Bringing it Down to a Backpack: going walkabout
By Jeannine Patané • October 2005

    We have goals throughout our lives—dreams that we envision and believe we can make happen. One of my biggest dreams came to me during a high school English class. I wasn’t interested in listening to the teacher babble on about how our entire future would be determined by SAT scores, because I had no intention of taking the SAT, or going to college for that matter. To filter out her useless information, I stared out the window and daydreamed of other places.
    Sparked by an earlier class discussion about Jack London, my mind took me to Alaska, the untamed last frontier. There was a romantic image of a forest and a log cabin that I built myself. Several sled dogs were around the property, and I had a male friend or two, maybe even a live-in partner, helping me work around the house. I wanted to accomplish this goal by the time I was 30 years old.
    What happens after you reach one of the biggest dreams of your life? How do you spin onto a new one? I’ve been practicing this evolution of goals over the last few years, and in order for me to move forward, I had to let go of the past ties that I had previously built. One of the most difficult moves was to relinquish my home in Alaska; the call to let go was stronger than the need to hang on.

“Leap and the net shall appear”—Zen saying

    A few weeks ago I gave up my car. Now all I have is a small backpack to carry everything I need to travel globally. Breaking away from materialism gives me more time and energy that I can invest into a future client’s properties and possessions, whomever that client will be.

"He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own."—Confucius

    My goals come with visions. I see myself committed to the best client I can meet, and I see this wonderful, symbiotic relationship working throughout the years.