Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

I'd been waiting for the moment for months. I knew the time would come at approximately 18.45 on Saturday, May 30. I would have been sitting for hours stifling my boredom at the Rotary District Conference, smiling, pretending my mind was on the speakers and the subject matter at hand. When really it was on what would happen at 18:46.

I would quietly take my leave of the audience. I would go into the bathroom, strip off my black formal clothes and replace them with my capris and a light blue comfortable shirt. Color. Light. I'd hoist my big backpack on my shoulders. I'd walk out of the bathroom, out of the automatic door to the hotel.

And I'd hit the road.

There are few feelings as terrifying as that moment when you take one step and turn away from everything that was your past. But there are also none more exhilerating. And that is why we do what we do.