The sweetest part of this thread is how it mimics your approach to life: what began as a three paragraphs of advice turned into a promising book deal.

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
Wife
And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

adsman... I started reading this story during the night at work and just finished it up. I was so enthralled by it that I forgot my $@# login and had to re-register! LOL

I must say your life has been quite an adventure thus far. At least you won't fall into the 'woulda-coulda-shoulda' group when you get old enough to have nothing left but your memories!

Thanks so much for a great read... I wish you success with any future writings that may get published. It would seem that rafting isn't your only talent

this was *******g* amazing. you are now one of my many heroes.

Really enjoyed this thread. Good adventures, and a fun read.

I lurk a lot here, but don't post much. For anyone considering living somewhere else for a while, just go for it. You can always go back if you don't like it. Moving overseas (or just somewhere else) opens your mind up to different ways of doing things in ways you just can't imagine until you try it. You just see the world differently, and in a good way.

My "adventures" are nothing like those of adsman, but they have made my life much better. I used to live in San Diego, and one day a good friend asked, "How would you like to work in Europe? I have a friend who is a Managing Director at this company in Switzerland, and he needs people." I got a passport, went on an interview, and was living in Switzerland 6 weeks after my friend asked me the question. Work has taken me all over Europe and the desire to travel after coming here has taken me other interesting places.

One more thing for adsman, how far are you from Milan? I'm currently in Luzern (CH), which is about 2.5 hrs from Milan, and I make it there reasonably often. Definitely up for a rafting trip sometime and definitely up for checking out your club.

el diablo. f u. u think u know a lot about business fu. if all of your opponents were like morphy or tarrasch, etc, you would suck. ure a great table selector. blahahahaha. lol. u suck, though, seriously, you are fabulusly overrated, and bad at life. f u. jk. u r smart. just nothing special. no inventions. no contributions to the world. no nothing. u suck, bottom line. f u. lol. but you make medicore poker decision! lol. a smart 8th grader could play better than u. our society is pretty dumb (case in point, yes, you are smart for realizing that, not d, but the readers, lololol, [censored]

Thanks for the input seigfriedetc.

I've enjoyed this thread a lot, thank you for posting it adsman. I've done a few unusual things on a whim, but not quite on this scale. Never hurts to read an inspirational story, it's great to see what other people have done with their chances

What the feck?

I'm about 3.5 hours from Milan. 2 hours to Verona and from there it's just under 2 hours up to me in Trentino. Drop me a PM if you want directions. I'm more than happy to meet fellow 2+2ers. Apart from SeigfriedandRoy of course. WTF??

Ditto what the others have posted adsman.

Not only is your story interesting, you tell it with great imagery. I can see you blowing by the cop in my mind's eye clear as day.

I read this end to end just now and I second (or, rather, ten to the second) the opinion of others that it is an amazing and well-written story. Thanks.

I've known a few people like you in my life. The thing is, you make living this way seem so easy. I don't mean that your story makes it seem as if you did easy things (quite the opposite). Rather, you just come off as having a natural inclination to do and say the right thing at the right time. Most people, including me, just wouldn't have the natural instincts to survive and excel in these circumstances, though I think everyone wants to believe they could if only they had the willpower. For every person like you who says or does just the right thing to avoid incurring the wrath of the Ugandan mob, there are so many others hacked to death.

jack, I disagree. A lot of people just need a kickstart to get their ass in gear. When I travelled around South America last year I met quite a few people that were yearning to get away. Off the beaten path and all that yada yada. They were just lacking the confidence. All they needed was someone to show them how easy it really is.

adsman, I never posted how much I enjoyed this thread. Our stories are similar in some ways up to this point in my life. I hope to have as many stories and be as good a writer when I'm your age.

For those interested, I wrote this post about my life for a couple of even younger guys in the SSNL forum. I'm slightly embarrassed to be giving life advice at 22, though.

