The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

ZOMG!!  This is really happening!   I mean, no, I am not blogging from the airport terminal awaiting to board a cramped, smelly, discount airliner that charged for me to select the back row middle seat, flush the toilet, and wear more than 3 articles of clothing, but it is right around the corner.  When planning such a big trip over a period of months or years, it starts to feel like all you do is talk about it and you never really get around to doing it.  The questions become monotonous, and frankly, annoying, but you deal with it because eventually the time in airport terminal does come, and before you know it, you just changed your life.  And now that I have been done with work for 3 weeks and living in my parents' guest room for 2 weeks, it's starting to seem real.  Really real.  Really awesome and really real.

A lot has happened since the last post.  As mentioned, I did quit my job.  I was having some serious senioritis the last couple weeks, but at the same time I was sad to leave.  Lots of goodbyes to my patients and coworkers and friends.  It was hard the first week - I actually wanted to get up and go to work.  But now it's easier, the stress of quitting is dissipating quite nicely, and again the excitement builds.

With out a doubt the most exciting thing that has happened is my recent engagement!  I am completely over the moon to have become engaged!  I didn't know it would feel any different from just dating and living together, but it is so much better than I imagined.  I am loving every day with Brandt and am so grateful for how he entered my life and made it even more incredible than it was.  Because we are leaving in February and returning in 2 to 50 years, we decided the best thing for us is to get married during our journey.  Now we get to have an intimate beach wedding with our families and closest friends in Mexico in the late spring, and then honeymoon around the world.  How thrilling!

Also, we have decided to leave in mid-February and first travel to Utila, one of the Honduran Bay Islands, and dive for 6-8 weeks working towards our rescue dive and divemaster certifications.  From there we will travel around Central America until we need to be in Mexico for our wedding.  I cannot think of a more awesome way to start our travels!  Anyone want to place bets on how many dives until we see our first whale shark?!  ZOMG, WHALE SHARK!!

Challenge Accepted!

"Challenge Accepted" is one of Brandt's favorite games.  He does like Catchphrase too, but "Challenge Accepted" is probably his favorite.  You may not be familiar with this game.  In fact, before dating Brandt I had never even heard of it. I don't know if he was dared frequently as a little guy, or if his parents set a low bar for him because he was the middle child (that's just a middle-child joke, Celeste), but he frequently responds to my questions and requests not with a "yes" or "ok" or "no thanks" but with "challenge accepted".  Jokes aside, it completely fits him.  Brandt is a leader, courageous, and confident and I easily love and admire those qualities in him.

"Challenge Accepted" has now become part of my life - part inside joke, but also part guiding mantra for the next few years. Not that this should be anything new.  The Successories store has figured out how to say that phrase about 1000 different ways now, but I guess for me, hearing it from my partner inspires me the most.  He will be my companion in this journey after all, and his support and encouragement are very important to me. 

A few weeks ago, I faced my biggest pre-travel challenge to date: quitting my job!!  The anticipation of knowing for a long time that I was going to have to quit generated a fair amount of anxiety for me.  I felt guilty for leaving such an awesome boss and workplace, and a twinge of dishonesty keeping it a secret.  Luckily, the right time presented itself, and I thought to myself, WWBD?  Of course he would seize the opportunity and get it over with (challenge accepted, right?)! 

So with a little over 2 months before I plan to leave the Bay Area, I burst into tears in my boss' office, and broke the news.  I know, I know, this isn't how you are supposed to do it.  I'm sure some book with a guy in a suit on the cover would tell you to compose yourself a bit more and just give a 2 week written notice to cover your behind but that isn't really my style.  If you didn't know, I am a total crybaby and cry at just about everything, and it is just part of who I am.  Part of me is sad to go, and for me, it was ok to let that show.  So let it show I did, and I cried about 3 more times that day. 

After all the tears though, my boss couldn't have reacted any better.  He congratulated me on doing something awesome, thanked me for giving him adequate notice, and offered to hire me back when I return if he is able. And he said, "I always knew you were going to come in here one day and tell me your joined the Peace Corps".  He was almost right.  I am so happy to have the support and well wishes from my work place and appreciate the opportunity I have had the past 2.5 years.

