How It All Started
In 2015, Leah proposed to me. She didn't propose that we get married; neither of us want that. She asked me to quit my job in the summer of 2018 and travel the world with her. I think I said yes before she finished the phrase "quit your job." We had spent countless hours together in her little Honda Insight, driving around the southwest together, spending time at state parks, lakes, beaches, canyons, camping, running, finding coffee, etc. We both figured it was time for some bigger travels.
The only plan we started making immediately was regarding money. We sifted through all the travel blogs we could to compile an accurate account of what it costs to travel the world for a year. You know what we found? Everything and nothing. I read amazing stories from travelers who went more than a year on less than $10,000.00. Hostels, camping, local foods, and workaway jobs make it easy to save on some dough. I also read plenty of posts from people who traveled for less than a year and blew through $20,000.00 without a problem. That can happen pretty quickly with lots of long flights and sparing no expense when it comes to trying the best foods, nightlife, and sleeping in those fancy Bora Bora bungalows on the water. We decided our goal would be to save $20,000.00 each knowing we might not make that goal, and it would still be possible to travel with less.
It's been about 3 years since Leah proposed, and we still don't have much of a plan, and that's the way we like it. We're still trying to save as much as possible with only a few months left to work. We're going to be done working here in Phoenix, AZ on 6/8/18. At this point in time we plan on selling our house and a majority of our belongings. We'll spend a month with Leah's family in VA, and a month with my family in IA. Of course we'll have lots of pit stops across the states to see old friends and meet new ones. Our last bit of business in the states will be a wedding at the start of September. From there, we'll make our way to Toronto and hang out for a few days before we start the real journey via a one-way ticket to Singapore on 9/6/18.
Check out my next post about hashing and how we chose the bookends of our trip based on big hash events.