My Next Big Adventure!
Hello all you lovely humans! Meg here coming at you from my favorite coffee shop in Lafayette, Louisiana. Yep, I’m back in the good ole US of A. I’ve been back home from Europe for about three months now. Sadly, as some of yall know, my grandpa fell pretty sick back in April and I made the decision to come home to spend time with him. I’m so glad I did because I got irreplaceable time with not only him, but also the rest of my family as well. He passed peacefully on April 30 and we had a beautiful service for him with standing-room-only. What a well-loved man!
After spending another couple of weeks at home with my family, and while I was genuinely putting my heart into being present here with them, the wanderlust was running deep through my veins and I knew I wanted to get back out there and continue my pursuit of seeing the world!
Sadly, I was looking at flights only a few weeks out and in the heart of peak travel season. Needless to say, flights were nowhere close to cheap. I’m talking, nothing under $900. One-way! Yall… That is well above my travel-as-cheap-as-possible budget.
I was also considering different travel options. My soul was definitely not ready to leave Europe back in April, so my original plan for after leaving home was to just fly back to Eastern Europe and continue my travels there. However, I made the mistake of opening up Google Maps and I again realized HOW FREAKING MASSIVE THE WORLD IS! If I went back to Europe, this would be my third trip there when I haven’t even touched Asia or Africa and have barely scratched the surface of Central or South America!
When meeting other travelers on my journey, I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Southeast Asia around Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. They say it’s basically broke backpackers haven because it’s so cheap, everyone is so kind, and it’s incredibly easy to meet other travelers. Also, there is world-class rock climbing in Thailand, which has always tugged on my heartstrings.
So, I decided Thailand was my new destination!
Until I looked up flights….
$1250, $1600, $1825
Do people actually spend that much on a one-way flight?! If they do, please tell me what their job is because I would like to apply! (not actually though because I very much enjoy my don’t-need-to-work-much-to-live-a-dirtbag-life lifestyle)
Anyways, I thought of alternative options… What if I flew somewhere that’s maybe halfway to Asia, a place I’ve never been before, that would most likely be a much cheaper flight, spend a few months there, and then book a flight to Asia once we’re out of peak travel season?
So, then I decided I was going to Africa!
I would fly into Morocco, go sandboarding, live in the desert, work on some small farms in the villages, and just explore! I’ve always always always wanted to go to Africa, so I figured if I did decide to fly there first, I would probably never make it to Asia because I would just never want to leave. Which honestly would not be a bad thing!
However, flights to Africa were almost just as expensive as to Asia. And then flights from Africa to Asia were also expensive, even a few months out, so I would be spending more in the long run. It was just madness to try to get anywhere on a budget!
So, then I decided to change my plans completely. Yall gotta understand that making huge decisions like this is so stressful because I change my mind just about every twelve and a half seconds… Don’t ever try to travel with me unless you’re ready for that!
My family had a vacation planned to Arkansas in July, which I originally was not attending since I was most likely still going to be in Europe. However, now that I was back in the States, I decided to stay until that trip since I honestly was sad to miss it and it’s incredibly rare for my entire family to get to spend time together.
Knowing I still had another six weeks until that trip, I decided to catch a few more laps on my snowboard before all the snow melted, climb some rocks, go on some adventures, and visit all my friends in Oregon, Montana, and Washington!
A few days later, I boarded a flight to Bozeman, Montana. My beloved house on wheels has been parked in my brother’s driveway for eight months now and I could have cried when I made it back to him! I was SO happy to see my old boy, Jack.
The snow was melting fast and the ski resort had only a few days left of the season, so I left Noah’s house the next morning for Bend, Oregon. I spent almost every minute the next week on my board and my soul was SOARING! Goodness gracious, I love snowboarding more than I could even put into words.
I spent the next few weeks road tripping, sleeping under the stars, snowboarding as much as humanly possible, climbing up some rocks, going on a spontaneous trip to Vegas, and spending time with some of my favorite humans!
Once I made it back to Montana to spend a few days with my brother, I sadly had to say goodbye to my beloved Jack again. I fell so much in love with life on the road and with my cute little camper that it’s so hard to leave him behind. I wish I could just take him around the world to travel with me!
Sadly though, I did have to tell him goodbye again because I had a flight to catch. We flew down to Arkansas to meet up with the rest of our family at our lake house for the week. We enjoyed a fun and adventurous family vacation together, full of kayaking, wake surfing, scootering, farmer’s marketing, exploring, and just spending irreplaceable time together!
After Arkansas, I drove back down to Louisiana with mom and dad and stopped along the way at a lake in Oklahoma to check off my 47th US state!
I’ve been back home the last three weeks, working at the alligator farm to save up some money for my upcoming travels and just spending time with family.
After a lot of meditation, journaling and listening to where my heart was pulling me, I finally booked a flight to JAPAN! My heart has been so drawn to Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands for a while now and I am insanely excited to explore that part of the world!
To be completely honest, Japan has never been very high on my travel list, it was just the cheapest way to get to Asia, but I have heard absolutely nothing but amazing things about it since I’ve started telling people about my upcoming trip. So, now it’s time to see what it’s all about!
As of right now, I will spend my first two weeks there white-water rafting and kayak guiding in the Japanese mountains! After that, I’ll spend a few more weeks working on an off-grid, permaculture farm on a smaller island in southern Japan. And then from there, my schedule is completely open and I will just go wherever the wind takes me!
I’m excited and scared and stoked and nervous and just about every other emotion you could think of! I can’t wait to see where this adventure will lead, who I will meet, and what I’m going to learn!
I’m officially stepping out of the Western World and into unchartered territory of culture shock and new traditions. And I can’t wait! One of my favorite parts of traveling is getting to expand my mind and experience new cultures and new ways of life. Asia, here I come!
Stay tuned to read about all my upcoming adventures in the Eastern World!
