auspicacious

Have a North American or European passport? These days, just about any country in the world will welcome you -- for ninety days or less.

Air travel is as cheap as it's ever been, and Internet access is available practically everywhere. In fact, it's easier and cheaper to get unlimited 3G access in Malaysia than it is Minneapolis, and faster in Singapore than San Francisco. Once you're on the ground, you'll find that you're rarely the first traveler to pass through. When you find places where outsiders are still rare, people are usually pretty happy to see you.

I know this, because I've been there. Since leaving my office job in May of 2009, I've visited Japan, China, North Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, Tunisia, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia. I've rented an apartment in Rome that was steps away from the Vatican, Couchsurfed with a French sculptor in a town at the edge of the Sahara, taken a campervan through remote parts of New Zealand, and lived in the center of Tokyo. And I did all of this for about the same amount of money that I would have spent living at home in Baltimore.

So, to me, ninety days symbolizes the peripatetic lifestyle that I've taken on, these past few years. This will be a place for things from my life -- memories, advice, how-tos, and thoughts. Hopefully other folks will find it useful or interesting as well.