Just started reading this forum and HOLY what an unbelievable story BATMAN!!! thanks for taking the time to share it adsman. took me a few days to finish it but was well worth it. I've been brewing some ideas around in my head for what to do after school. I'm currently going into my 5th year for an economics degree and have absolutely no idea what I want to do with that, but I definitely know I want to take advantage of my youth while I have it. Travel, maybe sign up for the Peace Corps, something.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks and let you know you've gotten me a little more focused as far as my post collegiate plans go.

Really enjoyed reading your thread. Seems like you really take things as they come. Good to know its all worked out for you.

Just read this. Pretty much the greatest thing I've ever read.

How is the book project going?

Thanks.

Thanks for the bump
Amazing story

ridic good.

Really good read.

There has to be a book...there has to...

I've had quite a few pm's since this thread got bumped, asking me if I'm writing a book, how long is there to go, etc, etc.

It's very nice to have people enthusiastic about something that is actually very difficult to do. It's given me a little push to move things along. So to show my thanks, here's a little teaser lifted from the first chapter.

ads.


(Taken at random cause that's how I roll .... also this is unedited before you give me crap about grammar and spellingz and stuff ....)


I went around to see Lisa and give her the breathtaking news that I was going to chuck everything and go with her. How could she not be pleased? She was delirious with joy, or at least that’s what I remember at the time. She was due to leave in a week but I needed some more time to get my act together, a couple of months at least. The following evening my band was playing a gig and Lisa came along to watch. It was the best gig we had ever played. Musicians from other bands came and told us that we were going to be the real thing. My band-mates were ecstatic. I was the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. So when I told them that actually I was chucking it all and following my girlfriend off to Sydney the mood of the evening dropped down a few notches. To my surprise they packed it in on the spot. I thought that they’d at least find someone else to take my place. Was it a sign that I shouldn’t leave? I went home and my girlfriend bonked my brains out. The following morning I went into work and gave them two months notice.

I went and saw my girlfriend off at the airport. I don’t remember much, but what I do remember is the two of us deep-throating each other in a 20 minute kiss directly in front of the boarding gate for her flight. We put on quite a scene. Finally the boarding staff managed to unlock the two of us from our death-like grip and my true love walked backwards down the embarkation tunnel with tears in her eyes. I drove back to my home with my escape plan to Sydney and a new life ticking over in my confused and muddled brain. I thus began the process of packing up what I had, sorting out the little details and letting my friends and family know what I was up to. My family were cornerstones of support. I do not remember hearing one argument or even a hint of a reason why I should not be going. At the time I suppose that I took this for granted. Now I know just how rare and precious is that unconditional support. My friends for the most part were amused. I am quite certain that I was the topic for much animated discussion amongst them at the time. A few however, were open in their support and admiration. It was a ballsy move, not diminished by the fact that I wasn’t catching a plane to Sydney. I was going to travel the entire way across Australia on my motor bike.

When you are desperate to be gone, eight weeks can progress with the speed of a car driven by an old man wearing a hat. More so when the aching pain I felt at being separated by my true love was factored into the equation. We spoke on the phone as often as I could afford it. We had long phone sex sessions. It was all quite eye opening. She had moved into a beautiful terrace house in Paddington, an inner-city suburb of Sydney. She had found a job working in a trendy clothing store just around the corner. She loved Sydney, it was the city where anything was possible. We spoke every day.

It was late January 2005 by the time I was ready to leave. A few days before my departure there was the annual staff party for the bar in which I was working. They charted a boat and took the fifty odd staff out to the islands off the coast of Perth. We spent the day diving and swimming with seals, playing cricket on the beach, flirting with abandon, and getting horribly drunk. Towards dusk we pointed the charter boat back to Perth, entered Fremantle harbor and headed slowly up the Swan River for a few kilometers. At last we moored the boat to a little jetty directly in front of a famous tavern called The Left Bank. Our boss stuck a few thousand dollars on the bar for us and we proceeded to defy all known records of human alcohol consumption. At one point I was sitting outside talking with a group of people when I spied a public telephone. In my drunken and lovesick state, I came upon the inspired decision that now was a perfect opportunity to call Lisa and remind her of my unwavering love for her very being. I stumbled over to the phone and after a few attempts I eventually had to ask a member of staff to help me put the coins in the slot.

