“My only wish in life is to be able to travel” – Namlha Tsering
Who are you?
Ridge "Cruise" Choi
I am 29, and I quit my comfortable six-figure job at a hedge fund to travel in pursuit of an unclear goal. I knew if I stayed where I was, I would make good money and lead a just as good life. I was comfortable, I was content, but I knew I was not completely happy. I wanted to see the world, I wanted a change, but most importantly, I wanted to pursue something I would be passionate about. And so in April this year, I announced that I was going to quit. In May, I left.
What? Why?
I think this answer is difficult to answer. Everyone pursues his passion differently. I had no specific catalyst that sparked my move; it was more of an evolution, but one that is driven by a question I ask myself:
Will future Ridge look back and regret this?
What next?
So the same week I announced my resignation, I began planning my trip.
- Tibet planned the next day.
- Burma or Mongolia? Burma before everything changes. Check.
- South Korea… on the way to Mexico.
- Mexico, I want to climb the highest summit there—Orizaba!
- Panama because why not?
- Dominican Republic for a wedding.
- Europe, never been. Gotta go there.
- Explore America… Grand Canyon, Zion Parks… and finally…
- Africa. I wanted to climb one of the world’s seven summits in Tanzania and raise money for orphans to go to school. June departure. Mid-September return. Phew… I think this can work.
So you’re back, any stories?
I have plenty! Here are a few:
- In search for food in Tibet, we knocked on a stranger’s door and a 65 year old Tibetan lady invited us in, served as Yak milk tea and fried dough bread; we talked about her life for a couple hours.
- Drank with an ex-gangster in a village near Bagan. We drank past midnight and I asked him for his life advice; he told me to find a nice Burmese woman and settle down. He drove drunk in his Toyota, which was the nicest car in town.
- In the Serengeti, our car broke down in the middle of the park and we had to rotate every so often to keep watch out for lions, hyenas, and other predators who could have attacked us as the Land Cruiser was jacked up and most of us were underneath trying to fix the blown axle.
I could talk about every place for hours… like how I could have died on a volcano in Mexico. I could write pages and pages on that.
But… one story does stick out and one that I won’t ever forget and it started at the beginning of my travels in Tibet.
“My only wish in life is to be able to travel” – Namlha Tsering
I really enjoyed my time in Tibet. The lush high plateau grasslands, genuinely selfless indigenous people, and good Yak meat. However, these mask the underlying issue that the Chinese government has oppressed them. This fact was apparent when the topic of pursuing life dreams and goals came up. I said I was figuring things out, my Australian buddy I met on the trip said he wanted to be a successful engineer. Next came our guide’s response:
“Travel” Namlha said. “That is my dream.”
“Your dream?” We all asked.
“Yes, I am not allowed to have a passport and I have to stay in the country. I wish I could see the world. One Tibetan try to flee to Nepal, got caught, and was sentenced to labor camp jail for 5 years and pay a fine that the family now has to burden.”
We delved deeper into the political and human rights conversation within Tibet. I thought about this conversation throughout my journey. I always felt lucky and fortunate that I had amenities back at home that other places did not have; clean water, excellent food, and luxurious services. This was the first time I fully appreciated that the travel itself was what I should be fortunate about-- that I could jump on an airplane and travel to where I wanted to because I could.
What is your point?
I promise I have one. I rarely preach about life to anyone because everyone seeks happiness in different ways and I am not arrogant to believe my way is some sort of Holy Grail. In fact, I would say many Tibetans, though oppressed, are happier than many people including me, because they are fully satisfied with their enriched lives.
I pursue things in life because I can. For example, prior to two years ago I never ran more than 4 miles and now I am training to run the NYC marathon. I was born lucky to have two functional legs that will allow me to push myself to explore places where I want to go.
And my pursuit of an uncertain but exciting future, which I have decided during my travels to combine my finance background and future MBA with my passion to help people.
So while this blog post began when a brother asked me to talk about my travels, I think it really is about what I was able to do because I took a chance that things will turn out great in the long run because I believe that I can.
Because I am more lucky than Namlha, I feel compelled to take risks that he and other people in the world cannot take, and I am forever grateful for these opportunities. As a result, I am here today writing to you because I took these chances.
Because I can.
