Nomadic Life

I’m a nomad.  A “neo-bedouin”.  I simply love the variety and challenge of travel.

I have lived in a car.  I’ve lived in a van.  I’ve backpacked around Asia.  I’ve lived in several Asian countries on a shoe-string.  They were all great experiments- interesting and growth-producing.

Over the past few years, however, I’ve been a lot more stationary…  kind of “stuck” in San Francisco. It has never truly felt like home.

That situation is soon to change.  Tomoe (my wife) and I have decided on a nomadic lifestyle that fits our needs.

I, starting this Fall, will be a true nomad–  splitting my time every year between Southeast Asia (probably KL, Malaysia), Kyoto Japan, and the US.  I’ll spend roughly 4 months in each place.

We plan to rent a house in Kyoto.  Kyoto is a fantastic place– the old capital of Japan. It is filled with marvelous temples, traditional houses, and bamboo-lined paths (in addition to a fully modern city).  Kyoto has tons of artists and artisans, lots of students, and lots of health-conscious people.  It has the most vegan/veg. restaurants of any Japanese city I’ve visited.  The city is also surrounded by hills and mountains– plenty of hiking and nature nearby.  It’s an ideal place to spend the summer– which is what I’ll be doing.

Tomoe has given me the task of learning Japanese while I’m in Kyoto- so that’s one project I’ll be focused on there!  In addition, I’ll be doing classes and seminars for Japanese companies (and for my planned non-profit Foundation), doing seminars in other nearby Asian countries (Korea, China, Taiwan,..), and writing & planning lessons.

Kuala Lumpur is a fully modern SE Asian city.  Tropical, diverse… and packed with fabulous food- incredible Indian food (better than India, in my opinion),  Chinese food, and Malay food… and an amazing bounty of tropical fruits and veggies.   It’s a bustling place… but unlike Bangkok… has clean air.  My good friend Kenny (another Georgia boy) already lives there and, next year, also becomes an entrepreneur.  KL is always hot and sunny– a perfect place to spend the Winter– which is what I’ll be doing!

While in KL I’ll be mostly focused on doing as many seminars as possible– in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, S. China, and India.  We’ll also enjoy hiking trips.. and of course, lots of diving.

The final 4 months of the year I’ll spend in the USA– visiting friends and family, attending seminars, and recording lessons for Effortless English.

I’ve felt a giddy excitement building inside me every since we decided on this schedule.  Taking to the open road and the open skies….  moving with the seasons…  the nomadic life is calling me again….