Travel Prep is Hard Work

Isn’t the idea of travel enchanting? Picture yourself strolling cobblestone steps in an ancient city, looking out over a brilliant orange sky as the sun sinks into the sea...

(via)

This has always been my vision of travel. Romanticized, captivating, even a bit glamorous; simply purchase a ticket, pack your bags, and live in the moment. The pre-trip planning, organizing, and overall effort never factored into my thoughts. Now I know better. Anyone that has simply booked a flight one day and departed for adventure the next boggles my mind. Honestly I won’t even believe it’s possible until I see it with my own eyes. 

 I’d like to think I’m not completely naïve about the travel process, as some preparations are obviously needed – an updated passport, any necessary vaccinations, savings and perhaps a new credit card – but I never expected the months leading up to our trip to be so exhausting; the annoying thing is that most of this pre-travel planning isn’t even trip related. If we were forced to read up on travel forums and guide books the excitement of planning our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe would easily trump any tiredness, late nights, or endless amounts of research, however besides some discussions on countries and cities we’d like to visit, and a bit of internet time perusing accommodation and transportation options, the majority of our time has been spent preparing to rent our house and store our belongings. 

Again, I was naïve and thought this would be a simple task. Merely find renters we trust, move everything out, and couch surf for a couple months until our departure date while simultaneously having someone else pay our mortgage. Clearly I’ve repressed our experience two years earlier when we moved into our house because moving is never that easy. Also, in two short years our belongings have somehow tripled. Either someone is sneaking into our house late at night to leave junk in closets and on shelves, or our furniture has figured our binary fission as a way to procreate – either way I’m not happy about it. 

Deciding which we could keep was the hardest part.

Goodbye lovely mauve...

And so here we are, attempting to vacate our house in less than two weeks and find storage for all of our belongings that cannot simply go back to where they came from. Quite a bit of these items, not making the cut, will find themselves on the shelves of our local thrift store, the rest are destined for a prolonged stay in a Rubbermaid bin. Since we aren’t quite sure what our living situation will be once we get home they may have to stay boxed up for quite some time.

Moving has been trying at times, tiring and stressful at others, but it has also been surprisingly sad. We are leaving our first home for the unknown, and as excited I am to explore another part of the world, I really don’t want to re-paint our guest bedroom - I love the mauve walls very much, just as they are.

We hope our home will be as comforting for its new inhabitants as it was for us, and perhaps one day we can be together again. Until then we’ve got a bathroom fan to fix, thirteen Rubbermaid bins to move, and too much cleaning to do. After all of this we will definitely need a vacation.

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Travel Feelings...

Hesitant – this is how I felt immediately after purchasing our flights.

Excitement, fear, anticipation, impatience, uncertainty, independence, and relief also make up the pie but the largest slice, the birthday boy’s piece, is pure hesitation.

Our first "trip" - Edmonton 2006

California - February 2008

It was surprising; I’d been talking about this trip for years – the equivalent of half my lifetime actually – constantly telling people I was going traveling soon. “Next fall” I would say and then come fall I would have grand plans for the spring. I’ve toy with the idea of an African Safari or exotic South East Asia but always found my way back to Europe. Italy, Greece, Spain, Paris... they made their way to the top of my bucket list during high school and have had more than enough time to put down some very persuasive roots. 

I started saving for Europe immediately after landing my first job at a seasonal ice cream/mini-golf stand. I worked four hour split shifts and, through a loophole, made less than minimum wage, but the free ice cream and rounds of pitch-and-putt made up for any injustice I suffered. I’ve always been frugal and during my first year of University I bought my first savings bond, dipping my toes into the shallow end of the investment pool, and proudly told my investment broker that I was saving for a trip to Europe. 

Seven years and two investment advisors later, I feel overly hesitant after buying a reasonably priced flight from Vancouver to London. 

On my bucket list - Santorini Greece (via)

Being a business major and not a Psychologist I don’t fully understand why I feel this way but I’m sure it’s a complex combination of worry (about money), fear (of consequences), and sadness (of reality). If it were easy to sort out we wouldn’t ask our Psychologists to go to school for 7 years.

