There is an actual end date to this adventure, and while I let that sink in I am reflecting on the overwhelming amount of people I have met on this trip.

The time difference is now 12 hours. I’m as far from home as I can possibly be, and yet people from home still find me, thanks to the PMI community.

A road trip, like a project, needs a team in order to succeed.  But you can't have everyone trying to drive the car at once, and we all know those backseat drivers...also known as future hitchhikers.

My time in Bolivia was a game of communication dominoes.  One text message from a new PMI friend in Arequipa, Peru, to his PMI contact in Bolivia and a few days later I was dining with the La Paz PM community and discussing how they use current events to demonstrate project management techniques.

My first thought was, I need wifi to message my PMI contact in Piura who is meeting me at the airport. My second thought was, what will I do with 5 hours of free time in a tiny airport?

A misconception of project management is that it is complicated, intimidating, that you have to follow a methodology A to Z in order to do it right.

Do I miss my closet? YES. But this isn't a fashion trip, it's a project management one. 

Far from the Netflix Narcos depicted towns of the 80s and 90s, Colombia is progressive and accessible.

Come visit me in Guatemala. Make sure to stamp your passport on the way in. 

In PM terms, vacations are more predictive, and long-term travel is adaptive. One has a clearly defined scope and strict deadline (return ticket). The latter has a budget which you have to maximize in order to deliver an experience that satisfies the broad scope in the time allotted.

How exactly did I manage to slip out of a 9 to 5 job to travel around the world?

Project Management skills, that's how.

I couldn't write this post on the Sunday after the meeting, it would have just been a long love letter to each person.

We mark our lives out in accomplishments and milestones. Graduation, birthdays, weddings, births, deaths.

Last September I was in San Diego for the annual PMI Leadership Institute Meeting and was invited to an event for young professionals.  

Many years of dreaming and saving have led to this moment where the tickets are booked and are purposefully non-refundable. Past trip were just a taste of what travelling has to offer.