Back in January, I wrote about a few coworkers who were leaving Yahoo to take some time off. One of them was Andy:
Second is Andy. He's leaving Yahoo in a couple weeks and plans to, quite literally, travel the world. He already has plane tickets to far-flung destinations, a small assortment of gear ready to pack (he's trying to travel light), and quite a list of other places he'd like to see. I'm a little jealous.
Andy has been documenting his trip on gone living and posting pictures on Flickr.
His latest entry recounts the simple island life he's been living for the last few days:
the days are simple: i wake up early in the mornings, eat a simple breakfast and drink some bali coffee, and i get in a boat for the morning's dive. then we come back in the afternoon, there's a few hours break for lunch, and then it's diving again until 3. today, besides all of the great coral and tropical fish, we also saw giant sea turtles and a shark! (don't worry, the sharks that live here haven't attacked divers) after that, i lie out on the beach or on the porch of my bungalow, read, write, and relax.
Nice. It reminds me of simplicity of summertime back in Ohio before I was old enough to get a part-time job.
What about dinner?
in the evenings, there is a sand road strip of thatched huts that contain bungalows, restaurants, and bars, so it's fresh-barbequed fish caught off the island or indonesian curries for dinner. the party for the night (all 30 people of it) is usually at one of the bars nearby within a minute's walk from home, where travellers drink together until late in the night.
Life wouldn't be complete without a soundtrack, of course:
the soundtrack to all of this is roosters crowing and indonesian voices and horse bells jingling and waves crashing and cafe stereo systems playing american pop music and movies. as i write this down, lenny kravitz playing somewhere, urging me to know that "yesterday is gone".
This is just a small taste of Andy's adventures. He's already been to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and Brunei. He has plans to hit many more places, including Lebanon, Jordan, Italy, Hong Kong, Holland, Russia, and many others.
Posted by jzawodn at May 05, 2006 07:23 AM
What a disgusting way to spend your life when he could be back here working.
Sure he's rich beyond his wildest expectations and no longer needs to work, but what a lame excuse for wasting your life like that.
Translation:
I'm extremely jealous and wish it were me :-)
Did I mention that I was jealous?
That's what I'm talking about!
I do love computer this-that-and-the-other but I'd drop all this techno crap in a heartbeat to be able to travel the world and empty my brain-cache like that.
I suspect that he's not rich beyond his wildest expectations.
good for them. their lives are their own. they don't owe any explanations for living as they want to. you could get hit by a cement truck this afternoon, do not waste your time if you do not have to.
Jeremy: Oh, you are wrong. He is very rich. USDs are not the only measure of wealth.
True, but they do seem to be the default for many, many people...
Cool.
If wealth were measured as the degree to which a person enriched themselves with good travel, good friends, and good deeds...we'd all have a lot more fun.
* Click HERE for a contextually relevant AD so I can go travel somewhere ! *
Thanks for the link, jeremy! Thanks also for all the feedback folks... I do try and remember that I'm very lucky to be doing this trip -- I started the "gone living" site as a way of sharing this experience with other people and to have some completed creative work at the end of this trip. (Besides taking photos of Mad Max refrigerator magnets, that is.)
The perspective I've gotten so far from the trip after several years in the bay area is unreal, to say the least. And very welcome.
