Sabbatical Adventures

Since mid-2009 I’ve been traveling living almost entirely outside of the US, mostly without any plan, following invitations and going on or creating spontaneous adventures.  There was no “bucket list” other than travel the world and date beautiful women from a number of different cultures.

Below is a list of some of the easily describable adventures I’ve had during my sabbatical years from mid-2009 through the end of 2015.  (Many of the most fascinating, awe inspiring adventures and experiences of the last several years are not listed below, because they are not easily described in a simple phrase of accomplishment, such as “Led two transformational safaris in Africa.”)

Led 2 transformational safaris in Africa;
Danced tango in Australia and Argentina, and samba in Brazil;
Gave up being in control of my future, and started saying yes to invitations;
Facilitated my Honor Work on 4 continents, including Brazil;
Swam with elephants in Thailand and a whale in Panama;
Attended an Ayahuasca ceremony in Brazil and a sweat lodge in California;
Learned to speak new languages (2 nearly fluently);
Wrote and published __ books and 1 facilitator manual;
Invested in 2 young African entrepreneurs;
Had epic drunken water fights for days during Song Kran in Thailand and Laos;
Attended weddings in Turkey, Texas and California;
Deeply questioned the shadow of American culture–especially that which lived in me;
Started an Internet center at a secondary school in rural Uganda;
Romanced very different and beautiful women from many cultures;
Ate grasshoppers, scorpions, crocodile, osterich and kangaroo;
Slept in a Massai manyatta next to a Massai warrior, a pine bark teepee, an indigenous jungle village in Panama, an African convent and on a sidewalk in Bangkok;
Fought backyard MMA in Santiago, taught Muy Thai to boys in Uganda; and was the first White man to train with boxers at a gym in the Nakuru slums;
Explored fascinating cities such as Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels, Buenos Aires and Berlin;
Experimented with traveling through Gifting and living for 3 years with no cell phone;
Explored my own hidden shame and experienced many cultural taboos;
Kite surfed in australia, wind surfed in France, sailed in in San Francisco and The Netherlands, and jet skied in The Nile and The Persian Gulf;
Lived, broke bread and traveled with great friends and allies around the world;
Drank local brew and sang with non-English-speaking locals in Thailand, Laos, Brazil;
C0-facilitated a leadership workshop for South Sudanese activists in Nairobi;
Participated in Authentic World events in Colorado and California, and a Sovereign Man conference in Chile;
Was serenaded by a cave-dwelling woman in the Sedona mountains;
Saw a great fiery phoenix rise on the side of mountains in northern Argentina;
Was paid to be a scout in Chile, an English teacher in Argentina and Brazil, a consultant for women in relationship crises on multiple continents;
Wept spontaneously at a sunrise in Chiang Rai, Thailand;
Took the slow boat up and down the mighty Mekong River a few times–the first time we sank [link];
Took a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Massai Mara reserve in Kenya;
Hunted down criminals and fought with corrupt police in Uganda;
Visited rogue facilitators of my work in Germany and Brazil;
Trained the first full-time practitioner of my work (who now has a thriving practice) via Skype;
Practiced Xi Qong in the Argentinian mountains and nude in the Australian bush with the same teacher;
“Circled” in Colorado, Arizona, LA, Australia and on Mount Shasta;
Drank beer with African nuns, prostitutes and a priest;
Lived for many months on several continents for less than $500 a month for rent, utilities and food;
Climbed 23 kilometers up Mont Ventoux before the penultimate stage in the Tour de France in the middle of the night;
Researched my ancestors and their stories, and have begun to tell their stories;
Experienced Kahuna, Thai, Laos, Bali and Japanese massages and healed issues with my back and neck;
Taught the sacred way of “gifting” in Texas and California;
Was robbed by two large, naked Kenyan women who came home with me and put something in my drink;
Explored the wisdom of following “tesao”;
Returned to the states a few times to have the back of allies in crisis;
Learned patience and slowness from long bus rides, train rides and slow walks in South America and Africa;
Led an iStand in Australia
Led an Honor Window Mastery weekend in Australia, in Colorado and Indiana;
Have hours I can’t account for at a bachelor party in Las Vegas, and New Years celebrations in Bangkok and Laos;
Learned great lessons from a blind man leading his blind girlfriend in Brazil, an Iranian storekeeper in Kuwait, a novice monk in Laos, a man who believes he’s Jesus reincarnated in Australia and a cockroach on the beach of Pattaya;
Let go of two of the best friends and teachers I ever had, because it was the loving thing to do;
Was given unexpected gifts from strangers such as a month in a Brazilian beach house, a taxi ride in San Francisco, a dinner at the Buenos Aires airport,
Attended a Leonard Cohen in concert in Istanbul, an American Jazz festival in Sao Paolo, Folklore in Cordoba and Carnival in Brazil;

I’m SO grateful for the wild journey, the deep learnings and the many connections… and now it’s time to get back to doing what I’m here to do. But this time with far less sacrifice… the whole world is my home now.