Birth of Wander Chicken

It all started in September, 2014. My boyfriend Richard and I were in California for the San Francisco Fringe Festival. He was performing his two-person show, which is about a man who has lost his memory and roams about the world in order to discover his true nature. We were walking around the city, probably recovering from consuming burritos the size of newborn twins, when Richard asked me, rather suddenly:

“Hey, do you want to quit our jobs and go traveling for a few months?”

“Yup. Yes. Yes!” I replied, without hesitation. As if I’d been ready to say “YES!” to this particular question, long before I had ever even been faced with it.

The week of Christmas, after months of getting wacky vaccinations on the down-low, rewriting packing lists, and making endless trips to REI, we left our jobs. (I should add something here: I didn’t hate my job. It’s just that the idea of embracing my freedom was a bit more intoxicating. I’m sure most of you will understand this in some way or another.) And now we leave on a big old plane on Tuesday, January 6^th. 12:20am. For a 4 (5?) month trip around Southeast Asia and Nepal.

In case you’re unaware, in the good ole USA, one’s early 20’s is the typical time for such an adventure. I’m not in my early 20’s, however. I’m, like, 36 or something. I guess a trip like this, when taken at my age, is called “a career break.” After all, I’m no Spring Chicken.

You may call me…Wander Chicken.

This past Halloween, I decided to be chicken cordon bleu. I drew a chicken and attached it to a cord, and I wore the cord tied around my waist whilst wearing my blue dress. Get it? Chicken cord? On blue? See below.

(note: Costume not original. My brother found it on the internet and decided at the same time I did to go as chicken cordon bleu.)

As soon as Richard and I had made the final decision to go forth to Southeast Asia on our grand journey, I taped the chicken part of my costume to a cheap paper map on the wall, in the Southeast Asia vicinity.

Looking at it, I thought: “Yup, that’s me. A bit of a chicken. Being brave. Making her way through a foreign land. Lands. Foreign lands. Oh, man. So many languages I don’t speak! But also – food!!! Gahhhhh!!!”

I don’t consider myself an especially daring or physically adventurous person. I’m generally asleep by 11pm and up by 7:30, I don’t rock climb, I’m not into heavy drugs, and jumping out of an airplane seems like a hilariously bad idea. But recently, I started feeling fidgety. And I made some changes. I began eating meat again after 3 years. I started a Pilates routine. I let my normally sensible short hair cut grow long. Turns out, these were precursors to bigger change. I guess I’ve been gearing up to make some serious moves for a while. So when Richard asked me, “Hey, do you want to go traveling for a few months?”, I knew it was time to make some moves, yo.

(Moves not unlike Jagger’s, for those in the know.)

So we’re leaving on Monday. Well, technically, Tuesday. 12:20am. First stop: Singapore. After that, we’re not sure! Seriously. We have no itinerary, no accommodations booked, no other plane tickets bought,  and no real return date (although it’ll probably be some time in May, Mom and Dad, so you can relax.)

Some folks think this lack of a plan is a bit zany. (My gynecologist, for instance – she recently told me she needs every moment of every trip planned. Her husband is more adventurous, she says. He probably goes on adventures without telling her, she says. Hmm.)

But for us, the lack of a plan provides us with the freedom and flexibility we’re so desperately craving. Of course, we have a list of countries we’d like to visit, a few touristy things we’d like to experience. But we don’t for how long we’ll stay in each place until we’re there. If we fall in love with a small island off the southern coast of Vietnam and want to spend two months there reading and eating fish and hiking, then we’ll do that. Or if we want to bop around from place to place on rickety old buses for a few weeks, we’ll do that. But whatever we do, we intend to do it on our terms. And we’ll work together to make our dreams of wandering happen. With one small backpack each, strapped to our backs. And love to fuel the journey.

(Picture taken the night we bought our one-way tickets to Singapore. Sparkling red wine and smiles. )

Which leads me to my next post. I’ll be posting pics and pointers about the contents of my itty bitty 40 liter backpack soon enough. At this point, I’m not entirely positive I’ll be able to fit everything. Oh boy. Stay tuned to see whether or not I will be able to bring 4 shirts instead of 3!

(Damn, those daily-wear contact lenses. They take up a lot of room.)

Cluck-Cluck-Vroom,

Wander Chicken

3/5/14 BLOGGER’S EDIT: That “What’s In My Backpack?” post never happened. Life moves pretty fast for Wander Chicken. Maybe someday I’ll add a tab above about “What to Bring” but for now, just know that I wish I’d brought more underwear.