Monday morning. For me, now... no different than any other morning. Yet I am compelled to start my normal routine, albeit a bit later than normal. Get up, shower, swallow 15 mg of adderall XR, and begin mentally planning my day. But instead of hopping in my car for the morning commute, I hop up on my bed and open my laptop.
For those of you just joining us, let me catch you up to speed.
For the last four years I have worked as a satellite engineer at a local technology company. It was a fantastic gig with generous benefits, perks and good pay. The company built a national network that is a modern marvel of technological perfection. It is rivaled only by its associated business plan's monumental failure. Eventually the shareholders demanded action, and the shutdown began. I was offered, along with others, an incentive to "voluntarily" resign. Given the information available to me at the time, accepting the offer seemed like the right play. After all, my options were 1) take this large amount of money and go... or 2) take your chances and stay. It is yet to be determined which of the two options turns out to be more lucrative. I chose #1.
This all happened in a very short period of time, during which I have not sought out new employment opportunities. I have decided instead to take a bit of time to see some parts of the world I've only heard and read about. The severance package will sustain me until late spring, so I am not being irresponsible by choosing this route. Rather, I feel I owe it to myself to get out and do some of these things now while I have nothing to hold me back.
Please feel free to offer suggestions and/or travel discounts that you might come across. I will be scouring the interwebz for the next few weeks, seeking out destinations and putting together itineraries. As of right now, I don't really have any restrictions other than a limited amount of cash. Time and distance are not really of any concern. The short list of possible destinations include: Thailand, Costa Rica, The Phillipines, Cambodia, Australia, the countries of southern Africa, Argentina, Brazil, and the Caribbean. I don't think there is anyway to hit all of these... but who knows.
My timeline is open ended. There are employment opportunities abroad that could allow me to extend my timetable. For instance, I could teach English as a second language in several of the aforementioned countries, and use that as a sort of home-base to visit some of the neighboring regions. This could be done for a semester in each of the regions mentioned. Thailand is a good home base to hop around Southeast Asia. Argentina for South America... etc.
It's all just an idea for now... but I plan on turning it into a reality as soon as possible. Deep breaths... here we go.