Farewell Polaris: My Remote Year Recap

Well folks, it's over. My one year journey of traveling and working abroad has ended. It's hard to put into words the experience as a whole. Standard clichés like life changing, unforgettable, and magical come to mind. So do the words unexpected, surprising, and fulfilling. I went into this thing with expectations and goals. I left with widely different experiences and goal fulfillment. A microcosm for life I guess. You go in expecting one thing and come out with something altogether different. Not in a regrettable way, in a different way. A better way perhaps. Here's the quick stats:

In 12 months I visited 20 different countries

• 7 in Europe (The Netherlands, England, Czech Republic, Croatia, Bosnia, Portugal, Spain)
• 4 in Latin America (Peru, Chile, Colombia, Mexico)
• 4 in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia)
• 4 in Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Zambia)
• 1 in East Asia (Japan)

I had some INCREDIBLE experiences. Here are just some of the highlights:

• Sand boarding in the desert of Peru and witnessing a true desert sunset
• Flying over the Nazca lines 
• Hiking Machu Picchu 
• Wine tasting in Chilé
• Hiking in Patagonia and kayaking past glaciers 
• Watching Lollapalooza in Santiago and seeing Macklemore, Foals, Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Sam Smith, Troye Sivan, and many others
• Rafting the Maipo river in Chile 
• Touring a coffee lab and coffee plantation in Medellin 
• Catching a futbol game in Medellin and the power going out mid-game
• Learning the game of Tejo in Medellin (essentially corn hole with gun powder!)
• Hot air ballooning over the Teotihuacan pyramids in Mexico
• Seeing petrified waterfalls and tasting amazing mezcal in Oaxaca
• Riding Grab scooters for $1 in Vietnam and having ALL the coconut coffees 
• Going to a golf driving range in Hanoi where you tee off from the water overlooking the city 
• Spending a 4th of July in Vietnam and renting a house with a pool and eating Vietnamese food instead of hot dogs and hamburgers and BBQ'ing
• Getting scuba certified in Thailand and diving on Koh Tao
• Doing the full moon party on Koh Phangan again and this time seeing the sunrise
• Watching a Japanese baseball game in Osaka (Tokyo Giants vs Hanshin Tigers)
• Participating in a Japanese tea ceremony wearing traditional Japanese garb 
• Riding Japanese trains successfully (amazing but hard to learn all the train routes!)
• Karaoking in Tokyo 
• Eating at a dine-in-the-dark restaurant in Kuala Lumpur 
• Enjoying the most epic thunder and lightning storms in Kuala Lumpur 
• Partying in Canggu on Bali and finding the best hot dogs of all time!
• Touring the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam and strolling past the windows of the famous Red Light District
• Walking through the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam 
• Seeing an NFL game in person at Wembley Stadium in London (Bengals vs Rams)
• Celebrating Halloween in Prague 
• Pretending to be in Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik, Croatia (King's Landing!)
• Admiring the amazing Plitvice and Krka waterfalls in Split
• Surviving Sarajevo bars and restaurants and all the cigarette smoke Bosnians expel 
• Celebrating Thanksgiving at a Marriott in Budapest
• Drinking in old ruin bars in Budapest 
• Swimming at the famous Szechenyi bathhouse to relax in the day and party in the night also in Budapest
• Walking grand old castle estates in Sintra, Portugal 
• Discovering green wine in Lisbon and drinking it... A LOT
• Renting a boat from GetMyBoat for my tramily in Portugal and cruising the coast
• Visiting the westernmost point of continental Europe (Cabo da Roco, Portugal) and enjoying a sunset there 
• Shopping at ALL of the Christmas markets in Europe and getting mulled wine and hot chocolates for days 
• Spending Christmas on one of the English Channel Islands (Guernsey) and drinking a ton of Guinness
• Observing "the holy grail" in Valencia (there are many alleged holy grails around the world)
• Spending New Year's Eve with my Polaris group and renting out a restaurant bar all to ourselves in Spain
• Being awed by the Sograda Familia in Barcelona 
• Watching a game of trinquet in Valencia (basically handball on steroids)
• Taking in a flamenco show in Valencia 
• Skydiving in Cape Town
• Shark cage diving in False Bay, South Africa 
• Doing a safari just outside Kruger park and seeing "the Big 5" 
• Paragliding on the garden route 
• Hiking Lion's Head for sunrise and taking in a beautiful sunset on Table Mountain in Cape Town
• Doing a river safari in Botswana and seeing hippos, elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and almost witness a leopard kill something (we think!)
• Hanging on by my ankles literally at the edge of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe

However, the best experience of all was meeting 30 some different people who all had the same crazy idea I had: to leave the comfort of home and travel for a year abroad with strangers you had no idea if you'd get along with or not from all different backgrounds and cultures. In the end, this WAS the most rewarding year of my life and easily the best year of my life hands down. From all the experiences to all the personal growth and the tribulations. This year, like any other, had its ups and downs. It's soaring highs and it's devastating lows. It was a year of constant change. I lost my job but discovered new passions. I gained clarity in what I want for myself now and into the future. I have exciting new career and life plans. I experienced love and heartbreak. This year encompassed it all and I can never be more thankful for the opportunity I had to do this. The feelings I have right now are bittersweet. I'm so sad it is over but so happy it happened. 

Like Tony Stark said in Avengers Endgame, "part of the journey is the end." 

MY REMOTE YEAR AWARDS

 (in other words, the questions I expect to receive the most when I'm home)

My 3 favorite countries: Colombia, Thailand, South Africa 

Why? Medellin was beautiful and I never wanted to leave. I loved Thailand when I went in 2015 and I loved it just as much, if not more, this time around. I can truly see myself living in Thailand one day. And Cape Town was incredible. If it wasn't for it feeling unsafe at night here and there, it'd be one of my favorite cities in the world. 

My 3 least favorite countries: Malaysia, Mexico, Chile 

Why? I just didn't feel the need to go explore Kuala Lumpur. It was fine as a city but just didn't offer anything to me that I felt was super unique. Mexico City surprised me with how many parks and greenery it has but the food was overhyped and I felt sick half the time. It also just felt like a big city and a reoccurring theme I had during this year was I didn't like the places that felt like normal big cities. Santiago was the same. I didn't feel any culture or personality from it. 

Best food: Thailand, Japan, Lima 

Why? I love Thai food so Thailand is the obvious choice for me. I also love ramen so Japan is the second choice. I slurped many bowls of ramen in Japan, though surprisingly Santiago had a very good ramen spot. In 3rd place, I'd go with Lima, which was surprising to me. I'm not a huge seafood guy but the food in Lima was amazing. Arguably the best ceviche I've ever had, and I liked their sandos as well. 

Would I do it all over again? Resoundingly yes. I highly recommend doing this to anyone who can. 

Update: You can't do it anymore through Remote Year as the company has gone under, but any similar work/travel remote programs that are legit I'd highly recommend. It was and is hands down the best year of my life. 

Update II: This blog has sat in my drafts for probably 4 years or more and I just realized I never published it. So here it is, in all its glory, 6 years and 3 months after I first departed the U.S. for Peru to kick off my Remote Year 2019-2020 adventure,.