It was twenty years ago today when Long Time Gone was born into the blogosphere. What a ride it has been! Of course, things seldom go as planned, but I had no clue at the time that the journey I was about to embark on would completely and irrevocably change everything and lead me to places beyond my wildest imagination. In my “do-over” afterlife fantasy, there are many things I would change, but making the move to Korea and leaving my vanilla American life behind forever is not one of them. Here’s what I had to say twenty years ago in my first blog post, “And So It Begins”:
I’m moving to Seoul, Korea. Although the general consensus among family and friends is that I’ve lost my mind (which I don’t necessarily deny), this is something of a calling for me. One of my biggest regrets in life was not serving in the military. My father and two brothers are Army vets. My daughter is currently serving her second tour in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne. I am incredibly proud of her and all our troops who are sacrificing so much to defend our freedom and to bring freedom from tyranny to others. Sitting on the sidelines watching these incredible men and women making a difference in the world has only exacerbated my desire to find some tangible way to make a contribution in support of our military. Of course, at 49 my options are somewhat limited. I have been a federal civilian employee for over 28 years, and so for the past several months I have been applying for civilian jobs with the Department of Defense. I was not selected for a position I applied for in Iraq, but the Army offered me a job in South Korea and I have accepted. I don’t presume to think that doing a civilian gig in Seoul is heroic or particularly self-sacrificing, but if in some small way I can play a part in our national defense, I am proud to do so.
Ok, that’s the altruistic reason for going, such as it is. On a more personal level, I have lived a very comfortable life. Too comfortable perhaps. The chance to live and work overseas in a totally alien culture seems to be an exciting opportunity to get out of my box and experience a new lifestyle. Yes, I am looking forward to the adventure. Of course, the nature of adventure is the not knowing how things will turn out. I know I will miss my family and friends and everything that is familiar and wonderfully American. I have made a two-year commitment to the Army, and if I am miserable and lost and lonely, well I will deal with it and learn what I can from the experience. Going in, I have a positive attitude and believe that I have the power to determine what I gain and how I grow as I live this new life.
So, this blog will serve as a diary of my life in Korea. It will be a place where I share my thoughts on what I am seeing, doing, and learning. And since I am fairly political and opinionated, there will likely be some commentary on my views on world events. I have been a blog reader since I discovered the blogosphere shortly after 9/11. This is my first attempt at writing a blog, and that will be part of the adventure I am undertaking.
My original intent when starting LTG was to have an easy way to stay in touch and share with my friends and family back home what was happening in my Korean life. These days, no one from those long ago times reads the blog or cares about me and my so-called life here in the Philippines. Everything changes, but this journey of mine still goes on until I finally reach the end of my road. And I intend to keep writing this public diary of mine even if no one cares enough to read it. I know I have a handful of loyal followers, and that means a lot to me, even if your reward is being subjected to my daily dose of drivel. Thank you!
I have occasionally fantasized about writing the story of my life. Perhaps one day, my descendants will want to learn more about that crazy relative who left everything behind and moved to Asia. In some ways, this blog fulfills that purpose. My plan now is to spend the next few months scrolling through the archives for the rare post that might be worthy of inclusion in my unwritten autobiography. I’ve created a new tag, “The story of my life,” to add to those posts so they will be easy to find in the future. And I’ll share a link to those stories with my readers as I find them.
Over the past twenty years, I have written 5,326 posts and received 17,181 comments. Happy blogiversary! I hope you’ll stick around to see what happens next.
And here’s what happened yesterday:
And then it was time for the Wednesday Walkers group hike. We took a Jeepney out to the far side of Subic and commenced our hike from there.
Swan and I killed the evening hours with visits to It Doesn’t Matter and a nightcap at Wet Spot.
Remembering when we were a family:
And now for a taste of politics:
In today’s YouTube video, Reekay recounts the sad tale of expat Ted. I spend more than I should and have depleted a sizeable chunk of my savings, but that monthly government pension deposit is ample to keep me living large—at least until the USA goes bankrupt. Avoiding four years of Kamala spending might be the miracle we’ve needed.
And some humor, if you please:
Anyway, here’s to hoping it will be a Long Time Gone before my blogging days are over. I ain’t in no hurry to give it up.
Happy 20th anniversary! My blog’s was in 2023. You’ve come a long way from Seoul.
Sure, we all write our drivel and hope people will care, and parts of our blogs might even outlast us if we find people to keep paying subscription fees for image hosting after we die (in my case, anyway), but the “drivel” is the magic of the ordinary, as Zen Buddhism reminds us. The ordinary—the routines, the mundanity, the morning breath, the farting, the scab-picking, the rituals, the habits—is where life is lived. Of course, we have peaks, but life is lived in the valleys.
Again, Happy Blogiversary. Long may you reign over your cyber-hill.
Ah, the wide-open spaces!
I wonder if that toilet is still being used by locals.
Pausing for the group shot. Biggest turnout we’ve had for a while.
Nice group shot. But 18-Kilo Ass rarely appears these days.
Well done, Beth
Those were some big, heavy, sturdy logs. What was the problem?
Children In the dark make mistakes
I like how “in” is capitalized. And in the next sentence, “children” is capitalized. How lovely.
Righto, well again, Happy Blogiversary!
20 years!! Wow!
I know we discussed this before, but I read a SF story about how a parallel universe is created every time a decision is made. So, in some parallel universe, you were offered a job in Iraq and took it. It would be interesting to see where that John is 20 years later. Maybe in Barretto? 😛
Here’s to 20 more years!
Thanks, Brian. In my fantasies, choosing different paths always ends well. It probably doesn’t work that way. Looking back, I’m glad they didn’t want me in Iraq. I enjoyed the hell out of Korea and still miss it. I met lots of Filipinos there and that ultimately led me here. Should be fun to see what happens next.
Kev, it was nice to re-read your blogiversary post. And thanks for the Zen insights; it’s good to know there is a foundational basis for being satisfied with the mundane routines that make up a life.
I think that open-air toilet had a shed around it the last time we passed that way. It is in an isolated area, so I guess it’s possible that someone could be desperate enough to take a dump there.
18-Kilo Ass is a devoted member of the local Hells Angels motorcycle club these days and no longer hikes with us. I occasionally see him around town with his biker buds, and he seems to be doing well. We had to draft a new Santa for our Christmas Hash this year.
The problem with the log bridge was the handrail wasn’t sturdy enough to be useful. I would have tried it anyway, except I needed to wade in the water to clean the mud off my shoes.
I have had lots of readers and regular commenters come and go over the years. I very much appreciate that you’ve stuck around longer than anyone. Your blog was among the first I discovered in Korea (along with Marmot and Nomad). Cheers!