After returning from one of greatest adventures of my life, getting dumped, and being thrown into the chaos of COVID-19, I reflect on my past year's failures, successes, and my goals for this next year.

A lot of the unhappiness and dissatisfaction we feel is derived from a perceived lack of excitement, fulfillment, and love in our lives as compared to others.

After 3 years of nomadic living across 39 countries, I finally stopped and stayed in one place for a year. Here are my reflections on my year of sedentary life at the cusp of leaving it behind for another couple months of nomadic living.

In just a few days I lost my backpack, my phone, almost lost my passport, and got food poisoning. I was ready to go home, but didn't. The magic of Asia came through and kept me going.

Losing over 120 pounds profoundly changed my life. Along the way I've learned a few things about how the world and its people work, here are my top 7.

Long-term backpacking is not a holiday or vacation. It's tiring, draining, and challenging just as much as it is awe-inspiring, educational, and fulfilling. Over the past 13 weeks of nomadic hoolanganism in Asia, I've noticed things developing within myself from my experiences that I threw down onto my computer screen. Here's my top 13 in 13.

My social life has drastically changed since my days of World of Warcraft playing nerd-dom, primarily due to three social hacks. Showing up, following through, and following up took me from isolation, to knowing and meeting many amazing people.

Train rides, nothing else quite has the same ability to cause thoughts running through my thick head. This time I had 13.5 of extremely sleepless hours to ponder my life and my new home. These are they.

I love languages. Not knowing the local language is a confusing, humbling, and saddening experience. I know I'm missing out on many missed opportunities for great friends and interactions. And that I'll leave these countries not truly understanding the culture.

A solitary man, sitting on a train in a land faraway from his own. A land no less or more spectacular than the one he left behind, but profoundly different. These are his thoughts.

The start of my 7+ month journey was not easy, leaving everything behind to explore parts unknown was difficult. It quickly escalated to some of the greatest and most varied travel moments of my life. HK was amazing, but I'm excited for what lies ahead.

We all put up guards up against the world, protecting ourselves from the judgment of others. All this serves is to undermine our abilities to truly connect to the people around us. Live openly and honestly with yourself and others, and be happier for it.