mental health + philosophy

Will You Travel Forever? (Yet Another Big Announcement)

A while back, I asked you what questions you had for me. About my lifestyle. About travel. About entrepreneurship. About whatever.

And one of the questions that came up was a pretty common one:

Will you travel forever?

In the past, whenever people asked me this question, I’d shrug.

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned since I took off around the world, it’s how to live in the moment. To enjoy what I’m doing right now. To plan for the future in large practical ways (saving money, taking care of my health), but leave life open for beautiful surprises and spontaneous change in the short-term.

And so I’ve always answered with a shrug.

That is, until now.

When my train first pulled into the Lauterbrunnen Valley this year, it felt like coming home.

When it came time to end my vacation and pick my next destination, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. So one month turned into five weeks.

And then five weeks turned into just under two months.

And even now, a week away from leaving for Paris, a city that I love, I am thinking about my return to this charming little town in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

This has never happened before. In the past, I’ve always been excited to leave, even if I loved whatever city I was leaving. I was always ready for the next adventure. Always ready to keep moving, keep traveling.

But now things feel different.

And so this October I did something a little scary.

I started the process of applying for a long-stay visa in Switzerland.

If I get it, it means that I can stay here for a year to write my books, both of which will feature Switzerland in one way or another.

One year.

One year in Switzerland. One year of coming home to the Alps.

Does this mean I’ll stop traveling? No way. But it does mean that I’ll have somewhere to come home to, a community, a base of operations. It also means I won’t have to lug my winter coat on summertime adventures. So that’s a win.

And so here I am waiting. Waiting to hear back from the canton Immigration Office, who will decide my fate.

I have the money to stay, the health insurance required, and what I think is a pretty compelling reason (to write those books and promote Switzerland). But it’s all up to the canton office now.

So, I wait. And hope. And send passionate pleas out into the universe.

If all goes well, friends, I’ll be back here before you know it.

Cross your fingers and say your prayers.

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