My Last 3 Months In The USA In 92 Seconds (1 Second Everyday)

If there’s one thing I’m awfully bad at, it is remembering my past. Armed with several journaling apparatus, it is not common to see me jotting things down on my phone or feverishly taking pictures of everything in front of me. I don’t mean to be rude. Really, I don’t. All of it is for my own sanity, so I can remind myself of all the good and bad times when full blown, certifiable alzheimer’s (I don’t take this lightly, in fact I’m ready for it) sets in.

I don’t know how I ran across Cesar Kuriyama, let alone his TED Talk from 2012. The premise was simple. Record a single second of your day and play back seemingly vast spaces of time in a matter of minutes.

I dug it and promptly bought the 1 Second Everyday (1SE) app for my iPhone for $2.99. It is also available for Android if you swing that way.

If you didn’t know already, I recently left the United States, my home for the past 9 years after a series of unfortunate events that are neither here nor there. I want to think I spent my last days in that beautiful country to the fullest.

Here is my story in 92 seconds, beginning Thursday, August 13 and ending Thursday, November 5, spanning 9 cities in 3 countries!

AUGUST 13 – AUGUST 22

Thursday, 8/13 (Austin, TX): This was my first time at Kingdom Nightclub! Estiva had just come on.

Friday, 8/14 (Austin, TX): Carryover from the previous night. Estiva was killing it on the decks!

Saturday, 8/15 (Missoula, MT): My good friend Andy got married! We honestly thought this day would never come. Ha!

Sunday, 8/16 (Missoula, MT): I got to meet my friend Kelly’s lovely daughter Arabelle for the first time. What a cutie!

Monday, 8/17 (Missoula, MT): Andy taught me how to fly drones.

Tuesday, 8/18 (Missoula, MT): I was having issues with a flight I was taking in September, and I spent a whole morning on the phone with United trying to sort it out! Agh!

Wednesday, 8/19 (Austin, TX): My GoPro4 arrived! How the heck do I use this thing?

Thursday, 8/20 (Austin, TX): Meet my friend Tammy, a fellow member of my awesome mastermind group!

Friday, 8/21 (Austin, TX): Rain in Austin. What a rare sight!

Saturday, 8/22 (Austin, TX): Tyler shows me his vintage kegerator. What a beautiful thing..

AUGUST 23 – SEPTEMBER 01

Sunday, 8/23 (Austin, TX): Made almost $2400 selling off my sneakers this day. Wow!

Monday, 8/24 (Austin, TX): Celery and almond butter FTW!

Tuesday, 8/25 (Austin, TX): My tickets for Electric Zoo: Transformed arrived. Hooray!

Wednesday, 8/26 (Austin, TX): What an amazing sign up bonus for the American Express Platinum. You bet I signed up for it!

Thursday, 8/27 (Austin, TX): Horrible insomnia. I couldn’t fall asleep and I can’t recall what kept me up that night.

Friday, 8/28 (Austin, TX): Yes! Another credit card approval. That made a whopping 20 active credit card accounts.

Saturday, 8/29 (Austin, TX): I ditched Verizon and switched to T-Mobile. It was going to come in handy being overseas.

Sunday, 8/30 (Austin, TX): Fork & Vine’s Sunday Brunch is ridiculously good!

Monday, 8/31 (Austin, TX): I had dinner with my former boss and co-worker Steve from Missoula at Roaring Fork. What a pleasant surprise seeing them after a few years.

Tuesday, 9/1 (Austin, TX): Officially an American Express Platinum and Premier Rewards Gold member!

SEPTEMBER 02 – SEPTEMBER 11

Wednesday, 9/2 (Austin, TX): Another sleepless night. I had just found out my old employer was planning to put me on probation for failing to meet their outrageous standards. It was certainly not from the lack of trying.

Thursday, 9/3 (Austin, TX): I used my restlessness from the night before to good use and found out a nice little loophole with US immigration that would allow me to resign, but still be in the country.

Friday, 9/4 (New York City, NY): 1st day of Electric Zoo: Transformed. What a beautiful Main Stage!

