One of my favorite books is The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Inside, we find a homebody hobbit who has lived in one place his entire life, never bothering to venture much further than the fields surrounding his home. And yet he finds himself suddenly swept into an adventure almost across the known world with the most unlikely group of people.
If you would have told me a year ago that I was going to be following in the footsteps of a beloved hobbit, I would have looked at you like you were a dwarf on my doorstep looking for tea.
And yet, here we are.
While my adventure isn’t to the Misty Mountains, it is certainly going to be grand in its own right (11 cities, 10 countries, and 4 continents!) Heading out on this adventure means that for the first time I’m going to live somewhere other than the home I’ve known my whole life: Minneapolis, MN. And not only that, but I’m also not going to have a “home” to go back to!
For a long time I was conflicted by the thought of giving up seeing my friends, family, and becoming a “digital nomad”. But after giving it a significant amount of thought I realized that I was in the perfect position in my life to take this opportunity. I have a job that was gracious enough to let me work remotely, my apartment lease is up in April, and I have no pets/kids/spouses/significant others to tie to me permanently to one location.
I think in many cases, if I hadn’t decided to do this I would always be wondering what could have happened. What could have been. I decided I didn’t want to live my life always wondering what my life would have been like if I’d only done “X”.
So I decided that starting in June I’m going to step out my front door and see what the wild world has to offer. The beginning of a wonderful adventure.
Unlike Bilbo, however, first I have to pack up everything I own and get a bigger passport! One step at a time.
