Hey friends!

I’m writing this week’s newsletter during my 14-hour layover in Singapore’s Changi airport. Visiting the indoor waterfall in the airport has been on my bucket list for a while, and I felt a bit emotional seeing it in person. It really is as epic as the pictures make it seem.

Also – I haven’t even left the airport, but it’s clear how multicultural and international this city is. And I’m loving it.

The smells and flavors of the cuisines here are all super familiar, from the pungent aroma of Vietnamese fish sauce to the blended notes of cumin, coriander, and star anise in Malaysian chicken curry. It feels like I’m walking through a hyper-concentrated mix of all the Asian cultures I grew up with.

I’m excited to visit the city proper for a few days in late April to get a sense of what it’s like to live here. I’ve always wanted to work abroad for a couple years, and Singapore is one of the places I’m interested in exploring the most. Maybe the Red Dot could be home one day?

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I quit my job to go on a 1-year sabbatical

Yup. I think everyone on my newsletter list already knew this just happened 🙂 But I thought it wouldn’t hurt to document this moment.

After 2.5 years of grinding it out in corporate as a PM at Intuit, my last day at work was on Thursday, March 6. It’s bittersweet because I truly did grow up at this company, and during my time there I met some incredible friends and mentors (some of whom are probably reading this—just wanted to remind you that ya’ll are awesome).

I’ll probably write up a separate post detailing all the lessons I learned from my time at Intuit so I don’t forget, but I’ll save that for another day. Intuit was an amazing place to learn and grow as an early-career PM, and I’m very grateful for the opportunities I had from joining the company right out of college.

Why now? Check out my latest Youtube video 🫣 to hear more about my thought process behind quitting.

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Nightmare fuel

One thing I know I won’t be missing is the packed calendar. *shudders*

This screenshot was taken from a couple months back, when I was in the thick of it after rolling onto my new team.

Things lightened up over time as I learned to set better boundaries, but I’m glad to be stepping away for at least a year from test jams scheduled over lunch, fire drills with leadership, and back-to-back (sometimes double-booked) meetings.

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Asia travel itinerary

Among other things, I’ll be traveling throughout Asia for the next year. Here’s an overview of my rough itinerary:

And my rough timeline:

• March – July: Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam)

• July – October: East Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, China)

• November – January: South Asia (Nepal, India, Pakistan)

I’ve attempted to map out my itinerary to minimize the distance to travel from one country to the next, taking overland buses / trains whenever it’s logistically reasonable.

That said, my schedule is pretty flexible. I’ve only booked transportation and housing for the first few weeks of my trip so far, and I’m sure I’ll adjust things as I go.

If anyone has recommendations for things to do along the way, let me know!

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Thanks for following along on my journey! Now it’s time for me to find some place(s) to crash for the next 12 hours before my flight to Jakarta 😴 

Cheers,
Tim

P.S. If you missed my subtle link drop above, I’ll be posting more updates (vlogs..?) on my new Youtube channel.

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 ❤️ Favorite things this week

• Friends. Thank you to everyone who met up with me one last time before I headed off on my trip. I’ll miss seeing your faces in person, but hopefully I’ll see you all again pretty soon. I’m still trying to convince some people to go trekking with me in Nepal in a couple months 👀 

• Priority pass included with Capital One Venture X. Lounge access is still coming in clutch. I’m pretty much just bouncing around lounges for 2-3 hours at a time for my remaining time in Changi airport. There’s a ton of lounges here that are open 24 hours, with showers, hot food, and even massage chairs (if they ever open up lol).