My friend Jen is currently wandering Laos and Thailand and, soon, Viet Nam. She is studying, she is working, she is living overseas. A simple errand like getting groceries or cash has become an adventure for her. She is experiencing life beyond the mundane. Beyond the big screen. Beyond the big box superstore. She is pushing her boundaries and loving it.

She regularly asks me when I'm joining her, as the two of us are clearly cut from similar cloth. As envious of her adventures as I am, me, I am simply in a different cycle of life right now. I think I love my dog too much to leave him for a year or more. I'm renovating my rental. I'm buying investment properties. I'm working hard. I'm rebuilding for my next adventure, and, honestly, I'm bedding down for a bit.

Ah Jen. Where were you three years ago? Where? I was there, right there with you. And I'd by lying if I didn't admit that there is a large part of me, the part of me that stares at your pictures with a smile and a knowing sense of wonder, that is wildly envious of the path you have chosen.

Keep exploring. You are living the dream.