Comfort, cow hugging, and what's all this for?

Quitting my job, packing up my cozy apartment, saying goodbye to multiple folks, and otherwise ripping the rug from underneath my feet creates an alarming clash of loss and freedom for me.  It is strange to realize the extent to which the chosen, comfortable life is one that is enclosed by structures that obstruct the open choice of alternatives.   Nice, fulfilled constructs such as "home," "work," and "my social circle" all give me a comfortable place to rest and operate in.  Tearing away these can feel a little bit like tearing away that comfortable construct "ground" as you jump out of an airplane.  You are then fully unshackled, but you are also groping for anything solid to hang on to as you fall, so freely.

(I realize though, real worldly freedom is loss of structure + ability to have choice = money....)

That's where Temple Grandin's cow hugging machine comes in.  Imagine, you are on the way to be slaughtered, but then you follow the cow in front of you into this hugging machine that restricts your movements and holds you close (super structure, right?), until... sigh... you fill at ease again.  Think that will work for me?  I am all ready to wrap myself up in some pillows and heavy blankets, at least until I have to say goodbye to my pillows and blankets to go to slaughter <ahem> the airport for 48 hours.  

In the end it'll all be worth it though.  This is only the temporary discomfort of leaving the familiar behind.  I usually have a bit of anxiety about leaving, but when I arrive, I find I could travel endlessly.

 I'll leave you with a quote that sums up some of motivations for all this, and for traveling the Silk Road specifically:

" A hundred reasons clamour for your going.  You go to touch on human identities, to people an empty map.  You have a notion that this is the world's heart.  You go to encounter protean shapes of faith.  You go because you are young and crave excitement, the crunch of your boots inthe dust; you go because you are old and need to understand something before it's too late. You go to see what will happen.  Yet to follow the Silk Road is to follow a ghost.  It flows through the heart of Asia, but it has officially vanished, leaving behind it the pattern of its restlessness: counterfeit borders, unmapped peoples.  The road forks and wanders wherever you are.  It is not a single way, but many: a web of choices.  Mine stretches more than 7000 miles, and is occasionally dangerous."  -Colin Thubron

Shadow of the Silk Road

Why this is more than just a 3 month trip

Yesterday, I announced my resignation from the company of my employment for 11 years (minus 8 months of travel in the middle).  I immediately enjoyed the satisfaction of ripping up the old life.  Not because I was  unhappy with my work – on the contrary, I was quite enjoying the host of projects I was working on and the fine folks I was working with – but, because I'm excited about where this will lead.   (Plus, I sort of like the 15 seconds of attention.)

How to write this resignation letter?

At the same time, I recognize that I will definitely miss this thing called Work (and Income!  And Co-worker friends!) when it's gone.

This is also the first irrevocable step towards taking my trip.  Up until now, I've been biking a lot, acquiring gear, obtaining visas and immunizations - all things that can be done from a place of comfort... But Employment Termination provides a very real nudge towards the future.  The dominoes are toppling now: disassembling my cozy basement apartment and ending my lease, finding a summer perch for my car, looking for post-employment health insurance, etc.  Oh, and on the last day of work, I have to give back my primary computer and all of its software.  Gulp!

Clam chowder my landlord made and left for me on my late night return from my Maine bike trip.  Tough to lose a nice landlord like this.

Visas... done!

The good news is that I am all set on many of those Comfortable trip prep items.  My final visa from the Uzbekistan embassy in New York returned a week earlier than I expected, finalizing the logistical requirements for travel.  

Here's a Tajikistan visa... I also have a GBAO permit stamped in my passport to allow me to travel on the Silk Route road. ($75)  The embassy turned this around in about 3 or so days.

An Uzbek visa.  ($160!)  The advertised processing time was 10 days, but they processed it in about 5.

China Visa.  I went through a Visa processing service for this one (my 1st) and paid too much.  The Visa service provided step-by-step feedback on the visa application, but I think they added a couple days to the processing of it.

All other visas are acquired en route or online.

The plans are coming together... Now I mostly just have to sweep up my home life into boxes, and I'm outta here!