island of Koh Phi Phi five months after the tsunami, and it was still a total mess. Not much had been done to clean it up, but work was in progress via several loosely formed charity organisations. I teamed up with the Koh Phi Phi Dive Camp, which was dedicated to cleaning up the beaches, reefs, and bays around the island. Every object imaginable was to be collected underwater, at about 11 meters depth. Corrugated metal roofing, pillows, mattresses, chairs, TVs, tables, lots of clothing, CDs, photo albums, bottles, and even fallen trees. It made for very interesting and rewarding diving; it certainly was not a typical "day in the underwater park." Visibility was nil and we often found ourselves alone in the silty underwater darkness, navigating by drawing lines in the sand with a stick, only to come face to face with a lion fish (they loved the natural hiding places created by all the junk).

After about three months in Thailand I joined the rest of the backpacker hoardes to do the typical Southeast Asia circuit of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and a bit of Indonesia - not in that order exactly. My actual route was far more inefficient, which I think has been a theme throughout my travels. All in all, it was fabulous, and I did not look back.

For the holidays, I popped back home to see family and how much my definition of 'normal' had changed. At this point, I also decided to hastily put together a visa application for working in the UK. At some point I would need to get some work under my belt again, and the UK seemed like a good place to do it. I spent New Years in London and a few weeks exploring my pre-selected new home before taking off for six more months of travel. The original plan was to hit up India next, but as usual I changed my mind at the last minute, landing in Buenos Aires.

South America involved a lot of hiking and amazing landscapes. I went from Usuaia at the southernmost tip up to Peru, via Argentina and Chile (uh, again, not in that order). It was good to see relatives in Argentina and spend a good chunk of time getting to know the country better. To be honest, I nearly didn't leave. But by then I had the UK visa waiting for me and a new adventure around the bend... Landing in the UK with nothing - no house, no job, no bank account!

Settling in a new country with nothing is lots of beaurocratic fun, but finally when the dust settled I found myself quite enjoying life in London. I found international roles at work, continued travelling (but with much shorter timelines) over weekends and business trips, and generally enjoyed drinking ales at my local. After a year of settlement, however, the feet started to itch again and I found myself on a big, dusty red truck full of rock climbers, crossing Africa. I joined the Hot Rock expedition in Namibia and left them in Tanzania. I didn't get enough, so I'll be back!

Throughout it all, I've met some wonderful people, launched myself into Laotian rivers from great heights, ridden a bicycle during a typhoon in Vietnam, rafted a class V river in Peru, had simultaneous projectile vomit and diarrhea in very uncomfotable places, eaten the best food I have ever tasted (perhaps a cause of the former?), ridden vehicles with more people on them than I ever would have thought would fit, gone hiking in spectacular Andean wilderness, climbed the highest peak I've ever reached, ridden a bicycle through a deserted and dry salty desert, been bit by bed bugs, seen the most amazing stars EVER, drop kicked a monkey, danced the tango, fired my first gun (an M-1 carbine!), and learned how to sleep just about anywhere. I reached emotional highs and lows I've never felt before, no longer throw away leftovers, and have grown a lot along the way. It's been the best (and cheapest) graduate school I could have attended.

You can see pictures and more stories about all of it up in the blog.

Have you been thinking of doing it? Take the leap! It's not as hard as you think. Email me if you'd like packing or other tips, or have ideas for useful info you'd like to see on this site. Please note, though, I don't check the inbox all that often.