Saturday, 9/5 (New York City, NY): 2nd day of Electric Zoo: Transformed. Claude Van Stroke’s set was nothing short of masterful.

Sunday, 9/6 (New York City, NY): 3rd and final day of Electric Zoo: Transformed. I believe this was Alesso wrapping up the whole festival!

Monday, 9/7 (New York City, NY): My lovely girlfriend with her favorite facial expression.

Tuesday, 9/8 (Sao Paulo, Brazil): I made it to Sao Paulo! Boy, there was a lot of rain.

Wednesday, 9/9 (Sao Paulo, Brazil): Part of the crowd with the Sao Paulo Free Walking Tour. Amazing job by the guides!

Thursday, 9/10 (Sao Paulo, Brazil): Another rainy evening, so we stayed in the hostel, played games and listened to beautiful guitar playing.

Friday, 9/11 (Sao Paulo, Brazil): We toasted to commemorate an important day back in the States. Never forget 9/11!

SEPTEMBER 12 – SEPTEMBER 21

Saturday, 9/12 (Sao Paulo, Brazil): Oops. Forgot to record something this day.

Sunday, 9/13 (New York City, NY): Back Stateside. Paid a visit to Spicy Lanka. The food wasn’t very good.

Monday, 9/14 (Austin, TX): Back in Austin and I just handed in my resignation!

Tuesday, 9/15 (Austin, TX): Darn, missed recording something this day as well.

Wednesday, 9/16 (Austin, TX): Swapped my Nikon D5100 for a Sony A6000.

Thursday, 9/17 (Austin, TX): I completed the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual. Go me!

Friday, 9/18 (Austin, TX): Selling all my belongings had begun. I just got rid of my couch.

Saturday, 9/19 (Austin, TX): Tritonal & Cash Cash Untouchable Tour at Emo’s.

Sunday, 9/20 (Austin, TX): Carry over from the night before. My friend David convinced me to head to after hours at Kingdom Night Club. I don’t even remember who was playing that night/morning.

Monday, 9/21 (Austin, TX): No one knew why this was setup in the office.

SEPTEMBER 22 – OCTOBER 01

Tuesday, 9/22 (Austin, TX): In an effort to look cool in front of their younger employees, the big wigs at my old firm thought it would be a good idea to take shots at 10am.


Wednesday, 9/23 (Austin, TX): I had whittled all my worldly possessions to this.

Thursday, 9/24 (Austin, TX): Meet my new roommate, Puzzles.

Friday, 9/25 (Austin, TX): This was a first, a cross between a dog park and a bar at Yard Bar Austin.

Saturday, 9/26 (Dallas, TX): Opening weekend at the Texas State Fair!

Sunday, 9/27 (Dallas, TX): Beautiful pumpkin patch at Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

Monday, 9/28 (Austin, TX): I had taken residence in my friend’s, Jana & Matt, guest room. Thanks for letting me crash guys!

Tuesday, 9/29 (Austin, TX): An unexpected and wonderful going away card by some co-workers.

Wednesday, 9/30 (Austin, TX): We got to skip work this afternoon to play arcades. No objections here!

Thursday, 10/1 (Austin, TX): A farewell happy hour on my penultimate day of work at Abel’s North.

OCTOBER 02 – OCTOBER 11

Friday, 10/2 (Austin, TX): My last day of work! Hopefully, last day ever of working for someone else!

Saturday, 10/3 (Austin, TX): ZEDS DEAD!!

Sunday, 10/4 (New York City, NY): I was walking around Water Street in the Financial District and ran into a Deepavali block party.

Monday, 10/5 (New York City, NY): Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is a must if visiting Chinatown. They even have flavors inspired by Game of Thrones, but you have to try the Pandan flavor first.

Tuesday, 10/6 (New York City, NY): The lovely view from the Top of the Rock.

Wednesday, 10/7 (Miami, FL): My girlfriend and I were in Miami! I had to give the bed at our hotel a thorough jumping on.

Thursday, 10/8 (Miami, FL): Hey South Beach!

Friday, 10/9 (Miami, FL): Fridays in South Beach are nothing short of magical.

