So I guess this is where it will all begin, my first blog entry, the first of many!
I’m starting this journey from my flat in Oxfordshire, UK. That’s not very glamorous I know and I guess your wondering what a travel blogger is doing sitting at home? Shouldn’t I be out travelling? Well fear not this is just the start! As the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu once said (a long old time ago in a land far away) ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’
I thought I’d start my journey with an explanation of why I have taken this first step. I hate to say it but I’m a yuppie (Young, Up & Coming, Professional), I’ve graduated from a decent university and got a decent job with an international manufacturing corporation. I work 10 hour days chasing glory through process and paperwork, but don’t make much of a difference and feel like I could take a step back blend in the crowd and spend the rest of my life at my desk at the end of the row. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m fortunate and I know I should be thankful, but is that enough?
That’s where my self-diagnosed (and made up) Adult Acceptance Disorder comes in. Like most kids I dreamt of travelling the world! I come from a family who over the generations have been to every corner of the world. My Great Grandad took the Grand Tour through Europe, my Grandad fought his way through Africa during WWII at El Alamein and then on up through Italy at Monte Casino, my Great Uncle flew planes from Taiwan to the Congo (even getting imprisoned with the diplomatic mission to the Congo to negotiate independence). Then it all seems to have skipped a generation, a generation that worked hard supported their families and made successful careers, but now the bug is back!dreams aren’t very different from many kids dreams, even the fact that it continued through to my teenage years and on in to my university years isn’t that uncommon. The only problem is it’s still there, right now at the time when I’m supposed to be ‘settling down!’ I refuse to accept that I need to be an adult, my dreams continue to appear in my mind so why should I dismiss them?
And that’s the thing, I’m not going to!
Instead I plan on embracing them and take on the world. Sitting here right now I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to do that in all honesty. I have no great pot of savings, no business venture behind me, no mass following and affiliate marketing backing. I’m just a yuppie who has had enough of sitting at his desk.
If you’re reading this and thinking ‘huh… wait a second…. hang on….. that’s… ummm….. me!’ come join me! Over the next few weeks and months I will be planning my escape from the rat race and instead embracing the world around us.
For me that means seeing the world for what it truly is, not short city breaks and guided tours but making true friends with locals all over the world. Really understanding the amazing cultures that have developed on this amazing planet and trying to understand them through living them, not through studying them, reading about them or watching them on TV.
I also love food (not hard, I know), so that always makes up a big part of my travels. There’s nothing I won’t eat, so I plan to bring a bit of that culture back to you through my blogs and I hope you enjoy it!
So consider yourself invited to take this journey in to the beautiful abyss with me, to keep up to date follow me at @rogueyuppie on twitter!
Rogue Yuppie 