Shane Update Twenty Sixteen

This has been quite an eventful year. I’m sorry for being such a black box since I started traveling over 2 years ago. Hopefully this will bring you up to speed on what the hell has been going on in my life.

Travel

Traveling this year has been a bit more relaxed than last, with the exception of a 3-month train journey around Europe during the summer. I tried to spend around a month in each major location, in an attempt to slow down and take in my surroundings.

The year started with 2 months exploring Vietnam, mostly Saigon and Da Nang, followed by a few weeks in Bangkok and a trip to Penang. Then I was back in Japan to spend the spring. After a quick stop in South Korea, I headed to Europe and spent 3 months exploring with my European rail pass. I was definitely moving faster than I would have preferred, but at least now I have a good idea on where I want to return to next time (Berlin, Barcelona, Italy). I payed a quick visit to the states, then headed back to Japan for the end of summer. I then went back to the states for another 2 weeks, where I went to a conference in Arkansas, worked on building a ship in Oklahoma, and took a road trip through Tahoe, Yosemite, and San Francisco. Then I was right back in Asia, decompressing in Bali. I circled the entire planet in 2 weeks, and my internal clock hated me for it.

Now I find myself back in Tokyo, yet again. Many of you would be surprised to hear that I’m finally in a location where the temperature drops below 15°C (60°F), the first time in 2 years!

Travel Statistics

I wandered around over 39 cities in 18 countries. Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. I revisited Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, and Indonesia.

I spent over 129 hours on 25 flights with a total cost of $5,982. Three of those flights were 40% of the total cost.

I spent 140 nights in hotels, 83 in Airbnbs, 72 in hostels, 53 on couches, 1 on a boat, and the remaining 18 on overnight trains, planes, and buses.

Business

Back when I left New York in 2014, I reverted to doing software consulting which I had done on-and-off for over 6 years prior. After a year of consulting with some great clients, I found myself with a small team of fantastic developers, and we were pumping out more code than I could have anticipated. It was wonderful, I could focus on the part I loved most about the business (working with people, building products, etc) and leave the actual programming to people who were far smarter than me.

I’ve been calling the company Crath Interactive, which is the domain name I purchased back when I was 14 years old (April 2005), with the intent of eventually opening up my own software development shop. It took a little bit longer than expected, but here we are!

As for 2016, revenue is up 300% and we’re hiring! If you’re a passionate engineer or technical project manager who wants the freedom to work from anywhere (a beachside cafe in Bali? a ski lodge in Austria?), we should chat.

Life

So, how’s life? I definitely can’t complain. I’m now completely adjusted to life on the move (digital nomad, if you will). I’ve ended up with a core group of friends, most of which are also moving around constantly, whom I talk to daily. Our friendship helps counter any loneliness that might creep up as a result of never having many friends close by.

Outside of that core group, I’ve met an incredible number of good humans throughout my adventures. I’m nearly at a point at which I can go anywhere in the world and know someone who lives there, has lived there and can introduce me to someone cool, or is traveling through at the same time. The world feels so much smaller now in some ways, while staying inconceivably big in others. This is a topic I will expand on in a future post.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I purchased a small wooded island near my hometown in Pennsylvania as a birthday gift to myself (it cost less than most new cars). I’m treating it as an investment property and a place for my friends and family to enjoy.

2017

If you know me, you know I don’t really have plans. I could be in another time zone tomorrow for all I know. With that said, here are my goals for 2017.

My primary objective is still “connecting the dots” as I’ve been calling it. The goal is to make my way around the world without flying before my 30th birthday. I’ve already made some solid progress, but have plenty of land left to cover. I’ll be going in much more detail on this journey in an upcoming post.

The next goal is to force myself to post more of the photos and videos I take everywhere I go. I’m simply too wrapped up in the “now”, but if I don’t start organizing and posting, it will never get done.

Finally, I’d like to reach a conversational level of speaking Japanese. Dedicating myself to learning while outside the country had been difficult, but utilizing a few different methods will hopefully pay off.

End

I could go into great detail on most of these topics, which is something I may do in the future. Would you like to get an email when I publish next year’s update? Sign up here.