Worrying about money makes sense to me because I do it continuously – honestly I have spreadsheet nightmares on multiple occasions. So long as I continue to keep an eye on our budget, and limit frivolous spending over the next few months, everything will be ok.  

The consequences are a bit harder for me to accept - but are unavoidable. The memories and experiences this trip offers are unmatched, however there is a cost. My boyfriend and I are both giving up good jobs without any guarantee of work when we return, we have a mortgage that will need to be covered by rental income, as well as a bunch of "stuff" that needs to find a temporary home. We will also be thousands of kilometers away from our friends and family, receiving Coles Notes style updates on their lives back at home.

Sadness is the emotion I’m having the hardest time addressing. I get to run away, abandon all responsibility, and set out on a four month adventure to a place I’ve dreamt of my entire life, yet I’m sad to finally be going; seems a bit contradictory, not to mention crazy. It feels like all my planning and daydreaming has created something unattainable; backpacking through Europe is my perfect movie moment and no matter how hard I try, reality can’t compare to the big screen. 

What is there to do when, in a cinematic sense, your trip is doomed from the start? I’ve decided to let go and stop scrutinizing every little detail. Although it pains me to admit it, I may not be able to make it back to Europe for another seven years, or fourteen, or twenty-one. Therefore, I really have no other choice but to suck it up and enjoy the journey. I have absolutely no doubt that some moments will be less-than-perfect, but these not-so-good moments already happen, all the time, over the course of a typical day - Why should it be any different while traveling?

Instead of constantly trying to be a mile ahead, planning for every possible outcome and expecting the worst, I am going to slow down and try my hardest to live in the moment.

I can’t promise to write everyday – this is a once in a lifetime trip after all – but I hope you’ll check in along the way and see how we’re making out.

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It's Official!

On August 21st we will be leaving home, via Vancouver, for a four month trip through Europe. 

Although we purchased our flight about a week ago, we've had to bite our tongues for awhile (more difficult for some of us than others) until we took the necessary steps to advise our employers.

Now that we've had a chance to digest the reality that we are actually leaving - in two short months! - the "to do" list seems never ending. We also have a lot of questions to ask from excited friends and family. Here's a bit of insight into our trip...

Yes, we are quitting our jobs. No, we aren't that worried - everything will be ok, and if it isn't we aren't too old to move back home!

Our home will be rented out and we have been very lucky to find fabulous tenants quite quickly. We will be "homeless" for at least one year. 

We are flying into London (for a fabulous music festival -more on that to come) and then plan to spend a lot of time in the Mediterranean - Greece, Croatia, Italy, and Spain are on our list. We are also hoping to squeeze in some time in Germany, France, Portugal, and England. 

Yes, four months seems too short. Yes, four months is a long time. Our friends and family have a million different opinions, which they don't keep to themselves, but we wouldn't want it any other way. We settled on four months for a couple main reasons:

1. The Schengen Agreement limits our time in the participating countries to 90 days in a 180 day period. We promise to share all we've learned about this "zone" when we get to itinerary talk but for now let's just say the majority of European Union countries are part of the agreement.

2. December presents a few challenges, weather wise... 

3. ... and we were afraid of what our mothers might do if we didn't come home for Christmas.

After some debate over other travel options - including moving into South East Asia via the Trans-Siberian Railway and adding in more non-Schengen countries to extend our stay - we decided December was the perfect time to come home, check our savings, tweak our budget, and assess if we are ready to hit the road again. 

Coming home will also allow us to pack for a less-severe climate in Europe and catch up on the life events and milestones you often miss out on during prolonged travel.

We are extremely excited and have decided to try blogging as a means to keep in touch with everyone at home. We are hoping this can be the place to see where we are, what we are up to, and how we are doing. We will also share our photos (via Flickr) so you can check them out and perhaps feel a twinge of jealousy or catch the travel bug yourself.

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