On the road again… (Photo by satterwhiteb)

Today marks the beginning of my extended wandering around the world. Where exactly am I going?

Well, I arrived in Milan this morning and am somewhere in the Swiss Alps at the moment on the way Zurich where I’ll stay for a day or so (Italy and Switzerland become countries six and seven, respectively, on my overall list). The start of this journey is a bit quick and hectic – covering four continents and over 15,000 miles over the course of 10 days. Not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted to do long-term, slow travel. That will change though in a couple weeks.

This European leg, as well as a couple days in Malaysia next week, was simply an added bonus of booking that mistake fare back in May. My intention was always to get to Australia, and that mistake fare got me close enough where I could book another cheap ticket on a discount airline (Air Asia in this case) to make it ridiculously affordable. It pays to follow travel bloggers and deal sites!

After a weekend outside Brisbane with some friends of mine, I’m not yet sure where I’ll head to next. I plan to be in New Zealand at the end of November, Sydney for New Year’s and Melbourne for the Australian Open (both events are long-standing dreams of mine to go to). I know Australia is not exactly a budget-friendly place, but I’ll make it work. In between Brisbane and New Zealand, I could either stay in Australia, or go to a less-expensive entrepreneurial hub in Southeast Asia. Decision pending…

As you can see, I’m already having a hard time separating personal and business goals. Once I slow down I feel I’ll be able to better balance the two. I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive, so long as I build good habits along the way.