| More than a few times, I've caught myself | | | | Los Angles, known as "LAX". |
| sitting at work day dreaming about dropping | | | | |
| everything and just jumping on a plane. In | | | | The Dream Comes True |
| October of 2003, I did just that. | | | | |
| | | | I walked into the international wing of LAX |
| Life can grind you down when you get in a | | | | and did what every traveler has dreamed of |
| rut. In my case, I had a particularly bad | | | | doing. I stared at the flight board and just |
| case of the blues in October 2003. My | | | | let the various destinations soak into my |
| girlfriend and I had apparently come to an | | | | brain. After a few minutes, Asia percolated |
| agreement that there was no need for me to | | | | to the top of my grey matter and I started |
| exist on the face of the earth. My glamorous | | | | searching for the airlines with flights |
| and exciting Internet business had become a | | | | there. |
| bore. All and all, I was in a rut and needed | | | | |
| a change. The travel gods apparently agreed. | | | | After a few misses, I was able to get a |
| | | | ticket on a Korean Airlines flight to |
| On a Wednesday, I made the final decision to | | | | Bangkok. I passed through security, picked up |
| sell my business, get what I could for it and | | | | a guidebook for Asia and headed to my gate. |
| hit the road. The next day, I received a call | | | | Three hours later, we lifted off the runway |
| from a man in Chicago what wanted to buy my | | | | and I waived goodbye to rut for three months. |
| web sites. This was particularly interesting | | | | |
| since I hadn't actually told anyone the sites | | | | I've disdained heavy planning for my trips. I |
| were for sale. By the end of the day, we had | | | | prefer a very loose schedule because I want |
| agreed on a price, signed a contract and he | | | | time to live out unexpected events. If you |
| was wiring the money. | | | | ever get the chance to chuck everything and |
| | | | go travel for a few months, just do it. You |
| First thing Monday morning, my bank verified | | | | never know when you'll get the chance again! |
| the wired money had been received and | | | | |
| credited to my bank account. I picked up a | | | | Rick Chapo is with Nomad Travel Journals. |
| couple of American Express checks, packed a | | | | Writing journals are the perfect travel |
| small backpack and headed to the airport in | | | | accessories. |