(Originally posted 25 August 2015) When you are planning something as exciting as a round-the-world vacation time slows down to a debilitating grind. A ‘quit-your-job’ and ‘sell-up-everything’ plan aimed at freeing up time and funds for an extended vacation takes a while. We reckon six months. And now that we have made the decision to do this, six months seems like millenniums away.
Once you have made the decision to go, life cannot possibly return to normal. You find yourself often daydreaming of beaches, walking in the shadows of majestic mountains, and bargaining in markets.
However, in some ways, it can be freeing. We have found that we can get on with our work, achieving the desired results without worrying about office politics and career ambitions. It is liberating to know that you are simply here to do a good job, making the most of your skillset. You don’t get stressed by a changing environment or challenging targets.
We also look at goods in the shops in a very different way and think twice about buying anything that you can’t take with you. Retail therapy is not what it used to be for us. High heels and hardcover books are out, and only travel gadgets and quick-drying clothes are in (more about travel gadgets, specifically cameras soon). But that urge to be a consumer of all things popular has faded away – it is just more stuff we will need to sell or put into storage.
Everyone has been supportive and shown a lot of interest in our plan, but I worry that we will quickly start boring the people around us with our new obsession. It has only been about a month of travel mania, and we suspect we might find some acquaintances distancing themselves as we go on and on about our proposed trip. But if you are still reading and not fed up, we’ll keep posting blow-by-blow accounts of our experience. We’re glad to have you on board.
(Featured Image Source: https://pixabay.com/en/hourglass-time-hours-sand-clock-620397/)