So, what are you doing now?

“So, what are you doing now?”

That’s the big question I’ve been getting lately. And until pretty recently, my plans were vague, so I didn’t have much to tell. I was back home in Hawaii for several months, living with my parents, lying low. For a while, I was helping out at my mom’s office because they were short staffed, as just about everybody seems to be lately. But now, I’m truly funemployed! 

I’m writing this on a plane 30,000 feet above the Pacific. Leaving Hawaii to launch some long-term travel in Latin America, starting with 6 weeks in Guatemala. The majority of my time in Guatemala will be dedicated to some intensive Spanish study. After that, I’m visiting a few friends in the Caribbean, then heading to South America. I think I will probably keep traveling for the rest of this year, but I don’t actually have plans past September or a set return date yet. 

COVID Wake-Up Call

To say that the last couple of years have been tumultuous for us, collectively, would be a pretty massive understatement. I had the incredible good fortune to stay employed and stay healthy, and to find silver linings in all the chaos.

Though my personal risk of dying from COVID was always pretty low, I spent a lot of time reflecting on mortality in 2020. Pandemic aside, life is fragile and nothing is promised. I might die in a car accident. Or a grocery store shooting. Or maybe some rare cancer is waiting for me, just around the corner. Which got me thinking, if I died today, why would that be a bummer? The answer was immediately clear to me. I have all these plans and dreams and goals, and I just haven’t done all the things I wanted to, yet.

Well, what was I waiting for? 

Procrastinating Priorities

When I was in college, I spent a summer in Europe, attending a study abroad program in Amsterdam, followed by a brief, solo visit to Berlin, then met up with my family for some more travel in Eastern Europe. I was fortunate to travel a lot with my family growing up, but that time on my own in the Netherlands and Germany was exciting and rewarding on a new level. I felt like so many possibilities and new ways of understanding and being in the world had opened to me. At the end of my class, the school gave us all these little Dutch clog keychains. When I returned to the US, I put that little clog into the center cup holder in my car, a reminder to myself that I was trying to get out into the wide world again as soon as I could. 

But life gets in the way. It’s easy to become complacent, to get comfortable, and to postpone that which you’d said was a priority. The little clog sat and sat, eventually moving to a less prominent position inside the console of my Subaru. And a decade went by. 

But then came 2020, and I realized it was time to make moves. For the last 2 years, I’ve been on a mission to live my life with more intention. I’ve made a series of substantial changes. (I joke that this is my quarter-life crisis because with medical advancements, I’m probably going to live to be 120.) 

Now, after what’s been a pretty long period of transition, upheaval, and incubation, I’m launching the next chapter in earnest. I’m doing what I’ve long wanted. I’m leaving my home(s) with the goal of growing and learning, pushing myself outside of my zones of comfort and ease, looking forward to seeing who I become on the other side.

So, for the rest of 2022, I’m prioritizing learning Spanish, exploring lots of new places, strengthening old relationships, building some new ones, taking good care of myself, and hopefully finding ways to make this all sound great on my résumé.

What’s this blog for? 

I’ve always been a journaler. I really like it as a way to keep a record of what I was doing and thinking at any particular point in my life. Sometimes when I travel, I feel too busy to journal. Even though I know it’s something I value, and I feel some guilt when I leave my journal untouched during a trip, it’s another one of those things that’s easy to let slip. 

So, I’m deputizing my friends and family as my accountabilibuddies. I started this blog as a way to keep myself on track with a regular writing practice, make a lasting record of the things I experience while I’m out in the world, share things I’ve learned, and stay in touch with everyone in a way that feels more substantial than social media. Though if you want the TLDR version, you can follow my Sachi So Far Instagram account. 

If there are particular things you want me to write about, feel free to drop a comment. I’ve got some ideas, but I’m open to suggestions. Even though this project and journey are for me, I want to make this blog interesting for you, too!