Have I gone completely mad?

Short answer: Probably maybe.

Long answer: Well how else would you describe someone who gives up a good job with a six-figure salary, great friends and a good gal to go bum around for a while?

I suppose the best explanation I have right now is I’m bored and still trying to figure out what I wanna be when I grow up. Work stopped being exciting a while ago. I remember when I started working at the Big Softie, our big (and I do mean big) VP would say (let me paraphrase here) “Either do some real work or get the hell out of the way!” The last couple of years it seems like getting in the way was the “real” work that needed done. Yes clueless managers (ex-coworkers, you know who I’m talking about) seemed to be more interested in changing the color of random cells in spreadsheets than shipping great software. And were there any repercussions for such incompetence? (Wait for it…) Of course not! The good folks who cared just got worked to death (RIP Tom Green) trying to satisfy the ever shifting whims of management.

But really Microsoft’s transition from exciting, innovative software company to a sweatshop full of drones (I would say IBM, but that’s not really fair to the folks at Big Blue) seems to have coincided quite nicely with my own existential angst. And all sarcasm aside I have no real ill feelings towards The Evil Empire. They treated me really well and I got to work on some pretty awesome stuff I loved. They just fell short of living up to my wildest expectations.

So why South America? Why now? You didn’t really expect an answer did you? Not sure what I’m looking for, not sure what I’ll find. But I know that there’s no prettier sight than looking back on a town you left behind (bonus points if you can identify the obscure reference) Plus this seems a good a way as any to figure out what I wanna do next, take a break, “find myself” and have some fun at the same time.
I’ve starting figuring out a couple things already. A couple good friends and family go a long way. Yeah I’m talking about all you guys who went out of your way (even if only a little bit) to help me do this. Helped me move crap, gave me a place to store shit, a place to crash for the night, rides to the airport at ungodly hours and everything else. I suppose that matters more than anything else, which of course makes it even more ironic that I’m leaving. Like I said, you didn’t expect a sensible answer, now did you?