How do you get to take a break? What about your jobs, school, dog, home, cars, bills? How can you actually afford to do it?
The answers are actually not complicated and the plan is not really that complex. Making the decision to do it this year is what took a lot of courage as we had all these “things” holding us back to our regular lives. Our kids are in a great age to join us in this adventure, not too young and not too old. There is a very good program in Florida called the Florida Virtual School, so the kids will be able to keep up with their school year and re-join their middle school when we return home. We live in a great area of Fort Lauderdale and found a nice couple to rent our home, which makes things a lot easier for us and certainly help us fund the trip. Our 2 cars will stay with family and friends. The bills are all online, we are guessing there is internet access in several of the places we are visiting. Our mail will be forwarded to a friend’s address. Our 14yo Labrador is staying with good friends who have been co-parenting our dog for the last few years. Our budget is tight, we certainly have help from the thousands of miles I have accrued at my last job traveling 3 weeks of the month, added by the hotel points that we plan to use. But other than that, we plan to be very frugal, this is not a trip to lounge at hotel spas, go shopping and dine out every night. Our goal is to average $100/day, certainly knowing that some places will be more expensive than others (it’s a good thing we planned to be in New Zealand and Australia first…).
How about the jobs? We hit the “pause” button. For Chris it meant that he is not going to be teaching and coaching at his school this year but will supervise the kids studies while we also create additional projects for them. For me it meant that I unfortunately had to resign from my job. I loved the company and the product but the heavy traveling and being absent from home for so long was taking a big toll on the family and my well being. Being a type-A, I know it will take a lot to get me to disconnect completely but I am craving this break to re-evaluate my career options, bond with the family and come back invigorated to try new things in both my professional and personal life.
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