I've noticed I only seem to blog about once a year :)) Maybe I should try to keep up more ;)
I came home the end of March from Afghanistan. I took my Halflingers to Colorado for a week of training, then left for farrier school the end of April. The first week of June I re-injured my back. I managed to finish 8 weeks, but my plan to have a business shoeing horses went out the window. I piddled around for a few months, then decided I'd go back to work. I found a job working for a security contractor in South Texas guarding oilfields. Even if I were willing to go back to the Middle East or Africa for work (I'm really not), I don't think I could pass the physical now because of my back. Meeting physical requirements is easier for jobs in the US. It was a 2 week on/2 week off gig which I thought would be good since I'm basically retired and was just looking for something to do.
During my first 2 week break I decided to go on a dive trip to the Philippines which I returned from last week. The Philippines is one of my favorite destinations. I'd been there six times previously. It was only short flight when I lived in Japan. This time it took me over 24 hours to get there!
Before I went on the trip, I was already thinking about going back into retirement mode. My vacation only cemented that. The problem before was that when the chance of a farrier business went out the window, I had no plan! Now I have a plan... it's a very simple one, it's called "Live life to the fullest!!!"..... I resigned from my job this week. I'm getting my house and property ready to sell. In between that I'm going diving in the Florida Keys in December. I should be all set for my house go on the market by January. Then I'm going to travel!
My initial plans, include a trip to Ecuador in South America to dive Galapagos. After that I'm going back to the Philippines for a couple of months. First a month in Malapascua, then another month traveling around the Philippines visiting the places I haven't dived yet that I've wanted too, and re-visiting some of my favorite spots. After that I'm going to spend at least a 2-3 months traveling. I plan to dive Australia and also to see more of Asia. Then I plan to go live in Guam for at least a year. Not only is the diving good there, but it's a good jumping off point to dive all of Micronesia! Palau, Yap, Truk Lagoon, Saipan, etc... After that we'll see.