New Years 2006, a Late Retrospective

Last year I posted a short summary of the calendar year 2004. Although I'm a half-year late AGAIN, it's about the Lunar New Years in the chronological flow of my catch-up posts. So commemoration of my time in Asia let’s use the lunar calendar and place New Years as starting, say, the 29th of January on the Julian calendar. Let’s imagine it is the end of Lunar New Year celebrations and I am in Asia writing about the prior 12-15 months.

I learned some new ways to do business in Asia, and I started several companies. I was almost continuously absent. Yet these companies, without my presence, had standout performances. I guess delegation works sometimes. Go figure.

I also learned some new ways to date in Asia (with some important safety tips), and I enjoyed a watershed year for relationships. There was less decadence than previous years, and far more meaning and diversity. I tried mistresses. I was stalked. I dated a set of genius women. And then I forged the One Ring and found the woman to bear it...

Last year I traveled more than I have ever done before:

Bhutan, Patagonia, Henan Province, Tahiti, New England, Manhattan, Dubai, Barcelona, Mexico City, Paris, Norway, Iceland, London, the Canadian Rockies, Moscow, Belarus, Prague, Bintan, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Sydney, Brisbane, Taipei, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Perth, Venice, Monaco, south of France, Aix en Provence, Marseille, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, Los Angeles, Kona, Maui, Cairns, Jalisco, and Singapore. And I may have missed a few.

I was in a different city at least once per week.

Over the course of the entire year I spent no more than twenty days in places I owned (”at home”).

Blog posting suffered commensurately.

I estimate I spent over four million dollars on travel and related expenses, a rate more than four-fold higher than last year. And all I have to show for that is a few lousy pictures and a few over-stuffed passports.

Truth be told, it was difficult to find any photographs to post, since most of them feature Jenny or myself in them. The ones in here are the most anonymous ones we have.

Almost all this travel was with Jenny. We spent twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week for thirty-two weeks with each other. Which is kind of sick, I guess.

Was there a danger of building too many memories? (I wrote about that danger here.) Not really. The sheer amount of travel was just too overwhelming. It became a blur of passion and togetherness, more about us than any particular place.

A luxury indeed.

Only recently have we been traveling apart; both of us spending some time with family and attending to business. Consequently we are traveling far less and dealing with more real world and day to day issues.

A more normal life, I suppose, but it kinda sucks.

Not much else to say about 2005, but I think that’s quite a lot. An eventful year for certain.

SIDEBAR: A Worrisome Trend or A Coping System?

Strange. In reviewing my previous New Years posts I see a trend.

In reviewing 2003 I talked about rented or owned girlfriends and my spending on those activities. I sampled many women over several cities, but I hoped I would find a “regular.” I had a few businesses.

In reviewing 2004 I talked about my search for a regular girlfriend, and the reduced number but increased diversity of sexual and relationship experiences while traveling to more new places and starting more businesses.

Now in reviewing 2005 I can talk about choosing one relationship across an unprecedented number of travel locations and even more businesses.

The trend? Fewer women, more locations and more businesses, trading geographic and work stability for relationship stability. Maybe I am unable to settle down and always require diversity in at least one aspect of life. Or, put another way, does this indicate that I need infidelity in at least one aspect of life — home, work, or companionship?

I hope this bodes well for relationship fidelity!

I made several resolutions for 2006, mostly about my three party system and explicit contradictions, which is really a confirmation of my resolution to try them in 2005. So far, these have worked very well. They have certainly become quite routine and far less difficult, although these principles pose difficulties for other people in our lives. That, however, tends to accentuate the three party commitment. 2006 will be a greater search for meaning, I think. Meaning to take into myself, to internalize, so I can reflect it into our relationship. Meaning to help us segregate the internal from the external, a struggle I have seen to be particularly difficult for those with means.

So let’s salute the upcoming 2006 year!