I quit my job, moved out of my apartment and have a 10-week ticket to Europe

Well, the headline says it all. In the course of the last four days, I've quit a job I've held for three years (today is my last day at work), moved out of my apartment, and prepared for a 10-week bicycle tour through Spain with one of my best friends.

My checklist is nearly complete. Buy a digital camera, check. Donate, sell or store my belongings,
check. Create a training manual for the guy who'll replace me at work, check. Download Spanish lessons onto my ipod, check. (Thanks Will!)

Now I'm sitting at an empty desk, 4:30 on a Friday, knowing that the next step is to box my bike and board a plane. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what routes we'll ride, where we'll stay, how we'll afford to eat in a land where sandwiches cost 5 euro. But I do know this much: I can't wait to see Kim's face at a baggage carousel in Madrid ....

Nepal and Thailand

This past November and December, I spent six weeks touring Nepal and Thailand. (My editor was kind enough to grant me a leave of absence.)



There's a Nepali word -- "khatham!" -- which means, "it's F*****." That describes the state of Kathmandu.

The Himalayas seem dwarfed by the mountains of trash on the streets, cleared occasionally by trash fire. Starving goats nibble on the shawls of beggars. The air pollution gives you a headache by noon; you're asleep by 5 p.m., trying to make it disappear in dreamland.

Yet it's rich culture -- filled with vibrant cloths, bright powders, children swinging on oak branches and old women feeding stray cows -- lend Nepal a beauty that even poverty and pollution can't cloak.

The people's daily lives are triumphs of the human spirit. One feeble man, with meager possessions, saved enough to buy a bathroom scale. Each day he sits on the sidewalk, charging passers-by a few pennies to check their weight. Resourcefulness in action.

Thailand, by contrast, is a European resort. Bangkok is a party destination, with hot restaurants and nightclubs and street-vendor Pad Thai Noodles and refreshing mango juice. Chiang Mai, in the north, is lush and green, with forests of bamboo trees that seem to shoot a mile high. The islands in the south have crystal-clear water and white beaches.

Just see what happens and go from there

From my horoscope today: "loosen up and let life take its course. Don't be so quick to plan."

Vinyasa

I read recently that true happiness comes from "flow," the act immersing in an activity so fully that you lose all concept of self, space, and time.

I find flow from many things: reading, writing, climbing, cycling, socializing, trotting down the sidewalk in a new, distant country, taking in the languages, signs, smells, shirts. The way dogs in Bangkok wear tank tops. The way Costa Ricans greet each other with "pura vida." The funny jingles for "mango fruti" on Nepalese television sets.

Vision 2008 and Vision 2010

Vision 2008 -- I'll turn 25 at the end of that year -- by then, I will have ...

• Cycled 3,000 miles across the Mediterranean border of Europe
• Published in two glossy magazines
• Published in two large metropolitan newspapers
• Become adept in podcasting, creating multimedia slideshows and hosting my own professional-caliber Web site
• Moved to Central America and gained proficiency in Spanish OR moved to another region of the world

Vision 2010 -- I'll turn 27 at the end of that year -- by then, I will have ...

• Become fluent in a minimum of three languages (English plus two others)
• Published in a minimum of two large-circulation magazines and four major metropolitan newspapers
• Completed a multi-month backcountry trip, e.g. thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, or a comparable route in New Zealand or Patagonia
• Completed a multi-month distance bicycling trip
• Worked a series of "fun" jobs, like reporting for a television station, working a laid-back job in Hawaii, volunteering on an organic farm, or working at a ski resort
• Perhaps go to sommelier school, to gain an expertise in wines, and begin wine writing
  

Abrupt change in plans ...

Life works in mysterious ways. Friday, June 15 was my last day of work. I said my goodbyes, started selling off my worldly possessions and began preparing for a year-long, round-the-world excursion.

Monday, June 18-- yes, the first business day of my official unemployment -- they countered my resignation with a promotion.

So I'm staying.

This is the strangest morning I've ever had. I came in to clean out my desk. I left as the assistant news editor. I've been wanting a new professional challenge, so this'll be great. Now, to un-say goodbye to everyone, and to buy back my mattress ...

P

Europe/North Africa trip

Kim and I have set the bike trip route. Around March 31, we'll meet in Rabat, Morocco. From there it's a five-day ride to the Strait of Gibralter, which we'll ferry across. It then takes about 30 days -- or 1500 miles -- to cycle across Spain, France and northern Italy, ending in Venezia. From there it'll take another 24 days, or 1200 miles, to bike down the Baltic coast, through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegonvina, Montenegro and Albania, ending at the southern tip of mainland Greece. All in all, that's 59 or 60 days of cycling -- factoring for a margin of error, that's 75 days. Add another 45 days off our cycles to poke around in the towns and spend time on the beach, and -- voila! - we have our 120 day, 4 month bike trip from Morocco to Greece. Our grande finale may be a boat ride to Crete or even further south to Egypt....

I bought a touring bike for the trip this weekend and am starting to get used to sitting on a bike seat for prolonged periods.

My next order of business? Check airfare and make sure we can get entry visas for all these countries!