Matt broke his knee, but who cares?  Jet Set Zero has a new cast member.  Say hi to Nick.

Well, this one didn’t get done exactly when I thought it would, but here it is none the less!  Thanks for being patient, I think these episodes are often worth the wait and this one is no exception.  Not much to say about Starting on the Right Foot other than “enjoy;” I had fun making it (and naming it) so I hope you have fun watching it.

Nick Amante

Admittedly this post is a bit overdue as I actually arrived shortly behind the rest of the team and have been sharing in the adventure of life in Korea.  Adjusting to teaching English to kindergartners, living in what basically amounts to a closet, and the whirlwind pace at which adventure comes our way has been an experience in itself so I wanted to make sure I didn’t neglect the blog any longer and shared some of my story with you.

If we rewind a bit to the beginning of this year, my life was pretty different: I’d been living for the past three years in Seattle, WA where I was employed as software engineer at a major corporation. By all accounts I’d achieved the American dream: a high paying career, a nice apartment, a car, and a 401(k)… everything you’re supposed to be striving  for when you graduate college. Now, I have to admit that as far as corporate jobs go, I had it pretty good; my hours were reasonable, my pay was good, and I never had to wear a suit and tie. Still, the job had slowly begun to grow more and more unfulfilling over the past year or so. I’d always assumed that if I had a good job and saved my money that I could afford to travel, but I quickly learned it’s not money that you need to see the world, it’s time. With only three paltry weeks of vacation a year, most of which was spent visiting family for the holidays, it was difficult to find time to do any traveling for myself, and even harder to find friends who’s vacation schedules would allow them to accompany me. On top of that, everyone I worked with fell into the 30-50 years old range, was married, and most had children. For them, travel was an afterthought, something in an imagined retirement. Life revolved around mortgages, retirement plans, and the endless game of corporate politicking that’s required to ensure you your next promotion. After three years in that environment I wanted out before that kind of thinking rubbed off on me. My lease was ending soon and I was contemplating some sort of change, but I wasn’t yet sure what form that would take.

It was actually by luck and word of mouth that that I found Jet Set Zero. I was sitting in our office cafeteria having lunch with my friend Sarika when I made the offhanded comment that maybe “I should just quit my job and travel the world”. Now, I’d probably said this to her dozens of times before, but this time instead of just nodding in agreement and letting it pass, she asked me “Have you ever heard of Jet Set Zero?”. She’d recently discovered the site and proceed to tell me a bit about the concept of the project and the story thus far. Of course, I was hooked instantly and spent the rest of the day at the office pouring over the site, reading the blog and watching all of the episodes. At around the same time, a video was posted to the site titled Join Us. It led with a line that pretty much summed it up for me:

“If you’ve ever wanted to explore new places, to make friends around the world.. if you’ve ever woken up bored, even once in your life, you have to come join us!” - Rob.

I decided to take a chance and so I sent in a video telling the guys about myself and my reasons for wanting to join Jet Set Zero. Before I knew it I was giving notice at my old job, searching for teaching positions, applying for visas, and then on a plane to Korea where new friends and new adventures awaited!

The remnants of possessions that have accompanied me to Korea

On a 13 hour flight, 3 empty seats in a row makes coach feel like first class.

Over the next few days I’ll follow up on this post and try to give you all some more insight into my transition from life in the States to living with the cast here in Seoul.