Go Shorty, it’s your re-birthday…
This blog entry was originally posted on July 12, 2003.
“This is the best day of my life.”
That’s what I told the Chief Operations Officer Paul Finer of ACTV in my exit interview when I got laid off on June 19, 2003. My Re-Birthday.
My job at ACTV for 3 1/2 years started out as an exciting and hip dot com job, but gradually degenerated to a regular boring corporate job. By my third year, I had survived about six layoffs, and I was getting tired - and lonely too as my colleagues were getting laid off periodically on a whim like a UFO abduction.
I wanted to get laid off and see the world. It seemed that everyone that got laid off was having a better life after ACTV. It never happened for a whole year.
Meanwhile, I read Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist on New Year’s 2002/2003, and I vowed that I would leave ACTV by the end of the year, whether they liked it or not. I envisioned myself quitting in grand style like Jerry Maguire, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2003. To prepare for my big scene, I started saving money like crazy, which included moving back home to my folks house. (They had me at “hello.”)
It’s funny how life throws you a curveball because I actually got laid off five months earlier than I anticipated to be unemployed. No worries; I got a decent severance package which brought me to my target save amount. I didn’t even have to yell “Show me the money” into a telephone neither.
So, I am off to see the world for 14-16 months, starting in October. And it’s funny how things just fall into place, because coincidentally, I landed at gig being the weekly travelogue columnist at the Lycos Network, in Asia, based on my work at BootsnAll.com. (See the right column for those.)
A new weekly travelogue column. Over a year around the world. It’s like a whole new life for me after 28 years of going through the rigamarole of society’s daily routines. But now I have been unplugged from The Matrix.
Go shorty, it’s my birthday, I’m gonna party like it’s my re-birthday…
Next entry: Bye Bye Lycos!
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Comments for “Go Shorty, it's your re-birthday...”
I found out just today from someone that I could have gotten laid off rather than quit…... grrrrrrrr… I stopped back at my old office to photocopy something and my boss told me. I hope he was messin’ with me otherwise I just lost out on some free $$$...
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/31 at 07:37 PM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
Next entry:
Bye Bye Lycos!
THE GLOBAL TRIP GLOSSARY
Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
BFFN: acronym for "Best Friend For Now"; a friend made on the road, who will share travel experiences for the time being, only to part ways and lose touch withThe Big Trip: the original sixteen month around-the-world trip that started it all, spanning 37 countries in 5 continents over 503 days (October 2003–March 2005)
NIZ: acronym for "No Internet Zone"; a place where there is little to no Internet access, thus preventing dispatches from being posted.
SBR: acronym for "Silent Blog Reader"; a person who has regularly followed The Global Trip blog for years without ever commenting or making his/her presence known to the rest of the reading community. (Breaking this silence by commenting is encouraged.)
Stupid o'clock: any time of the early morning that you have to wake up to catch a train, bus, plane, or tour. Usually any time before 6 a.m. is automatically “stupid o’clock.”
The Trinidad Show: a nickname of The Global Trip blog, used particularly by travelers that have been written about, who are self-aware that they have become "characters" in a long-running story — like characters in the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show.
WHMMR: acronym for "Western Hemisphere Monday Morning Rush"; an unofficial deadline to get new content up by a Monday morning, in time for readers in the western hemisphere (i.e. the majority North American audience) heading back to their computers.
1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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