The Beginning of a New Way of Life and Living

How do you prepare to radically change your life and what would motivate someone to do it? Tom and I have travelled quite a bit since we got together in 2011. We also had the opportunity to live and work in Japan for more than three years. While there, we travelled quite extensively.

Coming back to the US from Japan in 2020 during COVID was a challenge. There was also the reintegration upheaval or reverse culture shock from being an EXPAT. After a year in Monterey, we moved back to our hometown of San Diego. Much had changed in the almost 5 years we were gone. It wasn’t the same.

There was a feeling of discontent and not fitting in. Friends and family had been living their lives and moving forward, but somehow, I felt I did not fit in. I felt like a stranger in a strange land. Everything seemed noisier; people were less mindful of each other in the US. I missed the peacefulness and serenity of Japan. I grieved for it for some time.

After being back in the States, work and life wore on me. I was not adapting and certainly not thriving. After a lot of therapy and retiring early, I realized the awe and adventure I had experienced – living as an EXPAT in a foreign land and travelling the world – were missing from my life.

Then Tom and I went to Peru.

At the end of 2022, we took a trip to South America. I was finally able to identify what was causing my restlessness, exacerbating some lifelong depression, and making me feel like my life was passing me by.

I had also turned 60. That contributed to my existential unease.

Travelling does something for me. It makes me feel alive; I am connected to the World around me. I see and experience the people, the culture, the food, the landscape, the history. I experience the awe of living. It piques my curiosity. It also satisfies my hunger for adventure.

I heard about awe listening to my favorite podcast, Hidden Brain. The timing of the podcast, my trip to Peru and discovering a few social groups and retirement traveler YouTubers showed me that it could be possible to live a life of travel, to see more of the World, and to obtain a greater level of life satisfaction and happiness.

I was determined to change my life. And I had a great companion willing to do it, too. Tom was onboard to make our dream come true.