Our Journey Begins

When I was a kid, I would spend hours recreating this scene in our yard. I would specifically ask my dad to not mow the lawn so we had dandelions so I could run out to the edge of our grass and blow the seeds into the breeze, just like my beloved Belle. This was my senior quote in the yearbook in high school, and for as long as I can remember is was a line that resonated with me.

However, now that I'm an adult, I have realized how little adventure actually exists in the life I've built for myself. When I was younger, I traveled with student groups to Australia and Nepal and studied abroad in Vienna, Austria. I traveled solo through Europe. But by 30, I have found myself safe and cozy in the comfort of routine. I married my college sweetheart, rented a home in a quiet Seattle neighborhood, adopted a cat, and got a reliable job teaching social studies at a public high school. All of this is exactly what I wanted, exactly what I had planned for myself, since I was 16. And it's lovely--it truly is lovely. But for years Calvin and I have talked about "someday." Someday we will live abroad. Someday we will travel without an itinerary, just following where the wind takes us. Someday we will go and see all the things we've always wanted to see.

When I turned 30 last November, I realized how quickly "someday" can fade into the wishes and regrets of the past. I had this vision of myself later in life, reflecting on the days where "we always said we were going to..." but never having actually done it. And I realized that if you want to make "someday" happen, you have to start deciding that "someday" is today.

The first weekend in February 2025, we were driving across Washington State to attend our twin niece's first birthday party. As we were approaching Snoqualmie Pass, I turned to Calvin in the driver's seat with a level of intensity that I'm sure had him bracing himself, as he's known me for over a decade and knows I cannot give up on something once I've got it in my head. I told him I felt like it was now or never--we had to start taking the steps needed to make this big trip happen, or we would get so comfortable in our cozy routine that we never would. For me, this meant applying for a one-year leave of absence from my beloved job, which I did when I returned to work the following week.

Here we are, just over 6 months later, preparing for our adventure. We have a one-way ticket to Dublin, where we will start our journey, and no idea when we will return. Our budget is $15,000, and our plan is to go until all that's left is enough to cover a ticket home. Along the way, we will be pet sitting through Trusted Housesitters to stretch our budget, and hopefully keeping you updated here on where we are and where we're going.

"Someday" begins September 3rd. My great wide somewhere finally awaits!