This step makes the trip more of a reality, and I look forward to the challenges to come.  Actually, we welcome you in challenging us too!  I don't know how to do it yet, but we will be making a page/chart/graph-thingy where our family and friends can post challenges to us and we will do our best to reply "Challenge Accepted!" and then make it happen.

For example: 
Challenge - Jump off a really high rock/cliff/ledge/bridge into a body of water on every continent you visit.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! (we just happened to jump off a 35 foot high ledge into the ocean in Kauai with my brother last week and are setting this challenge for ourselves).

Our next challenge is easier - selling the majority of our possessions on craigslist. If you live nearby and are looking for used dishes or a dresser, give us a call!

We are now 59 days and counting until we leave California!  Put another way, only 1 rent check left, and our journey begins!  WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Kauai, 2013

Part 2 - So now I'm actually telling you what I am going to do

Welcome back!  I may have lost a few followers after my last blog entry.  Probably, I'll lose a few after ever post.  In the end it will be my mom and Erin reading this post.  And maybe not my mom if she doesn't figure out how to subscribe to this blog.

I'm feeling really focused today and I think I will be less inclined to allow my thoughts to completely derail this time.  After all, it is one of the most important questions I must answer, "So what exactly are you going to do?"

And seriously, I'm almost there!  But first, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do.  

I am not going to be working 60 hours a week like some of y'all have to do.  
I am not going to set an alarm.
I am not going to be checking my phone every 3 min.  In fact, we will NOT even HAVE PHONES!!!  So seriously, get all of your texts in to me now, because later you cannot.
I am not going to commute to work.
I am going to pay $1800 a month in rent.
I am not going to be wearing a coat in July.

There are probably other fun things that I enjoy doing that I won't be able to do, but those said items are the things I won't miss doing. 

I must give credit here to Chris Guillebeau, author of "The One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience."  The list that follows is part of a suggested list that can be found in his book.  If you are considering additional formal education consider doing these things instead (or in addition).  Most of this list can be completed in 1 year and at a cost of less than $10,000.  Significantly less than a year of graduate school for many people.

1. Subscribe to The Economist and read every issue religiously.  Cost: $100 + 2 hour/week
2. Memorize the name of every country, world capital, and current president or prime minister.  Cost $0 + some of your time.
3. Buy a round-the-world plane ticket to travel to several major world regions, including somewhere in Africa and somewhere in Asia.  Cost: $4000 or so + 4-8 weeks (or 2 years).
4. Read the basic texts of the major world religions: the Torah, the New Testament, the Koran, the teachings of Buddha.  Visit a church, a mosque, a synagogue, and a temple.  Cost: $0-50 + 50 hours
5. Subscribe to a language-learning podcast and listen to each 20-min episode five times a week for the entire year.  Attend a local language club once a week to practice.  Cost: $0 + 90 hours
6. Acquire at least three new skills during your year.  Suggestions: photography, skydiving, computer programming, martial arts, flying trapeze.  Cost: Variable but probably less than three credits of tuition at a university. 
7. Read at least 30 non-fiction books and 20 classic novels.  Cost: $0-750 (library-purchase) + lots of hours
8. Set your homepage to a wikipedia random.  Every time you open your browser, you'll see a different, random page and learn something new.  Read it.  Cost: $0 + 4 min




So here's where I'm at with that.

