When I was a kid I had this simple thought about what I wanted my life to look like when I grew up. It was this: I want to own my own business and own my own airplane.
As I have reflected on that phrase over time, what I believe it really meant was: I want to be free to go where I want to go.
One day when I was feeling the stress and pressure of the business we were building, I felt this word inside me like a seed sprouting: “Explore!”
At the time I was traveling a good bit for work and I didn’t feel much like getting on another airplane to go freestyle around the world. But something inside me knew it was linked to that little kid version of myself.
When I first stepped away from my company and my job, I didn’t want to travel. Going to the airport was associated with work. Work that I loved, but still it was a schedule that was being set by hundreds of influences other than myself. Yet, after a few months of rest I began to hear that word again: Explore.
As I designed this blog, I wanted to create an area to capture what comes next in my journey. A thread from little kid Shawn wanting to fly around to big kid Shawn now with the time to do so. This section is both an anticipation of where we will go and also a way to keep my little kid self alive—to actually get out and see the world.
Here are some of the places I have already explored:
