I don’t recall the exact date when Jenny and I began planning our trip to China. There wasn’t a single day or conversation when we decided for certain that we were going. It began as a daydream and this week it turns into reality. I’d like to share some of the journey that’s gotten us this far.
Motivation
Over a year ago, in fact, almost two years ago, Jenny and I began talking about my aspirations to start my own business. At the time we had also considered going to Taiwan or China as I was anxious to eventually return there. Initially we understood these two dreams - a startup and China - as mutually exclusive. Then one day we opened our minds to the crazy idea of trying both at the same time. That launched more than a year of work preparing for both challenges.
I knew right away that we needed a year or more to be ready to launch the company, so I started searching for part-time MBA programs that I could complete within that time. I found the MBA program at Point Park University and enrolled in August of 2005. I also began looking for a new job that would improve our financial situation and provide more flexibility from which to launch the startup. I was lucky to land a consulting contract with Siemens Medical in Malven, PA where I worked on Eclipse RCP based products. Of course that meant I was traveling from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia each week between work and graduate school. Meanwhile, Jenny was coaching softball and began looking into English teaching positions abroad. She also did a tremendous amount of work handling our move from Delmont to Greensburg (more about that below) and simply helping me stay healthy and sane.
William and I kept in regular touch throughout the year, refining our business plans and slowly prototyping some of our software product ideas. Over the Fourth of July holiday we met here in Pittsburgh and officially formed The JadeTower Corporation. Since then we’ve continued our business planning, and while Jenny and I have prepared for China, William has steadily been researching and developing.
What We’re Not Taking
It’s an odd feeling giving up all your earthly possessions. Well perhaps we haven’t quite gone to that extreme, but it sometimes feels that way. In September we left the duplex we had rented in Delmont and moved into my in-law’s spare bedroom. Of course, to do that we had to get rid of a few things. We sold our appliances and most of our furniture. Most of our wardrobes went to family or charity. My home theatre system is now safely installed at my grandparent’s home.
But the task of unburdening ourselves was not done when we arrived at our new temporary residence. The move was just phase one. We’ve now sold both cars - yes, Jenny’s beloved Jeep has a new owner. We’ve made several trips to Goodwill donating more clothes, extra luggage, and random household items. I refurbished my desktop computers and gave those to family members. We canceled all of our accounts - netflix, vonage, sprint wireless, audible, and utilities. We consolidated our financial accounts and opened new ones with etrade. Bit by bit we’ve closed, sold, or given away almost everything that isn’t going with us.
We need to pack light since we’ll be moving around a lot for the first couple of months. We’re only taking one suitcase and a carry-on a piece. Maeli has a small little Curious George backpack that she can take her toys in. We bought a new backpack from REI for Jenny and laptop and camera roller bag that will soon be my portable office. Two weeks ago we “practice packed” to find out what exactly would fit. As we unpacked we wrote everything down so when we have to pack for real tomorrow we’ll know what we’re looking for.
Staying On Track
In May I created a Basecamp project to track all the information for this trip. That and a whiteboard has been invaluable to us. It gave us a calendar, message board for posting notes, and most importantly a to do list (that had well over 60 items only two weeks ago).
We also bought travel guides for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Initially I had thought I would just use the Internet for any travel guide related information, but I’m really glad we bought the guides. They helped out tremendously as we planned our itinerary.
And our itinerary is certainly full. Wednesday we’ll be flying from Pittsburgh to Beijing through Chicago on a one way ticket. Over the next two months we’ll be in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Macao, Hong Kong, Taipei and Hsinchu. At least that’s the plan so far. It’s bound to change as we adjust to new revelations and discoveries. The last item currently on our schedule is a flight from Taipei back to Hong Kong in the beginning of April. By that point we hope to know where we’ll be headed next and where we might end up settling down for the next year or more. But as of today, the future beyond April is both unknown and exciting to us.
§Commentary
Godspeed and good luck!