At the start of the year, I decided the secret project, the mission I would try to accomplish without telling anyone while I was away in Saudi Arabia, would be to learn Spanish. The plan…

Nothing about travel scares me at this point. I could go to North Korea, deep into North Korea without an escort, and I feel like I’d be okay. I could rove around the African jungles…

The contract said I’d work nine and half months in Saudi for $40,000 total. After exchange rates and wire transfer fees, it turned out to be a little over four grand each month. I walked…