Oh Hey World

24 hours since landing in San Francisco after spending the previous 5 months in Southeast Asia, here are a few thoughts I wanted to share:

• I prefer shorts, a t shirt, and flip flops to jeans, a fleece, and shoes.
• I’d love it if I never had to wear shoes again. But I need to buy some shoes, as I have none with me.
• It’s true – life in the US really does revolve around sporting events.
• My pocket book is going to take a hit while I’m here. I spent over $100 yesterday alone. That’s about 2 weeks of expenses in SE Asia.
• Coming from daily humid, 100 degree weather – San Francisco is freaking cold and windy. I froze my butt off at the Giants game last night.
• I’m extremely fortunate to be surrounded with such a great group of friends

What kind of life do you want to lead? And where do you want to live it?

The life I’ve chosen over the past few years is a nomadic one — meaning constantly on the move to new places and experiencing new cultures and people. But, though I wouldn’t trade it for the world, such a life is not always as rosy as people think.

Here are some of the sacrifices you’ll need to make:

• You’ll have no “home” for months at a time
• You’ll go nonths and months without seeing your best friends in person
• Comfortable couches, and beds, are few and far between
• No peanut butter for hundreds or thousands of miles
• Watching anything other than futbol (soccer) is amazingly hard
• You’ll experience a slew of dropped Google Voice and Skype calls due to weak internet connections
• Constantly fighting time zone differences trying to communicate with family and friends
• No money to spend on DVD’s, fancy clothes, or other materialistic crap (that you don’t need). Not really sure this one is a sacrifice — at least to me, it’s not
• Depending on your location, going days without seeing another Caucasian
• A comfortable overnight bus ride? You’re dreaming.

Still want to live the nomadic lifestyle? If yes – do it. You just need to set your mind to it, make the sacrifices to save money, pack your backpack, and get on the plane.

I’ll leave you with this:

Now that I’ve left Chiang Mai and moved on to the Philippines, I thought I’d list a few things I miss about the wonderful city of Chiang Mai:

1. The people
2. Mrs Pa’s Smoothies
3. Sunday night market – samosas, ice cream, corn, smoothies, and massages
4. Chicken Pad Thai for 35 Baht at Drink More
5. Unbelievable cashew chicken nut for less than 75 baht
6. Geeky work sessions
7. Saturday night market
8. The people
9. Mrs Pa’s Smoothies
10. Did I mention the people?