2016 was a mess for many people. We lost a lot of wonderful celebrities. I lost a few close personal relationships to death and stupidity, that only amplified other topics of stress. One day talking to my friend and coworker about some of life's stresses she asked: "What do you want to do?" What I dreamed of doing was getting on an airplane and going from one place to the next, wherever that may be. Her follow-up question: why don't you? why don't I? I have two jobs that are both part-time and hourly so my career isn't standing in my way, i finished school, I have no kids, no pets, no car, no partner, I rent my room, and I'm not making much art. In a way I have nothing, and that means everything! The idea sunk in and it seemed better each moment I started telling friends and my parents much to my surprise many people were very supportive and a little jealous. I did receive some warnings from concerned loved ones: "Whatever you might be running away from will still be here when you get back." Ture: I don't think I'm running, and if I was running away from nothing is almost the same as staying to deal with it and maybe I won't come back. "It might be difficult to find work when you get back." True: It's difficult to find work as is. It took some of my very talented friends 6+ months to find jobs they like, or just a job. i I'm sure it will look odd that I quit two good jobs to make art and travel. (a friend later pointed out to me that anywhere that holds you traveling the world against you, might not be someplace you want to work in the long run) "Where will you stay, what about your safety?" True: Before leaving I don't really know, but that's no different from any time I have traveled. The world can be unsafe. I have been robbed, assault, harassed and threatened before. It's a real fear, but that can't stand in the way of life. In fact a lot of that happened in my home country. That was that, life will go on and I will go. My father thought I should leave April 1 because it would be a good April fools, I thought to start in June 2017. I was planning to go to Peru for my Grandmothers 90th Birthday in February but once the cold weather hit in NYC it made more sense to start this trip February 2017 with South America. So I spoke to my bosses and they were understanding. One said: "you should always go in the direction of growth" Things started to fall into place. I spoke to a travel doctor about vaccines, bought a travel backpack from a friend, put in my two weeks and started packing and planing like it was my job (at this point it kinda was) I started reaching out to my global network of friends and family, creating spreadsheets of who's where, who's from where, events I want to go to, art to see, festivals to go to, and anything else that felt important enough to remember. Then I got a ticket to Peru.
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