1. I have never read The Economist, but my friend Joel does.  He is brilliant and I trust him so I might give it a go.  Online subscription is no problem.  I have however read "Freakonomics" (same-same, right?) and I might listen to that podcast on the regular too.  
2. My boyfriend won the spelling be in junior high, now it's my chance to win the world capital geography bee.  I'm game to try.   And I hate to be one of those ignorant Americans that literally cannot name the leader of any other nation but their own. We're so dumb sometimes!
3. Ticket around the world?  Consider it done!!  This is a 5-6 continent world tour, my friends!
4. Been there, done some of that, gonna keep doing it.  I'm hoping to participate in a short stay in an ashram as well.  I was much more invested in exploring my spirituality when I was 15 than I am now but I'm looking forward to revisiting it.
5. Brandt and I both plan on being completely fluent in Spanish after our first year in Central and South America, and plan to learn bits and pieces of language all over the world.  Total immersion is the best way to learn!
6. Number six is the best!  I will be surfing, diving, hiking, doing yoga, and rafting every day!!  Every single day!  I'm hoping to be in as good of shape as I have ever been!  Don't forget zip-lining, kitesurfing, kayaking, cooking, and farming (planning on WWOOFing in Australia).
7. My friend Lacey spent a year working in Vietnam and traveling around SE Asia and she said she read more books in that one year, than she had in the past 15!  I LOVE reading, and with a kindle, this should be an easy and enjoyable endeavor.
8. I'm a maybe on this last one.  We are hoping to power-down, unplug, disconnect, limit screen time, whatever else you want to call it.  I'm hoping to do most of my learning the old fashion way.

Other things I'll be doing: volunteering on a farm/in a school/at a clinic, teaching English, blogging, planning where my friends will meet me, learning about animals, getting good sleep, trying new foods, boating down the Amazon, learning to play guitar, salsa dancing, and maybe I'll even eat a bug.  

What would you do if you were traveling for 2 years?  I wanna know, because I wanna do it too!!

Part 1 - Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do!

I'm going to get an education!  And I'm going to do it in an incredibly refreshing way I haven't really done before.  To know where I'm going, you have to know where I've been.  So let me start by telling you the brief long, disjointed, history and highlights of my formal education up to this point.  This is part 1 of 2.

The first time I went to school I think it cost $25.  Ahh...kindergarten (I'm skipping pre-school for the sake of sparing your already short attention span) - the best, first, real year of schooling that I remember fairly well.  After 9 months of half-day schooling, I had mastered the alphabet, started reading, excelled in basic mathematics, developed musical, artistic, and new physically capabilities, started new friendships, and probably learned a million other things that I've forgotten about, or didn't realize I learned at the time.  Thank you tax payers!!  I favor strong, comprehensive, public school programs.  Bent School, you served me well!  And that is probably $25 of the best dollars my parents ever spent on my education.  (*please note, that is $25, 1987 dollars.  Despite my excellence in mathematics, I will not be adjusting for inflation.  You may pursue that calculation if so inclined).

Fast-forward to the fall of 2000, my freshman year of college begins.  Turns out my excellence in basic mathematics had failed me.  Well, maybe not the math itself, I could still plug numbers, but I had zero-to-no grasp of the reality of my tuition costs, what it really meant, and who even paid for it.  Switch from the public to private schooling sector, allow 13 years to pass, and the cost of 9 months of schooling is now something like $15,000 a year (that's tuition only).  Ok, I don't care if its 1987 dollars, or 2000 dollars, that is so many dollars!  Times four, plus cost of living, divided by my family is only marginally above poor, equals who the hell is paying for this??!  Oh, but not to worry!  "You HAVE to go to college", and "You can't put a price tag on your education", and "You'll actually make $3 million more in your lifetime than someone who didn't go to college" they all say.  They all keep saying the same stuff so it must be true.  But, back to the math!  My academic scholarship covered 40%.  I didn't know where that money (the 40%) really came from.  Outer space perhaps?  A Monopoly board?  Or maybe it didn't come from anywhere, rather it was merely a negotiation on the tuition. "You're pretty smart, here, have a better deal".  I knew that my home church would cover whatever scholarship was not covered by tuition.  Naively, I didn't understand the generosity and magnitude of this assistance at the time.  Thank you generous donors of the private sector and the Mennonite Church of Normal!!  In the end, I thought my portion of the tab would be $0.  I ended up with $14K in loans to Sallie Mae.  Luckily, locked in at a low fixed interest rate, this is something I could handle over the next 10 or 20 years.  And I did have something to show for it - 2 bachelors degrees, what I thought was a lifetime of life experience, the best friends I may ever really make, and I started to become more of a grown up.  Did I have to go to college?  Probably.  Can you put a price tag on your education?  Yes.  Approx $80,000.  Will I make $3 million dollars more in my life time than someone who didn't go to college?  Hopefully, it will never matter to me.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Do you see how there is the need for this story to become a 2-part blog here?  I haven't even started to get to the fun part!!  I'm just going on and on about whatever I get started on!  Trying to be funny, trying to see if my punctuation is at least 90% correct, trying to make you laugh out loud.  Especially if you are reading this on an airplane.  I love when people laugh out loud on airplanes.  Subtly (or not so), getting on a soapbox, and conveying my personal/political/social beliefs.  But, what the hell, this is my blog!  Isn't that the epitome of what bloggers do??  So hang in there, the good stuff is just around the corner.  

