Early FI - Reflections One Full Year Later (Part 1)

Just a little over one year ago, I quit my engineering job so that I could pursue a life unscripted. For months prior to letting the mic drop, I contemplated my options and worked on figuring out where I wanted the journey to take me next.

After much deliberation, I ultimately decided that I wanted to start the new chapter in Hong Kong; my grandparents hailed from Guangzhou but for the first 31 years of my life, the entire continent of Asia was more or less a foreign concept to me. Outside of a short trip to Tokyo and Bangkok in 2014, I had never immersed myself in that side of the world.

It was time for a change.

To make the long grueling flight to the other side of the world more tolerable, I did something that I had been longing to do since that last vacation in 2014 -- I finally cashed in a good chunk of reward points and booked a business class flight via Cathay Pacific to HKG airport.

While I woke up the morning of feeling some degree of anxiousness and excitement, I can definitely say that the ride to the Orient was smooth sailing with each refill of warm milk tea, HK style. Gotta love business class!

Before long, I had arrived at HKG and I knew it almost immediately as I descended off of the airplane; the weather was hot and humid, just like I had always been told it would be during this time of year. As someone who was born and raised in the Bay Area, this change in climate was an immediate wake-up call that I was now embarking into a whole new world.

Welcome to Hong Kong - Asia's World City.

To say that my new journey got off on the wrong foot would be an understatement. After departing the airport, it took me a good hour and a half to get to my new "home." Feeling pretty tired and jetlagged upon arrival, I thought that I would just take it easy and call it a day. I set down all my belongings and made my way to the bathroom to take a leak, wash my face, and brush my teeth.

You know, altogether uneventful and mundane stuff...

Little did I know that the "fun" was just getting started!

As soon as I closed the door and locked it, I had an eerie feeling that something went terribly wrong. I immediately changed my mind and tried to unlock the door, but to my horror, I realized that my intuition was right all along... The latch was stuck and the handle would not turn.

Oh shit!

Now what?

After struggling with the doorknob for a good hour, trying to make use of whatever tools I could find to try and get the handle to turn, I was able to successfully pry the whole thing off, latch and all.

Salvation, at last! And some much welcomed "cool" air.

That whole ordeal was definitely much more than I bargained for, especially on the first night. Feeling absolutely exhausted, I hopped into bed and probably fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

And that was probably a good thing. I didn't have time to reflect on the event, much less dwell on it. All the better. It would have been a shame to let an unforeseen speedbump in the road ruin what was supposed to be a most exciting new time in my life.

Early the next morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn, the morning's sunrise piercing through my window on the 11th floor. What I was to witness next would take my breath away.

Good morning Hong Kong!

At that moment I knew with full conviction -- I'm going to have the time of my life in this new country.

To be continued...