Life.

Transitions, transitions. An ever-changing daily itinerary and lifestyle provide me with precious few moments for self-reflection. Thus, this writing is both inner relevation and constant bewilderment at my current surroundings. I have spent the last week or so coming to a realization that my life no longer revolves around the Wednesday night Gauntlet, thursday night Qdoba, and the ever-popular ever-deadly Mad Dog Friday (some traditions need to be continued regardless of income or supposed maturity).

Putting college debauchery behind me, I hit the Asian circuit and hit it hard in the incomparable illumination of Tokyo. Good times were had, good time passed and Taiwan embraced me as temporary resident. The planned final stop of the Hear Candy duo's tri-country yearly adventure, I found a second home in this happy, humid island nation and greatly anticipate my return to Luxy, Guting, and midnight basketball. Thailand wreaked havoc on my inner and outer self for a few weeks and I left craving a vacation from this vacation. Stateside was both welcoming and white (the snow not the people). Families and friends were years older yet recognizable. Bad habits die hard as do good ones and the daily routine I had been accustomed to for the first 22 years of my American life seemed to be waiting for me as I eventually succumbed over the next few weeks. Culture shock will always hit but will never compare to its reversal. So you're telling me that while my last turbulent 15 months have been surprise after ball pit after chicken cartilage, the motions have simply been continued through here back home? You can never return expecting the same and when that's what you receive, another global expedition is required. Welcome to EF Tours, college campus bottled into a ten story office. Motivation here was not the beeramids stacked in manager rooms nor the goal-hitting taco bonus. No, a paycheck called me to a corporate world I had never wished to be a part of. (A holler at CUSTOMIZED) Dreary January led way to a balmy July departure as South America beckoned. And now this. Reality shows, 10 dollar Mexican meals, and Orange Jubille have since transitioned to street-roaming mutts, oases, and Sunday night Arabian musical performances echoing down from my roof.

When does this all end? Only time will tell. Maybe the "settling down" ideal will hit and finally stick. Maybe deportation charges will limit further travel. Or maybe there is no end. Recently purchasing insurance from the ironically named Global Nomad Co. may have been a declaration of this lifestyle under possible careers. Until then, where I am is where I am meant to be and no one can tell me otherwise.

As an anonymous dude once said, "The beautiful thing about life is knowing that we're the ones who get to put it all together."