“I Have Become Comfortably Numb”: Most of you will recognize this quote as a song title by Pink Floyd. It’s a great song and a classic but it also describes one of the main reasons that I am doing what I am doing. What am I doing? Well, as the title to this blog attests, I am going ‘Round the World (RTW)!!!

When I write that I am going Around the World it gives me goose bumps and makes my heart beat a little faster, kinda like the feeling you get when you see or hear from someone you love (or want to love!). Anyway, I have a very loose plan to travel the world and:
· See places I’ve only dreamed of seeing
· Hear sounds and people that are completely foreign to me
· Smell smells that would likely repulse me at home
· Taste foods that I would never have thought I’d have the courage to try
· Touch things that maybe shouldn’t be touched (although I will “No Touch Monkey” – a plug for Ayun Halliday’s great travel book that is both humorous and encouraging)

Being “Comfortably Numb” is not always a bad thing and I really think that many, many people go through life feeling like this (whether they realize it or not). I could easily continue along my same path of life and live a comfortable, if unexciting, life but for one very good reason: I DON’T WANT TO! One of my greatest fears in life is to look back at my life in my later years and have regrets about things I should have done and wanted to do but chose not to do. I have wanted to travel and see the world since I was a teenager and now I am going to do it. I will talk about some of my other fears and motivators as this blog goes along, maybe it will serve as a psychological catharsis for me as I put my thoughts, dreams and fears down as paper along with my observations.

The purpose of this blog is threefold:
1. Memorialize this adventure so that when I’m too old to travel I can look back and reminisce about all the exciting and stupid things that I did
2. Communicate with family and friends and hopefully entertain my readers at the same time
3. Because I made a commitment to #’s 1 & 2, above it will force me to keep disciplined in writing and updating this blog – Lame, I know but often in life when there is no accountability things fall along the wayside and don’t get done

Some may be asking themselves after reading the title to my blog: What does Jeff mean in saying his mid life crisis goes RTW? (Assuming of course that anyone other than my Mom will even care to read my ramblings). I suppose a brief introduction is in order, my name is Jeff Michie and I am a 41 year old single guy currently living in Rising Sun, Indiana. Rising Sun is a great, little, friendly, midwestern town along the banks of the Ohio River and is about 45 minutes southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. I have quit my job, sold my house, paid off all my debts, got rid of most of my stuff and put the rest in storage, found a good home for my Kitties (Kramer and Pumpkin) with my friend Linda, put my career on hold and am going to travel around for the next year or so. The following blog entries will go into greater detail on some of this stuff.

Is this a mid-life crisis? I don’t know since I have never had one before. When men in their 40’s have such a crisis don’t they generally buy a sports car and/or date (marry?) a young woman in her 20’s? While that certainly sounds appealing, I wouldn’t mind having a convertible Porsche with a young blonde (or brunette or redhead) sitting beside me as we drive along curvy country roads. But I digress, that Porsche and blonde thing can wait until (if?) I get back – only one mid-life crisis as a time! Is this a crisis, am I nuts or am I just a guy trying to live out a dream? Maybe all three and if this blog does its trick then maybe somewhere along the road of this adventure the answer will become clear to me.

I really believe that this trip is a combination of a guy following a dream and a spiritual path that is being placed before him. I hope to explore the spiritual aspect of the world’s people to help me understand viewpoints vastly different than those that I have heard through the biased media. (Where did this paragraph come from?)

The next few blog entries will be in the form of a more detailed introduction. I am going to use the time-honored literary method of Who, What When, Where, Why and How as a basis for this introduction, to set some background and to let the reader know a little bit more about me before I get on the road. I'm going to attempt to combine Who with What and When with Where and keep Why and How separate. I think that sound like an Abbott and Costello routine.

Thank you for reading this. I hope to make this blog both interesting and entertaining. Please post a comment and let me know your thoughts, observations or counsel. Hearing from readers and knowing I have an audience is a great motivator and will be a great morale booster during down times on the road. Don’t forget to bookmark this site and tell a friend! Please feel free to e-mail me at “JeffMichie at Yahoo Dot Com”