Minimalism: Understanding Happiness

As an over-thinker and a daydreamer, it doesn't surprise me about myself that I am always looking for a solution. To everything. I fancy myself a do-er, not an idealist, however, and because I've been so stuck in the same life for so long, it makes me crazy to think that progress is not being…

Give It All You’ve Got

I am sitting in a waiting room reading this year's April/May edition of National Geographic Traveler Magazine. Since I was a small child and my mother came home with a monumental stack of NG salvaged from someone's half packed up yard sale, these magazines have been my favorite - the only magazine I have ever…

Here’s the Thing!

Okay lately I've been struggling with words. For a while I thought maybe I didn't have a thing to say, but I think maybe it was just this problem of execution. As it turns out, if there's something we're thinking, even if it's hard to describe, it is highly likely that someone else has found…

Maybe It’s Time to Reassess

We've reached that time of year when everyone's favorite topic is New Year's Resolutions. This isn't about that. Not exactly. It is time to reassess my priorities, and I'm thinking this will take much more than a year's worth of resolve. I had a good Christmas, and I hope everyone else did too. It's actually…

It’s a different view from on top of the world

I've got no house and I've got no home // But I've got streets and places to roam // I've got no pillow, for my head // But I've got the mountains, for my bed...

Let’s get excited for a moment.

Anyone who has had more than, say, three life experiences knows that great surprises come in all shapes and sizes. This time my surprise came in the shape of a long lost friend offering me a great opportunity. My plans for moving to China in January to teach English have remained surprisingly cohesive for the…

Surprise Surprise?

Have you ever been going about your day, minding your own business, when suddenly life smacks you in the face, out of the blue, all the way from left field? You'll have to pardon my mixed metaphors, I'm still in a bit of a fluster here. I'd been at the gym working out for about…

Castles and Nomads

I had an unexpected conversation the other night that has stayed with me all day. I was talking to my older brother about life; how we've changed since we were kids, and what we thought we'd be doing and what we thought we'd be like. My brother and I don't often have what you'd call…

Travelling Sick

As much as I love travelling, my love comes with slight caveats. I hate travelling when I'm sick. Unfortunately I've had more than my share of instances in which a perfectly good, albeit already exhausting trip was turned around by a sudden onset of allergies, flu, or stomach bug. Any kind of travelling calls for…

Tick tock, tick tock

Today is Thursday, the 12th of March. On the ides of March, I will receive word about where I will call home for the next two+ years of my life. I know, for someone who isn't yet in the Peace Corps, I write an awful lot about it. Well, hopefully the ides of March will…