Bart ride and some random thoughts

As I sit on the bart train heading to work, I spotted an American flag on the side of a train. It just hit me honestly that I am going to be living outside of America and definitely outside of my comfort zone. Holy shit! This is gonna be nuts.

I sent out my first request today asking someone to the care of Chloe for the nine months I'm gone. Hopefully whatever happens works out for the best with her and that she is hold on till I return. 

So much more to figure out. Essentially I am four months and counting. I gotta quit my job, sell my possessions, relocated my dog, and get ready for one hell of an adventure. I have no time to waste cause as of now I'm on a mission to love life.

Well this is it

My name is Jason and I am on a journey. A journey to find myself.


On the first of May, I purchased a one way ticket from San Francisco,  California to Florence, Italy. My intentions are to earn my Masters Degree in Graphic Design while in Italy. I am applying to schools in Florence; Florence Design Academy and the Florence Design Institute. They both seem to have a lot to offer which makes the decision even more difficult. I am leaning towards the Academy but was just today contacted by the Institute and now I am just as confused as ever about my choice. I will do as much research as I can over the next few days and let that lead me to my ultimate choice.

Either way on August 27th 2013 I will be leaving San Francisco and moving to Florence. I have no idea where I will stay and truly no idea what I am doing. But God Damn, It's exciting! I am thinking that this will be a great life experience for many reasons but many of which I couldn't even begin to guess at now.

I still have a ton of stuff to figure out in the next four weeks. What will I do with Chloe? What will I do with all my stuff? Where will I live when I get there? I could go on and on but I would prefer to just live and explain what happened after. I don't know if anyone will ever read this and to be honest I don't really care right now. I know that this is a way of meditating and reflecting on my experience and thoughts. If there is a moment of insight then so be it but mainly I am trying to catalogue my experience from my personal perspective. I will be maintaining this blog for the next year to share my study abroad experience as well as my own thoughts as a first time traveler leaving America.

Also this may be important to explaining the level of excitement I have. I am 29 years old and have never been out of America. I have lived in California my entire life. I lived in Los Angeles for 18 years, San Diego for 6 years, and San Francisco for another 6 years. The furthest that I have ever been away from California is Texas and that was only for a funeral so I don't think that really counts. And Las Vegas and Tijuana are basically part of California in my opinion. I am 100% positive that I am in for a culture shocking experience like nothing else I have ever experienced. I don't know what to look for or ever what to expect, but isn't that life in a nut shell?

I will leave my first blog with this closing phrase:
Amore is Todo

This is the motto of my life and will forever live every day with as much love in my heart as possible. Hopefully the love continues around the world.