Month: April 2012

The Reggae Mansion is all I hoped for and more. I mean, I just got here, but it’s already awesome.

I had a bit of a meltdown on the 5.5-hour bus ride to Kuala Lumpur. I’m still adjusting to being in Asia and feeling very conspicuously different from 99.9% of the people around me. And the two hostels I stayed at in Singapore were quiet, so I suppose being lonely exacerbates feelings of homesickness.

It started to rain while I was on the bus, and I always think of Seattle when it rains. I desperately wanted to be snuggled up on my mom’s couch watching a movie at that moment. I had a row of seats to myself, so I just kind of got into a pathetic fetal position and let the silent tears flow as that throat-clutching feeling commenced.

Here, there are plenty of travelers, and already I see people socializing and ready to have a good time. I think that’s what I need. Now I’m just sad that I’m flying to Bangkok on Tuesday and will miss limbo, Twister and bingo on the roof!

Also, HUGELY helpful: A bigger-than-usual bed in a little pod all to myself. Space! Privacy! A perfect place to assume the fetal position should that throat-clutching feeling return.

I think the Reggae Mansion and I will get along very well together.

I want to thank my friend Vivek for sharing my story today in his cool new venture, the Take Flight Project! You can follow it on the Tumblr machine to read a new profile each week.

takeflightproject:

Flight 8 /  April 4, 2012

DEVON MILLS / Writer, runner, photographer

If you wait until you’re completely ready to make a big change, you’ll spend your whole life standing still. Leap, and the net will appear.

Website answeringoliver.com / Twitter @devonamills

Flight Route Seattle (SEA) —> Los Angeles (LAX) —> Auckland (AKL)

Airline Alaska Airlines, Air New Zealand

I met Devon on a chilly June evening in Seattle, where Jenny Blake had just come in on her book tour. We ended up sitting next to each other and as our conversation deepened,  Devon pulled out her big DSLR camera and spoke passionately about her dreams of photography, travel and writing. A few months later, she’s made all of that her reality. 

After two years of working in advertising, she realized she couldn’t stand being confined to a cubicle any longer. Luckily, she had saved up money in a “freedom fund” and felt ready to take the plunge. So, with the lofty ambition of backpacking solo for a whole year, she quit her job in November 2011 and spent the next few months selling and donating 99% of her belongings. In February 2012, right around the time I launched Take Flight, Devon took off for New Zealand to begin her adventure.

As this post goes live, Devon’ll be making her way to Singapore after spending two months in New Zealand and Australia. Up next on her itinerary are Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and many more countries.

A 14 hour flight across the Pacific. How’d to get to that point? 

I first decided to leave my job to travel in September 2011, but I waited several months to actually buy a one-way plane ticket to Auckland, New Zealand. Once I did, the whole thing finally felt real and SO exciting.

I was still nervous as hell, though. I actually cried and worried a lot in the weeks leading up to my departure, and saying goodbye to my family was really difficult.

I’ll always remember what it felt like to leave Seattle with only a backpack to my name and no clue what would await me in New Zealand. My plane took off at dusk, and I studied the Northwest landscape intently in an attempt to memorize it for those times I knew I would deeply miss my hometown.

The ascent reminded me of my first skydive, which I did just outside of Seattle and also at dusk. The view from my window seat was so similar to what I saw as I plunged back down to Earth, and the fear and anxiety I felt beforehand were much the same.

This flight, however, symbolized a different kind of leap. I haven’t regretted it for a second.

You love writing. How’s that going after taking your flight to Auckland?

Writing is my passion, and it goes hand-in-hand with exploring the world. My blog is about coming up with answers to the poet Mary Oliver’s question, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

I don’t believe there is one answer, of course, or even a limit on the answers anyone can come up with. The point is to think of how you’d like to answer that question, and then DO IT!

I’ve learned so much about myself by writing about my adventures and what I’d still like to do in the future. Thanks to my blog, I can look back on some of my proudest moments — like finishing my first marathon and taking those first steps on New Zealand soil — and remember that I’m capable of doing anything I want, even if it’s incredibly scary. I hope to inspire others and help people realize that NOTHING is impossible.

Inspired by Devon’s flight? Spread your sharing wings on Twitter!

We have arrived in Singapore… and by “we” I mean my food baby and me.

It’s quite hot and steamy here (currently 80 degrees F and it’s just after midnight… yeah), so I’ve decided to forgo running for the next three days and completely dedicate myself to eating new, exciting, delicious street and hawker food.

I had to Google the things I ate tonight after the fact, so I think I’m off to a really good start.

{Fried Cockle Kway Teow; Durian Ice Kachang}

P.S. Dolphin cup FOR THE WIN.

I spent this weekend sailing the Whitsunday Islands on the British Defender, a former racing sailboat turned backpacker party boat.

It. Was. Awesome. Australia is just ridiculously beautiful.

I’m sad that I only have one more day in Oz — has it been a month already?? — but then I’m off to Singapore!

Feeling very, very lucky.