Notebook of a Nomad

Wow, what an incredible experience. We rang in the new year on a sailboat that has been hosting NYE parties in Sydney Harbour for 38 years. It was an incredible fireworks display. Well, two displays actually. They have a show at 9 pm so all the kiddos can watch and go to bed early. Then of course there’s the real deal at midnight. Each show was ten plus minutes of truly stunning.

Our hosts live on their sailboat, Sydney Sundancer, all year round. They’re an older couple with plenty of experience, knowing which spots to claim and everything else required to make the night one that won’t be forgotten. In my excitement I made the captain take a picture with me. Lol

In between the two fireworks shows we had some time to kill and I started chatting with an older couple from Seattle. They’re retired now and do a lot of traveling. I was eager to pick their brains and hear about their favorite experiences across the globe.

I told them about my plans to hit every continent, and since they were clearly liberal I told them that Trump was a big reason I was leaving. To the people whose political views weren’t apparent, I told them it was a victory lap around the world celebrating my litigation and surgeries finally coming to an end. While I’ve had the desire to embark on a world tour for a couple years, Trump being elected was certainly the catalyst that caused me to stop waiting for a love interest that could accompany me and just make it happen myself.

When I’m meeting new people and the introductions start, the topic of employment usually comes up pretty quickly. Depending on the situation and my energy level, I might just say that I’m a civil engineer who builds and designs roads. Repeating the story of what happened to me and how I got here can become tiresome. When we were awkwardly waiting to board the sailboat, we had time to kill so I gave more details than I normally would. The first woman I talked to was very interested in my story. When she went out of her way to bring up that she was a Christian, it felt like she was trying to prompt a conversation about god saving me and how generous it is that god only burned off my face, gave me brain damage and flipped over the table that I call my life. After that, I politely moved on and didn’t give her much attention.

Since my accident, I’ve experienced Christians who see my story as a miracle and proof that god exists or see my accident as a part of god’s plan. These assertions don’t sit well with me. They’re using my trauma as a way to reinforce their own ideology about god’s role in the world. It feels selfish when they ignore my pain and struggle and instead only focus on the fact that I didn’t die which they take as proof that god is real and they are safe. There are real Christians of course, who try to live by the teachings of Jesus and have treated me with empathy. But that’s a pretty small minority in my experience. I try to avoid people who seem like they’re taking my story and twisting it into their narrative for their own needs.

I’m very protective of my story. We all have a story. A story we tell ourselves. A story we tell others. And a story that others tell about us.. Our story is essentially our identity. It’s how we see ourselves and how we hope others see us. After so much of my identity was taken from me, I won’t let people take my story.

It’s easy to forget how compelling my story can be for people just meeting me. I find it boring because it’s just my life and I’ve been living it for the past 6.5 years. There are many parts of my story that were extremely difficult and would be easier to forget. But my story isn’t about someone running from pain and struggle. My story is about someone overcoming pain and struggle and turning his life into something that would have never been possible without that pain and struggle. That pain and struggle opened new doors and it’s my job to go through those doors and see what’s on the other side. I think that’s another big motivation for this year of globe trotting. I’m setting the narrative for my story by taking advantage of the opportunities that weren’t available to me in my old life.

So I’ll end this post with a cheers to 2025 and setting our own narratives for our own lives.