—Ridge “Cruise” Choi
Who are you? Ridge "Cruise" Choi
I am 29, and I quit my comfortable six-figure job at a hedge fund to travel in pursuit of an unclear goal. I knew if I stayed where I was, I would make good money and lead a just as good life. I was comfortable, I was content, but I knew I was not completely happy. I wanted to see the world, I wanted a change, but most importantly, I wanted to pursue something I would be passionate about. And so in April this year, I announced that I was going to quit. In May, I left.
What? Why?
I think this answer is difficult to answer. Everyone pursues his passion differently. I had no specific catalyst that sparked my move; it was more of an evolution, but one that is driven by a question I ask myself:
Will future Ridge look back and regret this?
What next?
So the same week I announced my resignation, I began planning my trip.
- Tibet planned the next day.
- Burma or Mongolia? Burma before everything changes. Check.
- South Korea… on the way to Mexico.
- Mexico, I want to climb the highest summit there—Orizaba!
- Panama because why not?
- Dominican Republic for a wedding.
- Europe, never been. Gotta go there.
- Explore America… Grand Canyon, Zion Parks… and finally…
- Africa. I wanted to climb one of the world’s seven summits in Tanzania and raise money for orphans to go to school. June departure. Mid-September return. Phew… I think this can work.
So you’re back, any stories?
I have plenty! Here are a few:
- In search for food in Tibet, we knocked on a stranger’s door and a 65 year old Tibetan lady invited us in, served as Yak milk tea and fried dough bread; we talked about her life for a couple hours.
- Drank with an ex-gangster in a village near Bagan. We drank past midnight and I asked him for his life advice; he told me to find a nice Burmese woman and settle down. He drove drunk in his Toyota, which was the nicest car in town.
- In the Serengeti, our car broke down in the middle of the park and we had to rotate every so often to keep watch out for lions, hyenas, and other predators who could have attacked us as the Land Cruiser was jacked up and most of us were underneath trying to fix the blown axle.
I could talk about every place for hours… like how I could have died on a volcano in Mexico. I could write pages and pages on that.
But… one story does stick out and one that I won’t ever forget and it started at the beginning of my travels in Tibet.
“My only wish in life is to be able to travel” – Namlha Tsering
I really enjoyed my time in Tibet. The lush high plateau grasslands, genuinely selfless indigenous people, and good Yak meat. However, these mask the underlying issue that the Chinese government has oppressed them. This fact was apparent when the topic of pursuing life dreams and goals came up. I said I was figuring things out, my Australian buddy I met on the trip said he wanted to be a successful engineer. Next came our guide’s response:
“Travel” Namlha said. “That is my dream.”
“Your dream?” We all asked.
“Yes, I am not allowed to have a passport and I have to stay in the country. I wish I could see the world. One Tibetan try to flee to Nepal, got caught, and was sentenced to labor camp jail for 5 years and pay a fine that the family now has to burden.”
We delved deeper into the political and human rights conversation within Tibet. I thought about this conversation throughout my journey. I always felt lucky and fortunate that I had amenities back at home that other places did not have; clean water, excellent food, and luxurious services. This was the first time I fully appreciated that the travel itself was what I should be fortunate about-- that I could jump on an airplane and travel to where I wanted to because I could.
What is your point?
I promise I have one. I rarely preach about life to anyone because everyone seeks happiness in different ways and I am not arrogant to believe my way is some sort of Holy Grail. In fact, I would say many Tibetans, though oppressed, are happier than many people including me, because they are fully satisfied with their enriched lives.
I pursue things in life because I can. For example, prior to two years ago I never ran more than 4 miles and now I am training to run the NYC marathon. I was born lucky to have two functional legs that will allow me to push myself to explore places where I want to go.
And my pursuit of an uncertain but exciting future, which I have decided during my travels to combine my finance background and future MBA with my passion to help people.
So while this blog post began when a brother asked me to talk about my travels, I think it really is about what I was able to do because I took a chance that things will turn out great in the long run because I believe that I can.
Because I am more lucky than Namlha, I feel compelled to take risks that he and other people in the world cannot take, and I am forever grateful for these opportunities. As a result, I am here today writing to you because I took these chances.
Because I can.
—Ridge “Cruise” Choi
