I’ve had this idea for a trip video since I was in Istanbul and I first heard the song “No Hay Nadie Como Tu” (translation: “There’s No One Like You”) by Calle 13. I love the song. The video idea is a montage of pictures from the entire trip that goes along with the lyrics of the song.

You can listen to it here, if you like:

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However, it has made me feel uncomfortable to start working on that project. I’ve thought about it several times, but I’ve avoided it. Starting that project becomes a symbol of the trip being over. It means that I don’t plan on having more pictures to fill in the video with. (I’ve currently taken more than 5,000 pictures on this trip!)

What Floats My Boat and Finds My Lost Remote?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I’ve been in Bangkok over the past two weeks. I’ve been on the road for almost 11 months now. I could easily keep traveling for 3 or 4 more months in Southeast Asia with the funds I have left. I’ve thought about where I could go next, but nothing is jumping out at me.

And sure, I’m having a great time here. I make a million friends living at this hostel. As usual, though, the friendships are mostly transient and relegated to the final “Come visit me sometime! See you on Facebook!” as the travelers move on to their next destination.

What I do get excited about is seeing my friends and family. Starting the next chapter in my life with enthusiasm. I want to work on big, exciting visual effects, compositing, and motion graphics projects. I don’t know if I miss the United States itself per say, but I do miss the people and look forward to the opportunities there.

What? A plan?

I’ve done a lot of personal writing over the last two days along with even more active thinking than I’ve done in the previous weeks. I think I’ve come up with a plan for the next couple months.

According to the timestamp on the file, that plan started on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009, at 11:18 AM. That’s when I created a new empty project… for the trip wrap-up photo montage video.

New Answer to an Old Question

Last night a new person at the hostel asked where I was going next. For the first time, instead of saying, “I don’t know,” I replied with a smile, “Home.”

It felt good to say. I’m excited. And not just about making a photo montage.

From one “doctor” to another…

Quote time? Sure. Dr. Seuss said,

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

From one “doctor” to another, I can already tell that’s going to be difficult in practice, Seuss. But I tend to be a pretty happy guy. I’m sure there’ll be some poignant and sad reflection moments — indeed, there already have been — “home” might freak me out, I might wish I’d done more while I was here, but I’ve got faith. There’s plenty more time to travel.

So, dear reader, thanks for joining me so far. This isn’t a trip wrap-up post. Expect more in the coming weeks. I’ve still got a Muay Thai boxing video to make (which was awesome, by the way), some more retrospective thoughts, some practical travel stuff that might be useful to others, etc…

…and there’s a little montage video to worry about.

Fuck it, dude, let’s go bowling.

For now, I just bought a flight from Bangkok to Chicago. I leave on Thursday at 1 in the morning. It’s 21 hours. (Which is nothing after spending the same amount of time on a bus through winding mountain roads in Peru. I get a 3 hour break at an airport to walk around on this one!)

It feels simultaneously unsettling and exciting. What the hell, right? Good things seem to have come from pushing myself past the butterflies in my stomach so far.

Why should going home be an exception?