Almost cut my hair...

...well, actually, I really did cut it. Almost all of it. And it feels kind of weird, maybe because I haven't had it cut this short since I was 8 years old.

Perhaps this makes me neurotic or high-maintenance, but I had an intense internal debate over how I wanted to wear my hair while traveling. I was torn between two extremes. On one hand, I was considering growing it out and getting in touch with my hippie side. On the other, I thought I might just shave it all off in the name of expediency.

In the end, I figured that having long hair would just be a pain in the ass. I pictured myself emerging from the forest, having just finished an 8-day hike, and finding a set of, nasty, funk-ridden dreadlocks where my luscious locks used to be. Needless to say, the thought was too much to bear.

So, overcome by curiosity, I decided to head over to my friendly neighborhood Great Clips and reacquaint myself with the shape of my skull. Here are the results:

Whoops, wrong picture...

That's better, although I hope I'm not the only one who notices the striking resemblance between Kojak and myself.

What's in a name?

I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to name this blog. Because the name is more important than things like, oh, actual content, right? Right. Well, my first choice was "The Tourist," after my favorite Radiohead song. Predictably, though, that one was already taken. Then I started to get clever and tried a variation on the theme: "The Occidental Tourist." I was pretty proud of myself for thinking that one up. But, lo and behold, that one was taken, too! I guess my claim that I am the cleverest, wittiest person on the internet is unfounded.

Finally, after much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth, I settled on "Universal Taveler," which is derived from the Air tune by the same name. The song comes off their Talkie Walkie album, which is excellent...if you have the means, I highly recommend it. Anyways, if you are curious about how the song applies to me, here are the lyrics:

I know so many places in the world
I follow the sun in my silver plane
Universal traveler

If you have a look outside on the sea
Everything is white, it's so wonderful
Universal traveler

So far, so far
So far away

I've met so many people in my life
I have many friends who can care for me
Universal traveler

Just feel everywhere at home
Tomorrow is a brand new day, let's go somewhere else
Universal traveler

So far, so far
So far away

Very cool song, if you can get past Air's pronunciation of "universal" (u-NEE-ver-SOW). They can't help it...they're French.

Inaugural Post

Alright, before I get started, I need to issue a warning: I am new to the realm of blogging. Although I have read plenty of blogs in the past, I have no experience writing them. So my posts might suck at first, but things will get better. Then again, they might continue to suck. Stay tuned to find out!

First of all, who am I? My name is Nate, I am 24 years old, and I live in Kansas City, Missouri. I work as a software engineer for Cerner Corporation, a medium-sized software vendor for the healthcare industry. Although I have been living in Missouri for most of the past five years (the first four as a computer science student at Washington University in St. Louis), I consider myself a Minnesota native at heart. I grew up in the halcyon Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie.

So, now that you know who I am, you are probably wondering what this blog is all about. Well, there is a story to that, but I will try to give you the executive summary. After I graduated from Wash U, I transitioned immediately into my current job as a software engineer. That was the plan all along, and I never really considered any alternatives. After a while, though, I started to wonder if this was really how I wanted to kick off my post-college life. I was searching for a sense of adventure and independence, and I wasn't finding it at my desk job. I had thought about traveling before, but I always figured that it would be something I did after I retired and could live off my nest egg. Eventually, I decided:

Screw that. I'm going now.

So, basically, I will be spending the first half of 2005 (maybe longer) backpacking through New Zealand, Europe, and other strange and exotic locales. I will be living day-to-day with minimal extended planning. Exactly where I'll be at any given moment is a mystery, and I expect the trip to evolve, literally, right before my eyes.

This blog will be a written record of my journey. It will also be a tool to stay in touch with friends, family, and people I might meet along the way. I hope to keep it regularly updated with fresh thoughts, feelings, observations, and images from my travels.

I won't actually depart for New Zealand (the first stop on my trip) until January 2005, so you can expect things to be pretty quiet for a while. In the weeks and months leading up to that day, I'll start posting more as I complete my preparations. And once I actually embark, it will be a veritable post-o-rama (hopefully).

So sit back, relax, and strap on your seat belt. You've never been on a ride like this before.