At a wedding last weekend, a longtime friend said her husband is going on a one year long motorcycle trip. Around the whole world. Solo. He’s already handed in his resignation notice at work, and is set to depart later this month. My friend is incredibly brave to allow the husband to do this. They’re going to subscribe to one of those GPS devices that mountaineers and boaters use, so she will know exactly where he is at all times.
No doubt a year-long motorcycling adventure is something the husband has wanted to do for a long time. The COVID-19 pandemic has a way to alter how people face their mortality. It can all be taken away from you so quickly, so why not live the way you want? And do the thing you want to do? I wish I had the balls to make a move like that. I’ve long wanted to drop everything of this current life and move my ass to Asia somewhere. That would be my grand adventure.
But it would be too drastic, honestly, with very little fall back. Sometimes I wish I can take a year off from work - an unpaid sabbatical - so that I can take up that challenge. Should I crash and burn over on the other side of the world, I can always come back to this current job in twelve months. Campus faculty is able to take sabbatical, why not the staff? They wouldn’t even have to pay me!
Kudos to that gentleman for shouting YOLO and going for it. I’m sure my friend will be latently worried the entire time, but for sure she understands he will come back a better and more satisfied person. There’s only this one life!
The happy couple.