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.
