In one month’s time, I’ll be seeing Pearl Jam play live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Joining my favourite band’s most fanatical fans in concert in South America was one of my dreams.

Several months earlier I decided to follow my dreams. Since then I’ve quit my job, simplified my life and, two days after the half ironman triathlon, will be flying to South America on a one-way ticket.

After seeing Pearl Jam in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro, I will travel around Brazil including Salvador, Pantanal, the Amazon and wherever else I fancy. After Brazil I will Spanish somewhere, perhaps Bolivia, before visiting the rest of the continent. After South America, I have pencilled in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Croatia, Greece and a reunion in Turkey.

In early June, weeks after leaving my job, I rediscovered the following diary entry from my time in Turkey, written eleven and a half years earlier:

The image above reads:

END RESULT: Total financial independence by 2015. Defined by: the ability to retire, travel or choose any other direction I may fancy without reliance on employer/job or other tenuous forms of income.

I reckon I’m 90% of the way there. To fulfil 100% I need to create a sustainable income. Stay tuned for more on that later.

I can’t wait to discover South America and beyond!