Nate Ahmad

The Right Turn

It’s crazy to think about where I was just a year ago and how much life can change in the matter of weeks or even days. It all started on the morning of October 29th, 2019. I woke up early to wait for family to leave for work and school. As soon as that front door closed, I rushed to my closet to pack my luggage. I’d already separated the clothes I wanted to take with me from the ones I didn’t care about a few days before. Everything was carefully planned and prepared for this morning, and as I was shaking with anxiety and the doubts of “am I really doing this”, I brought my suitcase and my guitar to the front door, said goodbye to Fluffy (our cat) and hopped in an Uber. The next day, I’d made it to Malaysia. I’d successfully ran away from a dark place. I had no job or plan and barely any money that’s actually mine. For the next 3 months I would live life as a nomad, hopping from house to house, and almost constantly carrying a backpack on my shoulders. I worked one-off jobs helping out for events just so I could make some money to get me through the next day or two. I chose to walk whenever I could just to save money even if that meant walks that took me over an hour on a road that had no space for pedestrians. I had to survive.