One Giant Step…Is All It Takes

Since deciding to ’step out’ and travel around the world, we have read quite a few books. Except for Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding book, none have been about the ‘how to’ of long term travel. Rather, the books we are reading, and have read, offer smatterings of insight into other cultures, languages and lifestyles. Some provide inspiration or context for culture or religions, others provide language training or humour - all have been worth reading. Read the rest of this entry »

As South America is our first stop, it has been easier to develop an itinerary for.  Being there next summer makes it within reach and, therefore, easier to imagine a plan for.

Now for the caveat…although we have an itinerary, and a general sense of where we might be when, we are also open to any and all possibilities that might present themselves once we are there.  A plan is only needed so that it can be abandoned or altered at any point!

We are planning 3 months to travel through Peru, Chile and Argentina starting at the beginning of June 2009.  Although this does put us into the SA winter season, it fits well with the rest of the trip’s weather patterns and allows us to be in Peru during the best time to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, I’m scared.  

Our place has been on the market for coming on three months, and not a nibble to be had. At first I thought our price was too high, so we dropped it.  And then we dropped it again. Then I thought that buyers were just waiting it out, seeing what our southern neighbors were doing, and then they would return. And now the stock market is crashing…and continues to crash. 

I know we’re not the only ones feeling like this bumpy ride might affect our plans. A number of blogs I follow have already asked the question. At the end of September, Christine from AlmostFearless wrote about whether traveling now was a good idea. I agree with all her points and, once we’re on the road, I believe that it will be a good place to be from an economic standpoint. Anil from foXnoMad came up with some interesting ways to consider funding, and even referenced us as inspiration! I fear I am not acting very inspirational lately as I tremble and wonder if our plans are in jeopardy.

J and I have talked a lot about what this might mean for us. We’re trying to brainstorm how we can weather this storm and still manage to take the step. 

• We could go for less time.
• We could go to less countries.
• We could stay longer in the less expensive countries.
• We could consider couch-surfing.
• We could each get a second job.
• We could tighten our belts and save more.
• We could work while on the road.

Not going is not an option. It just might not look exactly as we had thought - but then what plans ever work out exactly as planned?

Well, that’s the big question isn’t it? Where will we go? The world is a big space and, even given a year to travel, we can’t see it all.

As much as traveling the world is supposed to be a serendipitous adventure, for us, there still must be a rough itinerary that blocks out where will we will be and the ‘must sees’ of each area. This was an overwhelming notion for me as it seemed that every time I started I would get bogged down in the details - and I can’t be worrying about little details a year before we even leave!! Read the rest of this entry »

These links have made the rounds of many travelogues and travel sites, and may be considered old in some circles.  My family and friends, however, have probably not seen them - and they are worth seeing! Enjoy!!

Where The Hell Is Matt? (2006)

Where The Hell Is Matt? (2008)

One of our goals on this trip was to stay in contact with all the people in our lives. After deciding that maintaining a blog would be most effective, we moved on to figuring out how we were going to manage it and travel light. This is more difficult than it sounds. We both work in technology based jobs. Most of the time it means convincing other people that adding technology to their work lives will “help”. However, we are resistant to early adoption of technology in our personal lives. My resistance is inherited; I grew up with only two channels and a black and white TV until sometime in the 70’s and my father was doing TV repair on the side. Gillian can comment on her reasons. Read the rest of this entry »

How did we manage a decision as big as this? Like most decisions, it is an evolution of thoughts and ideas that converged into the end result.

As I said here, Jason and I have talked on and off about moving away somewhere.  New Year’s Eve this past year saw me making the first New Year’s Resolution I’ve made in a long time - I resolved to look into what it would take to move somewhere…anywhere.  I felt it was time to ‘walk the talk’. Read the rest of this entry »

Part of fleshing out the website from it’s infantile beginnings is finding a way to make it easier for all of you to know that there has been an update. Sure you could check every day or so to see if there has been any news, but wouldn’t it be cool if you just magically knew there was an update?

FeedBurner makes all that, and more, possible.

There are two ways you can sign up for updates.  

1.  Add your email address into the slot at the right. You’ll be added to a subscription list, be sent a confirmation email and then voila, all the new posts will appear in your email box.  Couldn’t be easier.

2.  Click on the RSS icon on the right hand sidebar.  This will redirect you to the FeedBurner website where you can set up an account to manage the feed for this site and any others you like.  This option might be for the more technically savvy among you.

Jason says I have a puppet infestation.  

Read the rest of this entry »

We haven’t been honest with you. 

You’ve been asking what we’ve been up to, or what we have planned, or how’s the job going…and we haven’t been honest.

In reality, we’ve been up to quite a bit, we have some huge plans, and the jobs…well, we’ll have to see.

Putting up the sign.

You see, we’re planning on doing some traveling.  A lot of traveling. In June 2009, Jason and I will set off for a one year journey that will take us around the world.  Yes, one year.  Yes, around the world.  We have been dreaming and planning and scheming for some months, and now, it’s time to tell you all.  

We have put our place on the market and, when it sells, we will move into an apartment until our departure date. This ensures that the place sells before we leave, that we get top dollar (as the market is in decline) and is one less thing to worry about later on.

As you can imagine, there is a ton of work to be done to prepare.  We are busy planning itineraries, researching visas and entry requirements, determining which vaccinations are needed, selling the house, developing a blog…and biting our nails!  

So…now you know.  Ask us any questions - we’re excited to talk about it.  And check back here for more news as our plans move along.