Thanksgiving Remotely

I've fallen behind on my monthly blog posts detailing each stay in a new city. I'll catch up at some point but I wanted to take the time to write this Thanksgiving blog while I was motivated and since today is Thanksgiving, might as well get it out. Currently, I am in Budapest, Hungary. I arrived yesterday with several friends in the program on a 5-day side trip before we move on to Portugal and these are the Tramily members I will share my Thanksgiving with this evening. It will mark a number of firsts. My first Thanksgiving celebration outside of the U.S. My first Thanksgiving absent of any family whatsoever. Thanksgiving is generally a family-filled holiday and I'll be spending it with friends who've become like family in a country that considers today as any other Thursday. The Christmas markets are in full effect here in Europe and it's easy to overlook Thanksgiving entirely. I had to remind myself yesterday that Thanksgiving was today.

It would be a disservice to overlook Thanksgiving this year however. If ever there was a year to be extra grateful, this would be it. I am 9 months into this Remote Year now. Babies have been born in the time I've been away from home. I don't take any of it for granted. I find moments each month to reflect on all the experiences I've had thus far and how incredible it all has been. Even the mundane moments like sitting in a Hungarian cafe writing this entry is ridiculous. I'm in a Budapest cafe listening to chill electro by myself on Thanksgiving. That's a sentence I never thought I'd write!

There is so much to be thankful for and so many people to be thankful for this year. For starters, I'm thankful for this Polaris group. I've mentioned this in past entries, but the whole Remote Year journey wouldn't be the same without the people. I feel like I've lucked out with the random assembly of goofy, ridiculous, yet genuine people I've been thrown in together with for this real life Real World episode. Friendships have been forged and even the people I haven't gotten to know real well yet or haven't spend a ton of time with still have impacted me with how they view the world or their attitudes and their friendliness. I know it's cliché but we truly do feel like a family. We laugh, we fight, we make up, we cry, we share, and we grow. We spend time apart and we miss each other. When we reunite, even if it's been a week, it's cause for celebration. These people and myself, we'll have these memories and these shared experiences forever and I can't emphasize it enough to say this year would not have been the same without THIS group. I'm sure other Remote Year groups feel the same way, but there's a reason we Polarians seem to be a popular group among the city teams. We special!

Of course I have to give a shout out to my mom and pops who supported this crazy idea. When your son tells you he's going to go travel the world for a year it's easy to question the reasons and the why. For being skeptical of the purpose. For older generations, going to travel and work for a year may even sound downright dumb. My parents were fully supportive from the get-go, encouraging me to serious consider the pros and cons of the 4-month program and the 12-month program. When planning something like this, when you have to juggle so many logistical nightmares like figuring out what to do with your apartment, your lease, your life belongings, and the actual mapping out of a year long journey, it makes it so much easier when you don't have to "sell" it to your folks and deal with any backlash from a family perspective. My whole family has been supportive in that regard, from my parents, siblings, nephews and nieces, aunt, cousins, uncles. When your family has your back, it makes it so much easier. For their acceptance and support, I am truly grateful. Even if they only miss me a little!

Beyond the family, this trip likely never happens if I don't get approval from my employers. Even working for a largely remote company, there's no guarantee a boss signs off on an employee requesting to go abroad for a full year. Unlike others, it wasn't something I felt I had to worry about per se but you never know until you ask. For that, I am grateful that my company allowed me the opportunity to travel abroad and made the transition from working in-office to remotely an easy one.

To my friends back home, I am grateful. No one questioned my decision to leave for a year. Everyone not only supported it, but encouraged it. All the people that made time my final month in San Francisco (and Arizona) to come wish me well and say goodbye truly meant a lot. Being reminded of how many of my friends truly care about me, my well being, and happiness is always a blessing. I wouldn't be the person I am today without each and every one of them and I miss a whole lot of people even while I'm having the time of my life living this nomadic life and experiencing things I never thought I could or would.

In the end, I'm just thankful. Thankful for it all. The ups and downs, the roller coaster of not having a true home for a year. The sights, the sounds, the life experiences I could never learn in a classroom.

And now, I have 3 months left to soak it all in. To truly savor every moment. To embrace each experience without knowing what the future brings which is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Peru, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Amsterdam, England, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bosnia, and now Hungary have all been crossed off the list so far. I have Portugal, Switzerland, France, Spain, and South Africa left (so far) to go before the next stage. What that stage entails? What that looks like? I have no idea. Well, I have some ideas but nothing set in stone. I do know one thing though. I'm thankful I get to see how it all works out.

Happy Thanksgiving from Budapest everyone. I leave this quote from Thoreau that I found fitting for my current state:

"I am grateful for what I am and have. My Thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety."

Post sunset in Split





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