Well, I do apologize for my silence on this blog in the past couple months.

As many of your know, I have decided to take my leave from Jet Set Zero. Rehabilitation of my knee went well in Korea, but it wasn’t quite enough to fully heal it. Upon return to the U.S., a physical therapist explained that my patella had been slowly rotating and left to its own devices, would have dislocated again. I don’t fault the Korean medical system, which was superb; just turns out that having someone explain a medical problem in your native language is pretty important. Who knew?

So I am back in the U.S., rehabilitating my knee, looking for work in the Bay Area, and readjusting to a life not on the road.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year. As part of the Jet Set Zero lifestyle, I’ve ridden ostriches and mini-tank treads. I’ve dared the culinary gods of Vietnam and Thailand, and braved the cold streets of Tokyo. I’ve drunk with Vietnamese Bankers, Japanese salary men, and Korean University students. I was taught how to make sushi and how to fire dance from the same person. I jockeyed my way through Saigon traffic, navigated the rail systems in Tokyo and Seoul, and patiently endured being passed up by cabs because I was a foreigner. In Seoul, I dislocated my kneecap while dancing and wound my way through the Korean medical system. I lived in internet cafes for 3 weeks and a tiny box of a room for 3 months. I sang Karaoke (poorly) in every country we went to. Our friends abroad took us to clubs, restaurants, theme parks, gaming cafes and gaming tournaments, a wedding, a snow temple, a cherry blossom festival, and so much more. It was an adventure in friendship, budget living, cultural immersion, and discomfort zones.

After the break, I’ve got 3 collages, 1 from each country. It’s just a collection of photos, splashed together, but they encapsulate many of the seminal moments that I’ve shared with Jet Set Zero this past year.

As part of the team that runs the show, I’ve had a share of crazy. We battled internet in all 3 countries. My “offices” in Vietnam included a Christian run café without air conditioning and swanky café with girls in miniskirts and bottomless green tea (cha da). In Tokyo, I worked in a living room that didn’t see sunlight, a Tully’s café that suffered my ordering 1 item every 7 hours, and internet cafes scattered throughout the city. Seoul was equally strange. All in all, my work environments this past year have been…unconventional.

It was with a heavy heart that I said my goodbyes to Jet Set Zero. My budget could simply not sustain more time on the road and my knee couldn’t heal with more travel – and I wasn’t willing to risk the medical system in Istanbul.

I thank all of you that have tuned in to watch our progress. I also thank the team that made it all possible. Brian, your leadership has held this all together, and ‘captain’ wouldn’t be an unfair title. Rob, your undying enthusiasm made you the perfect travel partner, and I think your sense of adventure got us into as much trouble as it got us out of! Jed, you brought it all to life and marvelously so. Kevin, rock solid in any situation. Bryan, you connected us to the coolest scenes (and once assaulted me with an umbrella, but it’s cool =) Dan, your wit kept us going when times were bad and your down-to-earth approach kept us safe when times were too crazy.
Nick and Jen, you’ll make this all far more interesting than I ever could have!

I wish the team the best of luck traveling. JS0, fuck yeah!