Everything happens for the best. I certainly didn’t think that when I was laid off from my job. After ten years of high tech sales and marketing, I thought my only option was to hit the pavement and look for another one. I knew Val wasn’t happy at her job but what choice did we have? Actually we had lots. When we “crunched the numbers”, we realized that we could afford to take a year off and travel the world. We wouldn’t be traveling in luxury, or anything close to that, but that wasn’t the point. Our focus wasn’t on taking an extended “vacation” – it was trying to live like a local (OK – so we didn’t speak like a local but we tried).
Looking back we have no regrets. It was the best decision we ever made. In case I’m not making myself clear – IT WAS THE BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE. I have to admit I was a little shocked that Val agreed to go. But she knew that if we didn’t travel then, we never would. And I think I speak for both of us when I say that change is something we crave (did I mention we are living in Austin, Texas now?).
One thing that was difficult for us to adjust to was accepting the generosity of our friends and families. We are so thankful to have had such a fantastic support group. And we met so many wonderful new friends along the way. In every country that we visited, we were warmly welcomed with smiles and offerings of food (the freshly killed wild boar stands out in our minds), wine (or a cold beer in Asia) and shelter (sometimes a bed; sometimes a bamboo mat).
Since we’ve returned, a lot of people have asked us what our favorite country was. Not an easy question to answer. Thailand and France stand out in our minds, my stomach yearns for Italy, Val wants to return to Hong Kong to shop (and shop and shop) and we couldn’t have picked a better place to end our travels than in Portugal. But there’s also Amsterdam, Laos, Prague…
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels as much as we enjoyed living them. We always hear from people that they wish they could do what we did. YOU CAN. If you don’t believe me, check out the following two websites: www.joeandpaula.com and www.bartowtrails.com. The Bouchers and Bartows are good friends of ours from California, who along with their two year olds (yep, two year olds) sold their houses and are giving their kids the best education money can’t buy – experience.
Finally, a HUGE thanks to Val for creating and updating this website. My involvement consisted of editing (although she’s such a greater writer, there wasn’t much to edit) and coaching (I think Val referred to it as “nagging”). It was a lot of work to update the site but your feedback kept her going and we loved sharing our adventures while we were experiencing them.
That’s it. The world isn’t so big and the more time you spend “out there” the smaller it gets. But be careful. Once you start to really travel, you will get addicted. We are already talking about our next adventure – Nepal here we come!! |
