Several years ago, in 2018 to be exact, Stefan gave me a "1000 places to see before you die" 2019 daily desk calendar as a Christmas gift.  It featured a new, amazing destination for each day of the year.  Renowned historic places likes Thebes and the Parthenon; places of awe-inspiring natural beauty like Patagonia and Iceland, and places filled with rich color and culture like Marrakech, Bangkok and Sao Paulo.  Every day I would read about a new land and a new adventure, and then stash these away for a day when I could visit these sites, and experience the history, beauty and culture myself.  Working in the airline industry gave me the great benefit of travel, and I've had some amazing trips over the years.  I've had many, many amazing trips actually, and I have the stack of ticket stubs to prove it.  And while collecting all those stubs gave me the ability to visit many places, I was never able to spend enough time to get more than the impression of language, culture and the people in places like Cairo, Munich and Mexico City.  

The thing is - I want more than just an impression.  I want a deep understanding of how people live their lives, understand what they value and learn how they find joy.  I want to learn the language and the customs, and to understand the history so that I can appreciate the collective dreams for our future. 

And this is why I've decided to take a year off of work and start a journey.  I'm starting back in a city that I fell in love with five years ago.  This doesn't count towards my ambiguously set goal of 1000 places to see, but Mexico City sure as hell is a great launch pad to start counting them down.  My travels will be unusual, and sometimes bazaar and uncomfortable, but they will be, without a doubt, extraordinary.