We did it! Mark and I booked our hotel, and our ONE WAY ticket to Barcelona. We have a 6 hours layover at Brussels, and I can’t wait to take Mark beer and chocolate tasting. We leave the last week of February, and from there we are headed to Asia. We have less than 4 months before we leave our lives in New York and embark on our adventure.
I should have known Mark and I were meant to be Nomads. Since we graduated, we have moved to a new apartment each year. Our current apartment is the longest we’ve stayed in and it’s only been two years. With our last move we haven’t bothered painting, or put any effort in decorating our home. Our walls are still bare. Subconsciously we must have prepared ourselves for another move. Just what kind of move we didn’t know yet.
When I told my department managers my plan, I was asked “What made you decide to do this?”
I replied, “School.” Over a year ago I was in school pursuing a Nurse Practitioner degree. I was in Nursing Research class, a class I hated even as an undergraduate and even more so in a graduate level. I was miserable, and waiting for the semester to end. Then I asked myself, “why am I doing this?”
I once vowed to never go back in school once I received my bachelors degree. So why am I back in school? I must be a masochist; torturing myself doing something I didn’t want to do. The thing is my co-workers were doing it, and I figured “I might as well do it.” Then there’s also the hospital benefit of full tuition reimbursement, so it wouldn’t hurt me financially. It would just steal my time.
The thing is with stolen time, you never get it back. When you do something you are not passionate about, you’re wasting time. For a few semesters I tried to balance school and enjoying life, but failed. I remember going to Cancun with a group of friends. I was finishing my group project in the computer room, while everyone was already partying. I remember going to Carnival in Trinidad and taking an online test before going out to party. I wanted to have fun, and school got in the way. 
I realized after a few miserable semesters I didn’t want to continue my education. I asked Mark what to do. I have to admit I’m lucky to have supportive husband. All he said to me was “do what makes you happy.” So I quit school and discovered my passion for travel.
I did some research online, and I discovered a big community of travelers. I followed Ryan and Laura from Round We Go on their year long honeymoon around the world. Envied Jodi from Legal Nomads visit to Philippines. I Learned to save money and spend less from Christine’s Almost Fearless and One day I hope to travel with my family just like the Dennings. I also, would love to go Woofing like Beth and Randy, but Mark can’t seem to get past the idea of unpaid labor for the sake of adventure. There’s so many other inspiring travelers. Proving that you don’t have to wait until you retire to travel.
It wasn’t long before I became obsessed with the idea of taking a year off and traveling the world. I thought, “If we saved enough money we too can travel the world.” I spoke to Mark about this fantasy getaway. We would live in Philippines, rent a cheap apartment, have someone cook for us (because my cooking skills are not the best) for less than the price we would spend in New York. Mark the ever supportive husband (maybe because he didn’t really believe it was going to happen) said, “whatever you want.”
Well here we are a year later, some money saved for our big move. I already told my manager I’m leaving February. No set plans yet, just that our first stop would be Barcelona. Our first stop in Southeast Asia is Thailand, what happens next we don’t know yet. If you’ve noticed less posts lately, it’s because I’ve been working almost everyday trying to save more money.
This might be the trend until February. I will try to post at least once a week in the meantime. I do hope that you still continue to visit the site, and think of my absence as temporary. Adventure awaits us, and we hope you join us on our journey.
