So I think I'm going to fit right in with Cambodia's expats

A snippet from the article "7 Reasons Why You Really Shouldn’t Move to Cambodia"

"Because Cambodia only attracts certain types of expats, you will end up making friends in bars with the kind of undesirable people that you would never associate with back home. Junkies. Whoremongers. Journalists."

"Journalists."

(For those not interested in reading the article but curious anyway, the list only applies to those planning to move to Cambodia for the rest of their lives. Also, the author of the piece has written two other pieces - "7 reasons you should friend Cambodian women on Facebook" and the subsequent "7 reasons why you should never friend Cambodian women on Facebook.")

a quick geography lesson

Me: I’m living in Cambodia for a few months and then backpacking Europe.

Him: Wow, Europe AND Africa!

Ten reasons why I have decided to fly halfway around the world to a country I have no ties to and live there for three months by myself:

1. I’m bored (occasionally).

2. I’m crazy (constantly).

3. I’m a dangerous combination of both.

4. I’ve already conquered moving halfway across the country to a city I have no ties to and living there for three months. Going to Phnom Penh is a natural progression.

5. Because Jeff Bezos needs some time to figure out how to make billions off a newspaper website and bring the journalism industry back from the brink. I’m thinking five months? Six months tops.  

6. I got stuck listening to that Taylor Swift song in H&M and now I am really, really feeling 22.

7. This whole “Let’s keep moving from city to city never staying long enough to really establish myself but keep things fresh and exciting” has been working for me since May 2011. Why stop now?

8. If I get one more internship, I’ll be up to eight and can start vying for my spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

9. In the next four months, I plan to get a boyfriend, fall madly in love, and then break up with him. I will then need to go on both a literal and spiritual journey so I can write a best-seller like “Eat, Pray, Love” or “Wild.”

10. Because one day I will be sitting in my kitchen with the herb plants and the chalkboard wall and the wine rack tying one offspring’s shoes while asking another if they remembered their book report while trying to figure out where the dog is. A source will be calling my phone while it’s already humming from four text messages and five emails when I remember that I was supposed to re-schedule the Volvo appointment for next week Friday and it will be too late.

…for me, I mean. Not the Volvo.

I’m a natural optimist, which means I have to state right here that it’s never too late to travel. No matter what age you are or what stage of your career you’re in or how many kids you still have under the age of 18, you can do it. 

Yes, I might want to punch your five year old when her temper tantrum is intruding of my Sunday at the Met, but I won't.

Still, if you don’t have a job or a mortgage or a class schedule or a pet or baby or a ring on it and you’re physically fit and mentally sound and have a couple grand in the bank you’ve been sitting on since high school – when will it ever be this easy?

And, okay seriously? It’s traveling and exploring a completely new part of the world and then backpacking in Europe for a month and a half. Which part of this plan needs one reason, let alone ten?

My plane leaves in January. I should return in June.

This blog is for my plans, thoughts, inspiration, rants, travels, photos and — as always — the stories.