I’m writing this on a Tuesday night with the TV turned on in the background to John Oliver. A neighbor stopped over earlier to purchase the Ikea dresser we listed on the NextDoor app. We finished our Costco sized bag of Quinoa with a somewhat creative “casserole” that will feed us for the next few days. My work emails in my inbox are under 100 for the first time in months.
This may seem like a normal Tuesday night, but it is far from it for us.
We are working through our entire pantry to eat as much as possible. We are selling almost everything we own. We have resigned from the company we’ve spent the last 15 years at.
We leave in two weeks for New Zealand.
We don’t know when we are coming back to the United States.
It still seems like a dream. It’s a new beginning.
This is an idea that we’ve had in the back of our minds for years. It’s one of those things that we talked about on vacations over glasses of wine. We’ve exchanged glances while watching Travel Channel shows. We joked about moving to every country we’ve ever visited.
After losing both dogs this past year, we realized that for the first time in our married lives, we have no other living beings in our care and we have no mortgage and no debt.
We are so fortunate in our lives. We have the best support system in our friends and family. We are lucky enough to have saved some money. We love getting rid of all of our belongings (not our first rodeo).
We are taking a year to experience some new places in the world. We are going to do some volunteer work. We are going to hike in new places. We are going to put ourselves out there and meet people. We are going to take some time to put some extra love into the planet. We are going to make some mistakes. We are going to be more creative.
This may all sound like a millennial manifesto. Maybe it is.
Whatever you want to call it, we are ready. We are excited. We are nervous. We are beyond grateful. We can’t wait to touch down in Christchurch in two weeks and begin this adventure.
We are going to share photos and stories on this website – the good, the bad, the ugly. Our goal is more adventure and more awareness. I’ll share more of our planning process and the FAQ’s and reactions we’ve already received soon.
We’d love to have you follow along. Feel free to ask questions, share your opinions (and all recommendations) and just say hi.