Saturday, 10/10 (Pelham, NY): Honored to be a guest at Sarah & Andrew’s wedding. What a beautiful ceremony, and the first Jewish wedding I had ever attended.

Sunday, 10/11 (Pelham, NY): In the wee hours from the night before, the bride was locked in a cherry stem tying contest with her father.

OCTOBER 12 – OCTOBER 21

Monday, 10/12 (New York City, NY): The view of the city from Azul On The Rooftop was breathtaking.

Tuesday, 10/13 (New York City, NY): Dinner at Rosie’s. SPOILER: The tacos aren’t as good as the ones you get in Austin!

Wednesday, 10/14 (New York City, NY): Dinner at Da Claudio. The cheese selection was impressive!

Thursday, 10/15 (New York City, NY): The last day I spent with my girlfriend in our favorite city in the world. 🙁

Friday, 10/16 (Austin, TX): Another $2,000 made selling off my sneaker collection.

Saturday, 10/17 (Austin, TX): I had a final going away party in Austin and my awesome friends Kat, My & Brianne made me a photo album with some awesome pictures of all of us.

Sunday, 10/18 (Austin, TX): Sunday Night Football between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots ended up winning 34-27!

Monday, 10/19 (Austin, TX): I visited my favorite tattoo artist, Bart Willis at Southside Tattoo to get some touch ups done before I left. He reminded me how important chasing after your dreams was. Thanks Bart!

Tuesday, 10/20 (Austin, TX): Another furry roommate. Meet Boone!

Wednesday, 10/21 (Austin, TX): “If You Can Dream It. You Can Do It.” Amen.

OCTOBER 22 – OCTOBER 31

Thursday, 10/22 (Austin, TX): I paid a visit to my old Rotary Club, Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club for the final time. I’ve really enjoyed my time with such a dynamic, philanthropic group of people.

Friday, 10/23 (Austin, TX): A part time job giving people travel advice? Yes, please! I applied, and subsequently didn’t get the gig. I’m glad I gave it a shot though.

Saturday, 10/24 (Austin, TX): The final big ticket item I had in my possession, my ’14 Ford Escape, was now sold. I ended up owing on my loan after the sale. Ouch.

Sunday, 10/25 (Houston, TX): Rain dashed any hopes of attending Something Wicked Music Festival but Sound of the Underground made do!

Monday, 10/26 (Austin, TX): Back in Austin, and I got my hands on with the new Google Nexus 5X courtesy of my friend Katie. It was a beautiful phone, and I hope she is enjoying using it.

Tuesday, 10/27 (Austin, TX): My last night in Austin. Before we went out for one last drink, I was awestruck at this 2000 piece puzzle my friends Katie & Tyler were trying to construct.

Wednesday, 10/28 (Denver, CO): Hello Denver!

Thursday, 10/29 (Morrison, CO): Day trip to Morrison, CO to see the gorgeous Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Friday, 10/30 (Denver, CO): It was Halloween weekend, and we were the only ones dressed for the occasion at this bar. Hmph!

Saturday, 10/31 (Denver, CO): It was officially Halloween and we took advantage of Chipotle’s Boorito promotion to score $3 burrito bowls.

NOVEMBER 01 – NOVEMBER 05

Sunday, 11/1 (Denver, CO): My friend Ingrid sent me a hilarious video of my former pup, Caesar, fighting his Olaf halloween costume. It certainly made my day. I miss him and his hijinks.

Monday, 11/2 (Denver, CO):* Driving through picturesque Denver. Beautiful!

Tuesday, 11/3 (Queens, NY):* My flight out of Denver to New York was extremely delayed. Fortunately for me the amazing pick me ups at the Centurion Lounge at LaGuardia Airport more than made up for it. Try the fried chicken here. WOW!

Wednesday, 11/4 (Queens, NY): All aboard my flight back home. The Cathay Pacific First Class experience was just that: First Class!

Thursday, 11/5 (Manila, Philippines): Here I am. Home. Where I belong. Here goes nothing!
*Date incorrectly labeled in video


Would you use 1 Second Everyday (1SE) to journal your life?

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