The last chapter of my formal education was PA (physician assistant) school, from 2008-2010.  This was about a million times harder than kindergarten, but only cost 6000x more.  What a value!  Sadly, after another $150K in loans, I became much more pessimistic about higher education in the private sector, and it's value.  Perhaps one day, I'll be able to say it was worth it, without hesitation.  

In the mean time, I'm looking to get a different kind of higher education at a fraction of the cost, on an extended journey around the world, and I couldn't be more excited.  I'm hopeful and optimistic it will be worth every penny.  I am quitting an interesting, secure, and fun job after all.  One that over the next 35 years, may in fact make me $3,000,000 more than a college dropout.  When you type out all the zeros, it really does seem like a beaucoup bucks, but I stick to what I said about it hopefully, never mattering to me.  A very wise (and wild) man once told a children's story about how he was the richest man in all the world.  It wasn't because of the money he made, and the fancy house he built, and all the things that filled that big house filled with fancy things.  It was because his heart was so filled with love and happiness for his family and his friends and his god, and he knew he was filled with even more of their love in return.  It was a richness that he could never lose or be taken from him, and it was a richness that was worth more than any other.  The best part is that it isn't just a story, because it's also the truth.  That wise (and wild) man happens to be my dad, and I have seen first hand that he really believes it to be true and he lives that truth.  Luckily for me, it was one of the best lessons I could have learned in life, and I believe it to be true as well. 

So I look forward to the millions of new things I will learn, the lessons the world can offer me when I approach learning in whole new way, and the value I place on this education.  Sure, I may end up spending $20,000 or $30,000 over the next two years on this unconventional, advanced degree, but I am confident that it will lead to as much richness and wealth as any other traditional schooling.  Can I tempt you to do the same?

Stay tuned for part 2 - The Syllabus!  And find out what I'll actually be up to all the time!

"Well that's different" and other reactions to us breaking the news

College (pretend you can sum up 4 years of personal discovery, growing up, making best friends,  and earning 130 credits in a single word) was the absolute best time of my life!  I know I am not alone in declaring this statement.  The friends, the creek parties, the underground tunnels, the nights at Newell's, the nights at Druber's, the Galas, living in New Res/Haury Hall/mod 3B, and first loves just to get going.   It was truly, the best of times.

However, it is also the time that you realize how incredibly weird you are.  That you are in fact the only person that only eats the grape candy and throws the rest of the colors away.  You are the only person that wears flip flops even though there is 8" of snow on the ground.  You are the only one that has to "plug in your car" by running a 100 foot extension cord out your dorm window (no, don't think "she must have had the first Prius ever," think more along the lines of "is that an old-model John Deere diesel tractor that she has plugged in there?".  You are the only one that thinks you can turn 2 fish tanks into a bunny rabbit terrarium with your bare hands.  And you are the only one who listens to Mariah Carey's Christmas album all year round.  You forget that just because your ideas seem normal to you, they probably aren't normal to anyone else. 

So the point really that I am coming to is this: I am still incredibly weird, and my ideas although normal to me, might not be normal to anyone else.  And so, when we have told people that we are traveling around the world for 2 years or forever, the reactions generally have been supportive, but some have been mixed and interesting to say the least.

No one so far has actually just said what they were thinking when it was, "Are you a total and complete moron?"  Instead they say things like this:

- "Well, that's...different."

