Who am I and What am I doing?

In a nutshell, I am Jeff and I am going to spend the next year or so traveling around the world.

Nuff said? Nah, I love to write and I may get a bit long winded at times and at other times I will probably get a little esoteric (especially if I write my blog entries after having a wee drink or two)… So, I gotta provide some more details or this particular blog entry would really suck!

I am combining Who and What because they obviously go together plus I didn’t think I could effectively make them two separate blog entries.

Who am I (I’ll repeat a bit of the previously written info): I’m Jeff, a 41 year old single guy who lived in Lawrenceburg and Rising Sun, Indiana up until December 6, 2004. These two towns are on the Ohio River and are southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve lived in this area a little over two years and moved here in order to work at Grand Victoria Casino & Resort in Rising Sun. I was the Director of Finance (CFO) at the casino. I quit my job at Grand Victoria on December 3rd to begin my new life and my adventures. I’ve had a great career in the casino business and have been fortunate to work for some great organizations, work for some smart and caring people and live in some cool areas around the United States.

I’ve reached a point in my career where I am making very good money with very good benefits. I am fortunate to work in an industry that is fun and exciting and that offers opportunities to work in many areas of the U.S. as well as many other parts of the world. I feel that I am a very good CFO. I’ve had excellent mentors in this business, I care about the people that work for me and that I work with and I strive to make the experience we provide our customers a positive one. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and my personal accomplishments and am particularly proud of the many team accomplishments I’ve had the good fortune to be a part of during my years in this business.

Grand Victoria Casino and Resort is a great place to work. The people here are fun, talented and supportive. Most of them really care about doing a great job and helping the business grow. I had a great Assistant (Kacey Hayes) and I am going to miss her alot. I am going to miss a lot of people at Grand Victoria, they are people who are my friends and who have touched my life and touched my heart. Michelle Smith has the best H.R. team I’ve ever worked with (plus she’s a cool chick)! I have great admiration for the management and leadership of this company and this property. The people at Grand Victoria will always be in my mind as I travel and I hope I will maintain relationships with many of them through my adventures and later in life. If any of you guys read this – Make sure you leave comments for me on this blog and/or write me at my e-mail address, I want to know what’s going on and I care!

The reason I am writing about Grand Victoria and my career is to set up a segue into the What portion of the blog, as in What am I planning? or as some have asked me (as I have asked myself:

“Why the fuck are you throwing all this away? It sounds like you have it made”

I have been quite fortunate in life. I love and care about my family (although we don’t talk or see each other as much as we should). I have loved and lost some great women. (You know it really is true – only in retrospect -, that old saying “It is better to have loved and lost than to never to have loved at all”). I have a great career that has enabled me to save a bit of money to finance this trip and its afterlife.

I’ve lived in some beautiful and interesting places, including: San Francisco Bay Area (Danville), San Diego, Lake Tahoe, Northwest Washington State and Mississippi. I’ve traveled a bit in the U.S., been to 39 of the States. I’ve spent time in Mexico and Canada. I spent a couple of long summers in Alaska working in canneries and fisheries – that was long, hard work but good money for a college student in the 1980’s – a great experience. I’ve attended 10 U.S Open Golf Championships (between 1988 and 2000) with my friend Greyson. I’ve been to Scotland twice for golfing adventures with my buddies Greyson, Steve and Scott, these Scotland excursions have been the greatest trips of my life thus far.

But anyway, back to the question of What I am planning? (I will answer the Why part in the next entry). I am trying to stay true to my literary intent and not stepping on future blog entries of When, Where, Why and How…

This is where I really get goose bumps! I am going to travel, I am going to travel around the world, that’s what I am going to do. I have no set itinerary. I’ve sold my house, I’ve paid off my debts, I’ve consolidated all my assets, I’ve quit my job, I’ve put all my stuff in storage, I am loading a backpack with 3 changes of clothes and other various items (more on that later) that will weigh 20-25 lbs and am hitting the road for what I hope will be a year+ of adventure, fun and enlightenment. That is What I am doing.

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!