An investment?

I’ve spent the better part of my morning adding up my expenses from three months in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China. It’s not pretty. Between flights, buses, translators, food, and accommodation, I tallied nearly $8,000 in expenses.

I had about $6,000 saved and allotted for the trip. I figured it would cost more than that, but hey, isn’t that what credit cards and second mortgages are for?

Through various writing and radio assignments, I’ve recouped half of the trip’s expense. I’m happy with that. I’ve only been home for three months and I still have a lot of stories ready to be written, sold, and recycled, and the possibility of a book deal. I don’t think I’m going to have trouble earning the expenses back, but when you consider 3-months of lost wages from my “other” job and away from my regular writing, it could be interesting.

Gone are the days of haplessly traveling and getting a story here and there. I’ve got a wife and a mortgage, and, to be honest, I’m just not wired for hapless travel anymore. What started as a love for travel became a love for writing about travel, and finally, simply, a love for writing.

There are few things I would rather do in this world than write and polish a great story. It just so happens that writing about people in faraway places makes for great stories. I hope I can keep doing this for years to come. Let’s hope this last trip earns itself out.