The Charm Offensive

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  Dallas, Texas, United States
Friday, October 10, 2008

Here I am, just a few hours into my grand journey and already I am getting all misty-eyed and nostalgic. I guess I can't help it. This is something I've been dying to do for a long time. And while I've spent the last few months trying to ignore it, pulling the trigger was a little bit scary, so finally getting on the plane feels like a big release.

As I sit crushed against the window on a redeye from Dallas to Santiago by a large man who looks as though he hasn't washed his hair since 1974, I'm reflecting on how I ended up here. First off, it couldn't have happened without the backing of the folks at work, who were extremely supportive from the moment I made my plans public back in January. As the months flew by (thanks in part to an unusually busy production schedule), I eventually spent the late summer frantically crossing items off my to-do list so that I could relax during my last few weeks in Los Angeles. I got all the big things done with plenty of time to spare: moved out of my apartment, put some things into storage down in Newport, sold the rest on Craig's List and at a mildly traumatic Saturday morning Beachwood Drive yard sale, and got a great price for my (ahem) luxurious 8-year-old Japanese sedan from a newly-arrived Chinese immigrant. Typically, I left a long to-do list of little things until the very end, including all of my packing; something which you always do at the last minute. Anyone who packs two days before departure should seek counseling. We balanced people are still shoving stuff into our bag as we are leaving the house. Of course, what this really meant is that my last 48 hours in the States were highly unenjoyable. The combination of lack of sleep, stress over uncompleted tasks, and the sadness of several long term goodbyes resulted in a strange salty liquid dripping out of my eyeballs more times than I'd care to admit (the number of times I'd care to admit being zero).

Which reminds me: during the last couple of months I've been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, family and co-workers, which came in the form of gifts, advice, encouragement, time, research, storage space, items given to me to sell on Craig's List, the use of a wonderful car known affectionately as the Horsemobile (covered in New England Patriots paraphernalia with a license plate that reads "BDY2MSS") once I'd sold my car, a free guest house to sleep in once I'd moved out of my apartment, and no less than three goodbye parties. If any of you are reading this, let me thank you one more time and say that even though you're not expecting anything from me in return, I hope one day I can do something equally as nice for you.

Many people have asked about the inspiration for this big adventure. I was lucky that I got to do a fair amount of traveling during my childhood. My folks passed along the European sensibility that travel is a life priority and took us on a number of memorable trips. But I didn't fully catch the bug until my buddy Jeffrey and I took a life-changing (at least for me) trip to Brazil for New Year's in late 2002. I was so inspired by two-plus weeks of warm Brazilian culture, the beautiful beaches, and the unbelievably small bikinis that I became obsessed with figuring out a way to move down there. Unfortunately, I discovered that with my Swedish citizenship if I were to leave the States for more than six months during a calendar year I wouldn't be allowed to come back. There was probably a way to get around this rule, but instead I let it provide me with a reason to chicken out and take the safe road: accepting a job at an indie production company that my heart just wasn't in. Anyhow, since that wonderful Brazilian expedition I've tried to take at least two big trips per year - one during the December holidays, one during the summer. But despite getting to see some incredible places, it's never been quite fulfilling enough to get in and get out so quickly without time to get any real perspective on the various peoples and cultures. And without satisfying that need, I fear my head will never be in a place where I can be happy staying in one place on focusing on a proper career. Instead, I'd be in danger of sitting around staring at a world map all the time with an addict's longing. Besides, I like the idea of doing all I can to reduce the chances of I, as an old person, saying 'if only' too much.

So... if by some miracle you're still reading, this has been the intro to my online travel journal. I'll try to update it regularly and I promise that most entries will not be as pretentious and long-winded as this one. Stay tuned for tales of swashbuckling, plenty of photos, and earth-shattering observations about life and travel as I leave behind nine years in corporate America in hopes of losing (and finding) my mind on the road! Please use the comments section once in a while to say hello and especially to mock anything I write or do.

Listening: "Hard Sun" by Eddie Vedder (on repeat)
Reading: The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

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It's about time for a big, big adventure...

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