I was born a baby. 7lbs 3 oz, head full of hair with big brown eyes. This was the beginning of a new me or just the beginning of me.
I lived a pretty normal middle working class, white, suburban lifestyle. My dad was the bread winner and my mom stayed at home and raised 4 boys, and later returned to work when we were all old enough. I am so grateful to have 2 incredible parents. Other than the odd week getaway to Windsor, Ontario to visit family or a few weekends away to play in hockey tournaments, I hadn't done any travelling until I was 21 years old.
My first ever "vacation" was to Cuba with some friends to an all inclusive resort where we essentially exploited the all you eat and drink, luxurious lifestyle that we all dream of. A maid for a week to serve me and make sure I was happy. At the time, I thought this was the fucking life!
During this time, I was attending Algoma University completing my degree in Sociolgy. It was around this time, I was taking a course on social theory with one the most inspirational people I have ever met. This person, who will remain nameless conducted a class that would essentially change my life forever. (It was a coincidence that at this time I was in a downhill relationship which I am also very thankful for)!
In that class, my prof drew a simple timeline on the board about how most people in Western culture live our lives.
First, you are born. After that you may go to day care if not your then you wait to go to kindergarten. After that, you complete 8 years of elementary school. Next, you attend highschool for 4 years. During this time you may get a part time job. Next, you stress out to find the perfect university for yourself and everyone is so proud of you. Throughout your university or college years, you seek a partner. After that, you graduate, get a job (that you may not particularly like) and buy a house or move in with your partner. You eventually get married, buy a family car and have a baby. For the next 30-40 years you work and raise your child(ren) in hopes of retirement. Then you retire, get old, and die.
(That's my take on it. I know there are plenty of people in this world that love that story, and if they are happy, that is all that mtters).
Once I heard that I knew that I did NOT want to live that life. I remembered thinking, "There has to be more than this, cause that sucks!"
So having broken up with that girlfriend at the time and surrounding myself with some inspirational people who motivated me to teach and travel, I had decided to move to South Korea to teach ESL. This was like being born again. And I never reflected on that until late 2016.For the first time in my life, I felt like I was really challenging myself and doing something that I really enjoyed.
After 3 years of living in Korea and travelling to various Asian and Southeast Asian countries as well as most of Western Europe and some Central, I had moved home. In those 3 years, I have done more growing and self improvement than I had in the previous 23 years.
I want to make travelling my full time job and continue to travel for as long as I can generating money in various ways.
I've created this blog to hopefully capture some of my past travel experiences as well as add on my new adventures and maybe even tie in both at the same time and ultimately share them with you and help you grow the same way my prof did back in 2012.
I am on a constant search for happiness and positive vibes. Follow me on my journey. It's going to be a great time. I promise!
Peace and love - Anthony