The phone rang for what seemed a very long time. At last somebody answered. Alas, it was not my true love, merely some horrible flat-mate. They went off to find Lisa. I could hear her footsteps coming nearer towards the phone. The receiver was picked up and finally I heard her silky voice:

“Hello?”

“Mwhagawagbahbahbaba.” My God, I was drunker than I thought.

“What? Who is this?”

How dare she not recognize my voice? Was I not her true love? “This be your true love,” I managed to slur out.

“My what? Is this you, Adam?”

She knew me! It was true love after all! I was so deliriously happy that I dropped the phone. The receiver made a horrible cracking sound as it bounced off the metal stand. I scrambled for it but the damn thing kept slipping out of my fingers. Some bastard must have smeared butter all over the phone handle. I eventually got a grip on things and explained to Lisa that some bastard had smeared invisible butter over the phone handle. She didn’t laugh. Strange, she always laughed at my jokes.

“Adam, are you drunk?” Her tone seemed to be that of a person who is slightly annoyed.

“Maybe just a little bit,” I said with a terrible feeling that perhaps I had made a big mistake. To make up for this big mistake I began to tell her of my undying love for her. I don’t know how long I spoke but I was eloquent, of that I am sure. So there was no excuse for her hanging up the phone without any warning at all. I briefly considered calling her back immediately, but the gods had blessed me by stealing all the change from my pockets. I walked slowly back to the table where I had been sitting. I had the nagging feeling that I had made an error that could turn out decisive in the long term.

I have photos of my departure from Perth. It is a sunny day. I am sitting on my big old Honda CB750K7. The rear of the bike is piled high with saddle bags, tent, sleeping bag etc. I am wearing a black open-faced helmet, my heavy leather jacket, jeans and Blundstone boots. My mother and brother are in the photos at different intervals. My mother looks excited for me. My brother looks like he really couldn’t give a ****. I resemble a very scared guy trying to appear cool. At some point I decided that I had to be going. I kissed my mother goodbye, clapped my brother on the back and rode away down the suburban street. About a half hour later I stopped at the top of the Darling escarpment which looks down over the city of Perth. I got off my bike and leant against it as I stared at the city below me. My stomach had that slight churning, nervous feeling you get when you’re about to walk out to speak in front of a room full of people for the first time. All that I knew in my short life was down there before me. All of my friends, my family, my experiences, my boundaries. Behind me, the only thing I had was a girlfriend who hadn’t answered the phone since that drunken evening a little over a week ago. I could still back out of this. I could get back on my bike, coast down the Great Eastern Highway back to my home, and nobody would think less of me for it. I must have sat there on my bike for a good ten minutes. Long-load semi trailers sped past, almost sweeping me off my feet with the backwash from their passing. The sun beat down. Sweat pooled around my neck where leather touched my bare skin. In the end I got onto my bike, kick started the engine, twisted the throttle a few times while gazing down the hill, and then I let out the clutch, did a long slow turn and headed off towards the East.

adsman I salute you Great writing, fantastic stories and undying respect for your adventures - keep us posted

I just saw this thread, and spent a good chunk of my working day reading it. After I read the first post & some responses, I was inspired to maybe tell my tale about how I went from being in math & science classes 3 years ahead of the rest of my class in grade school , to being in all 'learning disabled' classes by the time I was in Jr. High.

But then by the time I read the Africa chapters, I realized that nobody gives a **** about my mundane life.

Adam, seriously, fantastic read. When I think of the greatest posts in the history of 2p2 I think of this one and one that to this day makes me very sad. Thank you for the effort.

Grunch, I would be interesting in hearing about that.

wow. just wow.

crazy good writing

I think the story is made by the writing, and this is fantastic. It sounds like you've had a hell of a ride so far; I really admire the way you seem to go with your gut and take advantage of the opportunities you've created for yourself. I'm still young and I hope to be able to do the same. Thanks for taking the time to write all of this.