So, I’ve been in the DC/Arlington area for over 5 weeks now and I’ve done almost none of the travelling I said I would. It seems that DC has embraced me and provided an alternative to my previously planned nomadic excursions along the East Coast.

I’ve been very fortunate indeed. I’ve made some great new friends and it seems that every weekend brings a new excursion into the capital’s nightlife.

I really do want to explore the East Coast a little bit while I’m here. I’ll see if I can make an New Year’s resolution out of it.

I did swing by L.A. over Thanksgiving though. I liked coming back but it also reminded my why I left. I’ll be back there for New Years and maybe one more time before I go to London in late February.

As much as I love my family, I don’t think I want to be in Iceland any longer than I have to. I think a 4 1/2 day Christmas visit will be plenty. I like the idea of making short trips there every 3-4 months. The next one is in April for my sister’s Confirmation.

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Tomorrow is my last day at Innn. It’s safe to say I’m going out with a bang. After work there is a pool tournament, followed by a graduation party, followed by a roaring night on the town.

The evening after that I’m having dinner with my mom and step-dad. Hopefully I’ll get a few hours of sleep before my late-night drive to the airport to catch an 8am flight to London.

I expect to be in Alexandria, VA on November 4th or 5th and start my training on the 6th.
So, that’s it.

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The gamble paid off! I have an exciting new job in London with The Motley Fool (www.fool.co.uk)! And if that’s not enough, I get to spend 3 months in Virginia! Go South!

Why Virginia, you ask? Well, I’ve been hired as the “Senior Developer” and will be their only programmer in the U.K. (for now). So, I need to spend some time with the U.S. side getting acquainted with all the software I’ll be maintaining and expanding.

My official start date is November 1st. That falls on a Wednesday so I’m hoping to get some slack and be able to go the prior weekend.

All of this is very promising and I hope I will finally be able to realize my dream of traveling the world without putting myself into irrecoverable debt. This is also a golden opportunity to traverse the East Coast (and the South, but why would I do that?) as well as being (relatively) close to the West Coast.

As for what I’ll be doing once I get to London; I have high hopes of living very centrally and am currently weighing the costs/benefits of doing so. I plan to absorb the city in all its glory and then gradually spiral outward into Europe and beyond.

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The wheels are in motion! I’ve quit my job in Iceland and I’m actively looking for employment in London. I have several promising leads and the interviews so far have been as varied as they are many.

I was expecting things to go at a faster pace, but apparently England moves to the beat of its own drum. When I moved to Iceland I got a job and was working within 2 weeks. This time around it takes 3+ weeks just to get an e-mail response expressing further interest.

I’m in no hurry, though. My notice period is 3 months so I still have plenty of time.

I was in London July 27th - 30th for an interview and used the time to meet an old friend. She helped me get a sense of what everything is like and showed me how to find a place to live. I realized how little I know about the city and how vast, diverse and exciting it really is.

If you have any tips or advice, feel free to post them here.

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I’m comfortably settled into my new apartment (flat if you’re British). I just got cable TV which, along with my high-speed internet connection and the plethora of TV shows available on DivX-encoded DVDs, gives me more home entertainment options than ever before. Laziness has never been so amusing.

Other than that, there’s not much to report. I have a firm date for the company trip to London (April 7th), which will be a welcome escape from the Film Noir-esque constant darkness that is the hallmark of an Arctic winter. Although the weather has been relatively mild (so far mostly rain, rather than snow storms) I think a glimpse of real daylight will do wonders.

I’ve been looking at some weekend getaway options. So far the only places within reach that have decent enough weather are the Canary Islands or Cairo.

In the meantime, I’m studying for a Microsoft certification that will help my career but not exactly impress the ladies. For that I have my daily workouts and healthy diet, both of which have been giving me great results.

It also helps that after I work out I can lounge around in a saltwater hot tub and relax in a eucalyptus-infused sauna. A little daily pampering goes a long way.

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Well, I’ve been neglecting my blogging for a while now. A lot has changed since April and it seems that I’m looking uncertainty straight in the eye, but with a calming sense of security.

My plans have changed somewhat. I met Kim in New York recently and we decided that we don’t want to get married anytime soon. In fact, we broke up, and now she’s moving to New Orleans to become an AmeriCorps volunteer. This derails my plan to move back to Southern California in January and instead means that I’ll be living in Iceland for a while longer. How long remains to be seen.

I have been living with my parents since January, but now their new project is taking them out of Reykjavik and compelling them to sell their house, which has been the family’s home for over a decade. It’s been a luxury to be able to stay there rent-free, but all things must come to an end and this presents several exciting opportunities for all of us. My step-brother is moving to Berlin (for a undetermined amount of time) so it seems the sale is perfectly timed.

I bought a car today, a Skoda Octavia. It’s nice to not have to take the bus everywhere. It’s a habit that’s surprisingly easy to break.

As far as exercise. I’m still losing weight and getting stronger. I suspect the Christmas season will take its toll, but hopefully not too much. After the new year I’ll follow the hordes to the gym and start dieting and working out for real.

I’m planning on traveling more in March. I’m considering either New Zealand or Egypt. Each has its strengths and I want to go to both, it’s simply a question of which I’ll do first.

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I’ve been living in Iceland for almost 2 months (that is, since I got back from my extended vacation in California).

In all, I can’t complain. I have a job I like, I’m making new friends, and I’m working out 5-6 days a week in the hope of reliving my glory days of high school buffness without the teenage angst and insecurity that came with a confused adolescense.

I don’t plan to say here all the time though. I fully intend to pursue my life’s goal of traveling all over the world and generally not being able to stay put very long. If I’m lucky I’ll find a career that allows me to travel a lot while offering an enjoyable and rewarding line of work.

I’ll keep you posted on how that goes

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