Hard for me to believe I’m a little more than half a century old. The first half of my formative years were spent seeking out a living in NYC. The other half, traveling and drifting the other side of the world. How I got from that to that is a long story. But I’ll explain as I write more.

I finally settled down in Thailand to lay roots. Where I planned to live out the rest of my life. With palm trees high up in the warm sky, while my hands caress frosty Mai Tais. And the last rays of sunlight kissed the soles of my feet as the sun sank into the sea.

Moving to Thailand and possibly retiring there is a dream many have. And I did that for a long while, at least. Not saying that I’ve stopped traveling or dreaming. It’s essential to me, like air.

Tonight, here in NYC writing these words, reminiscing about those days, it’s like a hazy shadow.

It’s hard to believe, as a matter of fact, I still don’t believe or accept the fact that I’m back in NYC. It’s near the end of October, and the old bones in my body are not prepared to take the brunt of frosty weather I haven’t experienced in twenty five years.

After living in a tropical climate for that amount of time, you’ll get used to mosquitoes. The cold bite of winter is another beast. Man, I hated snow.

NYC is still home. It’s where I was born. Where my parents chose to lay roots. In a way, I took the long way home. Maybe someday I can say that with some conviction.

So this “Journey” section is made of introspective aspects of my travel. The things I’ve learned along the way. Stumbling through mistakes after mistakes. And god knows I made lots of those. I was thinking of making YouTube videos instead.

But I believe, and maybe you as well, that the medium of writing is more personal. And you’re willing to invest the time to read this, so the feeling is mutual.

I plan on writing weekly travel essays on travel and life in general. That’s the goal for now.

Thank you for joining me.