- "Is this a sort of midlife crisis?  Oh, you aren't even midlife yet...  What sort of crisis is this?"

- "So, like, England?"

- Blank stare followed by furrowed brow.

Other people are perhaps more supportive, but still entirely clueless:

- "So what's your budget then, like $250 a day?" Do you mean US dollars?  Do you really mean a budget of $6000 a month?  Because I don't live on that now, so, are you high or something?

- "Are you going to keep your job then?" Do you mean continue to see patients in the office?  Because my teleporter is still in the shop...

- "Are you going to keep your place?"  What?!?!  Really then, you are high.  Does a money tree grow in your backyard?  Because if so, then I will keep your place.  We rent by the way, and it costs almost $2000/month, and we are planning on being gone between 2 and 50 years, although you do have a point, the place is rent controlled, but I'm going to have to go with "absolutely not" on this one.

- "Are you going to take your cat?"  Was that really your question?  Because you could have said, "what are you going to do with your cat?" and that would make sense.  But bring it with me?  Around the world?  Like in a baby bjorn and pretend it's my kid?  Because I am weird but not psychotic.

In truth though, I know people aren't purposefully asking ridiculous questions.  I forget that this has been a dream of mine for years, and I am the luckiest person alive to have found a partner who shares the same dream.  I think about starting this adventure every day.  Then I come home to my best friend and we talk about it together every day.  We count down, we make lists, we purchase items, we read blogs, we subscribe to magazines, and we realize that thousands of other people have done the exact same thing and we know we can do it.

So for us, this crazy dream is totally awesome and sounds normal.  And to answer some of your questions:

- Yes, it is different, just like us.

- No, it is not a crisis at all!  It is a well thought out decision that will hopefully prove little regret.

- Probably not England, at least not at first, but you never know!  Our plan is to spend most of the first year in Central and South America, then a few months in Africa, many months in Asia, specifically the Southeast, and many months in Australia and New Zealand.  With a time frame of 2 to 50 years, we are happy to be open minded to opportunities that come our way and would love to visit Europe at some point.

- A general budget estimate is $50 a day, with the expectation that some things we want to do such as Divemaster Certification and Safari-ing will likely exceed the budget significantly.

- We will not be keeping our jobs.  And we are not planning to return to them.  We are planning lots and lots but at this point how, when, and where we return is not included.

- We will be downsizing significantly, moving out, and adding the returned rent deposit to the travel fund.

- My parents will be fostering my cat, Mousey, while we are away.  Cats cannot get passports.

Let's Go Shopping!!

Since I was young, I have loved shopping lists.  Grocery lists, back-to-school supply lists, and the like.  Also, since a young age, I have been (more than a little bit) interested in getting a good price.  Some people call this being Mennonite (or Jewish), frugal, cheap, or neurotic.  On a regular basis I do my grocery shopping at 5 different Bay Area stores.  I typically refuse to buy something at store A if I know I can get it, and a few other things at store B for a better price.  And sometimes I have particular lists, so stores C, D, and E inevitably come into play.  

When I was living at 402, my roommate Pablo was curious when I went grocery shopping and came home with bags from 4 different stores.  This was not just a result of me taking a smorgasbord of recycled bags from home (although, I do try and always use recycled bags), I was actually shopping at 4 different stores.  I can't help it, really, I can't.

So the same holds true when I shop for clothes.  In the past few years, it's been very rare that I pay full price for clothing.  Usually I shop at pre-owned clothing stores - Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads, and various thrift stores.  Or I bargain hunt online - Amazon, Ebay, and even Craigslist. 

Last year (2012) one of my New Year Resolutions was to give up shopping for clothes.  It wasn't a vice for me, I was never a shopping addict, and I didn't spend $100s a month on clothes.  I was after all, sticking to the previously mentioned habits.  However, I started to think is was ridiculous, how many clothes people actually buy, not because the old ones don't fit, or because they are ruined, but just because you can.  Throwing out perfectly good clothes, glossing over the same section in your closet that you never really actually wear but hold on to because you haven't ever worn them but one day you might, and buying new clothes as a form of retail therapy became things I decided to give up.  There were a few exceptions - gifts, clothing bought with gift cards, and 2 T-shirts which I called "uniforms" which was sort of a loop hole - but overall, I stuck to it, and for a year, I didn't really buy any more clothes.

