Updated on January 28th, 2007
After finishing up my job in Japan I went back to my friends' wedding in the US. But on April 9, I was free again to choose a new path. The plan was to bike around Japan for a month of vacation so I could see the parts I never got to while I lived there. Then, if I could,I hoped to continue my biking through other parts of Asia, including Korea, China, and Mongolia with a more important purpose. I wanted to carry out a development, educational, or human rights project during the ride. I'm open to ideas.
After that project, in July, I hope to settle in 1 place for a while so I can get a job with an NGO for the experience. I also want to take some economics and math classes so I can get ready for graduate school.
Which leads me to my medium-range goal: to go back to school for my masters degree. I want to study development. There are many specialties in this area and I will use my work experience at the NGO later this next year to help me narrow down my many interests to "The" interest. Before I apply I hope to have some project models to propose, so I can go for a very specific goal - not "just to get an M.S."
And so, my long-range goal is to start my own NGO and make a big difference in a small number of peoples lives. I prefer children's issues now because of my involvement with YAUC orphanage and my work with elementary schools in Japan. But my interests are expansive, and in time I could well find that what I really want to do is more environmentally, economically, or even politically oriented.
I wanted to make this new website to highlight my shift from a free-floating traveler to a goal-oriented planner. Don't get me wrong. I still hope to have my cake and eat it too, and I'm starting the site with yet MORE travel. But there are people out there who love what they do, and do what they love.
I hope to find a way to combine my interests in travel and other cultures with a more purposeful pursuit of a career in development.
To learn more about the bike trip, click any of the links to the left under the 'Bicycling Asia' column. To read updates on my trip, and see pictures, be sure to click on 'Journal'.