To and Fro

About two months ago I decided to quit my job, move out of Atlanta and go backpacking around random parts of the world. For most people, when I first told them I was doing this, their reaction was “that sounds cool.” And then I actually did. Well, not entirely. I leave one week from today. But I’ve turned in my resignation, moved my stuff out, bought the tickets and gotten the shots. It seems pretty clear that I’m actually going to do it.

So now people are starting to ask why. It’s funny because I think this is a question I kind of expected more at first. It seems like an obvious one. Like, remind me again why you’re giving up a perfectly good job/salary, moving your stuff into your parents’ basement and facing the possibility of Japanese encephalitis? Why exactly would anyone do that?

When I first decided to do this, I think my answer would have sounded pretty desperate. I felt trapped in a nine to five life I didn’t feel ready for yet. I was afraid if I went to one more cocktail party for another random charity at one more mansion, I was going to become so cynical there’d be no going back. I was worried I’d start to think that the lifestyle I promoted every day was normal—and even good.

The thing is though I came across this passage as I was reading yesterday: Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. (Psalms 39:6)

I think that’s it. I don’t want to spend the next 35 years going to and fro so that I can store up enough money to pay for a nice retirement home one day. I fully believe there is so much more to life than that. I want to see more of this magnificent world. I want to experience cultural happenings I could never imagine. I just want to meet people who don’t say y’all.

And so, I can’t think of a better time to do it than this moment. My responsibilities are few (basically one dachshund who will be happily living with her grandparents for two months). My parents are supportive (with the possible exception of my mom’s small breakdown: “Yesterday I had two successful children in their mid-twenties with jobs and salaries. Today they tell me they’ve quit their jobs and are moving home!”) And the feeling of freedom and liberation I have when I consider what I’m about to do is like nothing I’ve ever felt in my life. I can’t stop smiling.

So yeah, I guess that’s why.