Luckily, this year is different!  New year and new resolutions!!  Because we are planning on getting rid of basically, all the the stuff that we own so we can live out of backpacks, the shopping as a whole is being kept to a minimum.  We do though, need to acquire a fairly specific collection of clothing that we will wash and wear, with little variation, for the next 2 years.  So, in small bits, each month we are doing some shopping to grow our collection.  I forgot how fun and exciting shopping is!!  Especially when you are shopping for something as exciting as a trip around the world.

Our Rough Guide to traveling around the world suggests bringing 1 outfit.  That's right, ONE.  Basically you are in that single set of clothes or you are naked.  How exactly do you deliver that one set of clothes to someone to launder wearing your birthday suit?  Seems inappropriate in most cultures I've ever heard of.  So while we are trying to pack minimally, Brandt says, "If I can carry it, I can bring it," and tank tops are small, so I'm going to bring 5 :)

Our collection will soon be complete!  Some items we already own, but we have purchased: a 65L pack, a day-to-day backpack, 3 pairs of hiking/day wear pants, a belt, a skirt, many tank tops, 2 fleece jackets, one pair capri yoga pants, one pair yoga shorts, 3 button-up hiking/dress shirts, 2 rain jackets, an international outlet converter, a deck of cards, dice, 2 travel journals, a few long and short sleeve T-shirts, and merino wool underwear.  Say goodbye to cotton - everything is polyester, nylon, merino wool, or some other combination of sweat/smell/wet-resistant and quick-drying type of fabric.

True to my shopping beliefs, absolutely nothing has been purchased at full price!!  Brandt has really gotten the hang of this too, and I couldn't be more proud.  If you have more time than money, comparing prices, using a discount, and working your "connections" (i.e. friends at Patagonia, etc.), really can pay off.  Here are some websites not to be missed:

Amazon.com

Backcountry.com

GearTrade.com (becoming Amanda's favorite. Always free shipping)

EBay.com

BobWards.com

And here is our collection:

Have you backpacked??  Please let us know what things you really did need and use, and other things that you should have left at home, were useless, or just took up space.  We strive to become packing backpack experts!

The Countdown Begins!

Welcome family, friends, friends of friends, and friends we have not yet met!  Thanks for checking out our page, and if you feel so inclined, following our blog and living vicariously through us as we adventure the world!  Yes, "adventure" can be a verb, and we will certainly show you how it's done.

Who we are:  Brandt and Amanda. You can call us partners, lovers, best friends, a couple, or just two peas in a pod. We work as a construction project manager and a physician assistant, respectively.  We read, run, cook, relax, spend time outdoors, travel, and try to get the most out of life every day. Basically, we are normal people, just like you! 

What we're doing: Saying goodbye to our current jobs, comforts, and routines, and traveling around the whole wide world for the next 2 years!!  We have a loose itinerary of the countries we would like to visit, but of course will be directed by the people we meet, the stories we hear, mother nature, political situations, love, and fate. 

Why we're doing this: We want to speak foreign languages, experience other cultures first hand, find volunteer opportunities in medicine/education/construction, understand what the whole wide world is really like, and in the end, become better versions of ourselves (or maybe even new people).  Don't forget surf, SCUBA, kite-board, hike, and play!  We also want to educate and inspire others to experience the world first hand and travel around the world too!

When we're doing this: Hopefully leaving by Jan 2014!!

Through our previous experiences in traveling, we've found that planning really is a big part of the fun of it all so we will be making entries periodically and counting down in anticipation.  Please, please, PLEASE feel free to make comments, suggestions, and share in your travel and planning experiences with us. 

Also, we would love, love, LOVE for our friends and families to journey with us along the way.  What far off land have you been dreaming about visiting?  There is a good chance we might be in the neighborhood, so please take a look at our plan of action, and let us know where you might want to adventure together.