After traveling around the world for 17 months, former East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh, has found some time to pull together bits and pieces about his experience visiting 46 different countries.
According to excerpts from the article:
“Nothing has changed, but every-has changed.” It was one of the first things I said to myself when I returned from my self-funded sabbatical. I traveled to 46 countries across seven continents in a 17-month period and in many ways it felt like nothing had changed. Sure, we had elected a new president but the Michigan economy still struggled, our state legislature continued to ineptly deal with budget issues and local government still talked more than acted on regional cooperation.
And while things at home stayed the same, the way the world viewed our country had changed radically. This journey had been a longtime in the making. When I was 12 years old I started to keep a “worldlist” of the places and events I wanted to experience. As I grew I thought I would see many items on my “worldlist” by taking a long-term travel trip as soon as I graduated from Michigan State University. As it is with many dreams, I set this one aside for more practical pursuits, but I never let it die.
After serving 12 years in elected office and 10 years as the president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, I began looking for the next challenge. I had saved enough money to pursue an executive MBA or graduate degree in public policy, which would be the logical next step. But a few years earlier a friend and I discussed taking a mid-career sabbatical to explore the world if we were ever at a point that we could manage it. I contemplated my options and my childhood dream became more vivid and intriguing.
Read the entire article here.
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