Intro

Three months ago, I took a leap.  I decided I wanted to live abroad.  I quit my job, sold my belongings (car included), and vacated my apartment.  I packed a total of two bags, bought a one-way ticket to Amsterdam, and arrived at the doorstep of a lovely couple kind enough to open up their home to me.

The plan beyond that was, and still is, completely unknown.  I have no idea how long I will stay or where I will end up.  I haven’t quite figured out how to go about making a life (or a living) for myself, and I don’t really have a safety net.  All I have, really, is the firm belief that expat life is where I belong.  I have yet to sort through the cloud of excitement, fear, hunger and inspiration that constantly swirls in my brain, but I do feel fairly confident about choosing this path.

I’ve had many a conversation with people fascinated by what they perceive as fearlessness.  Each time, the reaction is the same.  “You’re very brave,” they say with wonderment.  “Brave,” I respond, “or...something else.”  It is a curious thing, when you think about it.  What is it about the human spirit that drives us to do things that are bold, courageous, or just plain stupid?

Before leaving my job, I had a career in academic research.  So I like to look at these questions as opportunities for investigation.  I also have a degree in Anthropology, so I am partial to qualitative methods, but really I just enjoy the ritual of collecting and sharing stories.

That said, the best way that I can think of for making sense of this crazy adventure is to treat it like a social experiment.  Obviously, it will be very informal, so I’ll take my liberties with using The Scientific Method as a guide to loosely structuring an experiment which will contain the following components:

Question

How and where does one find her place in the world?

Background

I, Jenna Burton, the sole experimental participant, have always enjoyed traveling.  I have also lived most of my life as a transplant.  The following is a rough breakdown of my geographical timeline:

Birth - High school -----> Connecticut

College -------------------> Washington, D.C.

Adult life ---------------> California (~12 years)

The timeline is dotted with several stints abroad: a college semester in Spain, along with subsequent trips to several other countries in Europe; a summer internship in Guatemala; short trips to Costa Rica, Indonesia, Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas.  The majority of these experiences have been positive, afflicting me with that pesky virus, the travel bug.

Hypothesis

I hope to find my place in the world simply by placing myself in the world.

Materials

One (1) single, thirtysomething-year-old African American woman (read: minority in most places that she has ever lived or traveled); passport; substantial savings; vital documents; personable demeanor; flexibility; open-mindedness

Methodology:  

Trial-and-error/learn as you go/fake it til you make it

Observations

I will treat this website as an archive of observations.  All experiences, lessons learned, challenges and victories will be documented in the form of stories, anecdotes, photographs, and reviews because after all, travel writing is fun!

Like I mentioned before, I have only been here for a month, and I have to say, that learning curve is quite steep.  A (new) friend recently told me, “you’ll be surprised how fast you can learn, when you don’t have a return ticket!”  

That pretty much sums it up.  Wish me luck!