I was a traditional entrepreneur from the age of 23 until my mid-40s. Then a whirlwind of unforeseeable events took place and the current of those events took me on an adventure I never saw coming.
I've been vagabonding since 2004. I go to places without a plan of how long I will stay, have experiences, and then move on.
People seem -- to me -- to be driven by the past regrets they can't change or planning for a future that may never come. So I choose to live in the moment, not necessarily for it. I find clarity of mind in that strange space between being disconnected from all that is around me, yet completely aware of it.
After 20 years of a very traditional life, where I founded and ran various companies, some financially very successful, some not, and during the worst financial fallout of my life (where I lost everything, including my apartment in NYC), something happened. I let go: the current of life has since taken me on adventurous, confusing, and wondrous journeys.
Some see me as adventurous, others a lunatic. Life is like that -- everyone has an opinion.
During those down years I began to write, and for the first time was inspired by doing something that I liked the process of as much as the results it generated, for better or worse. There was no end game to it. Rather, it is something I began doing simply for the experience of doing it.
Because I had a business persona for two decades, complete with designer suits, short-cropped hair, and big fancy cars, I adopted a pseudonym as a writer.
I wrote for magazines like American Songwriter, Glide, Jazz Review, and others, and even had a NY nightlife column for a while.
Shortly after I moved to Buenos Aires for a 10 day trip with a friend (where I stayed for 7 glorious years) I had read a great book entitled "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long Distance World Travel" by Rolf Potts. In it, he shared his views on travel preparedness and tips but also infused his worldviews. It captivated me, he spoke of things I had long felt but was unable to express. I did express my views however in my review of it.
It is this intoxicating sense of adventure that led me to plan the motorcycle trip to the Himalayas for September 2017 while I'm still physically able.
My introduction to true raw travel began with Kena, a Colombian photojournalist student I had met, who was studying in Buenos Aires. She changed my life in many ways. I went from being a tourist, well-traveled as I was, who went places to look at stuff, to becoming a traveler who went to places not to look but to see.
Once you see something, you can't un-see it.
I've been vagabonding since 2004. I go to places without a plan of how long I will stay, have experiences, and then move on.
Whether I am on the hunt to discover unknown adventures I can't define, or leaving a life behind is unclear. But the experiences are raw, unfettered, and real.
They stimulate the imagination and bring into focus a truth that l live by -- nothing is for certain and everything is subject to change. Nothing is better or worse, it is simply something new and original.
When people ask me why I vagabond, I can only say that it is to experience life up close and personal, without filters. To see cultures, people, lifestyles, and absorb them first, then, in hindsight -- with the clarity, that time and distance provide -- form opinions about it. Rather than having opinions first and seeking out information to validate those beliefs.
When people ask me why I vagabond, I can only say that it is to experience life up close and personal, without filters. To see cultures, people, lifestyles, and absorb them first, then, in hindsight -- with the clarity, that time and distance provide -- form opinions about it. Rather than having opinions first and seeking out information to validate those beliefs.
People seem -- to me -- to be driven by the past regrets they can't change or planning for a future that may never come. So I choose to live in the moment, not necessarily for it. I find clarity of mind in that strange space between being disconnected from all that is around me, yet completely aware of it.
After 20 years of a very traditional life, where I founded and ran various companies, some financially very successful, some not, and during the worst financial fallout of my life (where I lost everything, including my apartment in NYC), something happened. I let go: the current of life has since taken me on adventurous, confusing, and wondrous journeys.
Some see me as adventurous, others a lunatic. Life is like that -- everyone has an opinion.
During those down years I began to write, and for the first time was inspired by doing something that I liked the process of as much as the results it generated, for better or worse. There was no end game to it. Rather, it is something I began doing simply for the experience of doing it.
Because I had a business persona for two decades, complete with designer suits, short-cropped hair, and big fancy cars, I adopted a pseudonym as a writer.
I wrote for magazines like American Songwriter, Glide, Jazz Review, and others, and even had a NY nightlife column for a while.
Shortly after I moved to Buenos Aires for a 10 day trip with a friend (where I stayed for 7 glorious years) I had read a great book entitled "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long Distance World Travel" by Rolf Potts. In it, he shared his views on travel preparedness and tips but also infused his worldviews. It captivated me, he spoke of things I had long felt but was unable to express. I did express my views however in my review of it.
It is this intoxicating sense of adventure that led me to plan the motorcycle trip to the Himalayas for September 2017 while I'm still physically able.
My introduction to true raw travel began with Kena, a Colombian photojournalist student I had met, who was studying in Buenos Aires. She changed my life in many ways. I went from being a tourist, well-traveled as I was, who went places to look at stuff, to becoming a traveler who went to places not to look but to see.
Once you see something, you can't un-see it.
Nothing would ever be the same. My first backpacking trip was with her to Salta, Argentina, and the rest, as they say, is history.
How I met her, and my past before her is another story that I will leave for another time.
How I met her, and my past before her is another story that I will leave for another time.
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