So far I've felt the most free when I moved to Viet Nam, which I'd never been to before. Other than my job, I had no commitments and over time I'd gained enough experience and a strong enough reputation that I was confident that I'd be able to find work in my field without too much trouble.

There's something liberating about being in a place where the support systems that develop over a lifetime are suddenly gone, where one doesn't know any of the rules. Too much freedom of a particular kind can rot the mind though. It's really easy to give in to hedonism and to forget that there are other things that one could be doing other than seeking basic and temporary satisfaction. What has helped to ground me most often is the recognition that absolute freedom also means a lack of connection to things that I feel are really important, like relationships with family and friends. Those can be hard to maintain, especially between people who don't or haven't traveled much. Coming back from a long time away can be like finding out that a tricycle is just as easily a bicycle, or a unicycle or a pogo stick.

There are many different kinds of freedom and I don't think they're all equal. In the end though, I don't think we can really say that we're totally free-- real life intrudes too often. Money runs out, or someone gets injured, or a need isn't met because of the choices one makes. I have a lot of freedom now, but it's the freedom of choice. This is a kind of freedom that can be paralyzing because I know that whatever choices I make will open some doors and close others. I think most people have much more freedom of choice than they're willing to admit to themselves. There are always choices to be made, but choices come with consequences. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what the best choices will be for me to make so that I can set myself up for the kind of freedom I want to have.