Making the Impossible Happen

What do you do when you're presented with a problem?  In my case, I think outside the box.

These days I'm hanging out at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, finishing up my last year as a dual MBA/MS student.  My life is awesome.  I control my schedule, choose my activities, and answer to no one but myself.  The downside?  I'm living on borrowed money that's capped according to the "U of M cost of student living."  Let's just say it's paltry, and leave it at that.

This year I was presented with a particular problem: I wanted to spend the year-end holidays with my sister in Switzerland, and in February I'd been invited to a once-in-a-lifetime networking opportunity with some of the most inspiring people in the world... in Myanmar.  Too bad the combined cost of the flights alone was already looking to be over $5000. Poop.

But then I got to thinking.  If I was going to go on this Myanmar trip, it basically meant I was going to miss 1/3 of my term classes anyway.  Maybe it made more sense to skip the term altogether, stay in Europe a bit after the holidays, and then fly from there directly to Myanmar instead of coming home in between.  Some course finagling, a bit of credit massaging, and a lot of travel agency negotiation later I had a Round-the-World flight plan that spanned from the holidays to the beginning of the 2nd Winter term in March.  Total cost?  Less than half the original estimate!!  Booyah!

And so it is with eager anticipation that I look forward to the next three months.  I've wrangled Maya - the same girl from my Nicaragua posts years ago - to accompany me on most of my journey.  We'll be climbing some of the rock faces in Turkey and Thailand and exploring several cities in between.  I have every intention to return to Michigan tanned, toned, and ready to tackle the job hunt I've been pretending I don't have to do.  Go adventure!