Friday, June 13, 2008
How did this all come about?
How did this all come about?: I just recently returned from an 18 day vacation to Atlanta and Florida. The purpose of this trip was to attend my graduation ceremony, be home for mothers day, and possibly buy an investment property. I had saved $10,000 for a down payment, but prior to leaving on my vacation I decided it would make more sense to pay off the remaining $7,000 of debt I owed. On the plane home I had mixed emotions about returning to Maui. I absolutely LOVE living on Maui, however I was having a good time in Florida and could have stayed another week or so. The only reason I had to return was so I could get back to work so I'd have money to pay rent. The thought occurred, "wouldn't it be nice not to have to pay rent". There are a lot of homeless people in Hawaii due to the expensive cost of living and housing prices, cuppled with the amazing weather year round. After returning home I found to my surprise that I wasn't missing much work. With the economy in bad shape, the cost of fuel and the fact that Hawaii recently lost two major airlines, tourism on Maui is down at least 20%. I work as a Kayak Guide, Surf Instructor and Photographer. All are have been directly affected. Today is June 12, I returned on May 18th and I've only worked 5 days since being back. Two days ago I found out my landlord is moving to O'ahu and that I won't be able to continue to live at my place and I have exactly 30 days to move out (July 10th). I've spent the remainder of my saved money this past month and only have a small cushion left. All of a sudden living in my tent began to look like a really good idea! I had the idea that I would do for just a month or two, as an experiment. Then I thought that since there isn't much work on Maui maybe it would be a good time to travel. I've always wanted to travel internationally. With the exception of Canada, I've never been out of the U.S. So long story short I've decided to give away, sell and store all my personal belongings and live out of my tent/jeep for the next few months. With the money I save I will be buying plane tickets to travel the world. As of now I'm thinking about New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Indo, Africa, Mexico. However I'm open to whatever the universe presents to me on my travels. I plan to couch surf, camp and stay in hostels while traveling. Without having to pay rent, on Maui, while I'm gone I will have more money to travel and nothing holding me back from traveling as long as I need to. I feel that the universe has opened this opportunity and I need to take advantage of it. If I don't do this now I probably never will. If you wish you would have done this at some point in your life but didn't, this is your chance to live vicariously through me. I will be posting blogs, pictures and much more. Starting with my "Homeless/Camping" adventures on Maui and all the way through my world travels and my return home. If you would like to assist me on my travels it would be greatly appreciated and I will post another blog detailing ways you can help. A Hui Ho (until we meet again) -Tim The Traveler
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