Editor’s note: Today’s post is a reprint from last year. Yep, I still feel the same way about raising your standards for love and romance all year long.
You heard me.  I’m taking it back.  No cards, candy, dinner dates, or jewelry for me.
Think about it.  Romance only ONE DAY of the year?  At the same time everyone else is instructed to have romance (talk about supply and demand)?
We have never really celebrated Valentine’s Day, and …

No matter how much you love someone, spending 24 hours a day, 365 days a year together is going to have some ups and downs. As we get closer to our departure date, I’m thinking more about the relationship perks, strains, and changes that lie ahead. You may not be traveling around the world with your mate, but if you are working on any sort of project together – hell, even the just adjusting to …

Are you on Twitter?  If you just rolled your eyes and reached for the mouse, give me a minute.  I was a doubter, too.  After all, who wants to know what everyone had for lunch or hear the mundane details of a stranger’s day?
Last night I met Dom Sognolla, author of 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form.  Dom was on the original team that created Twitter, and he had a lot to say …

This month marks one year since we made the decision to leave our jobs and chart a new course on life.  We started this blog to document our planning process in hopes it could help future couples thinking about a similar adventure.  As the year progressed we had many discussions on how much to put out into the world about ourselves.  We were worried about alienating any readers and so initially took a very middle …

You know how you get together with a friend and you don’t have any really big stories to tell about your life but you have about a hundred little ones?  And how much fun it is catching up with each other over the small things?
Well, that’s how I’m feeling these days.  Several thoughts below that are not quite big enough for a blog post and not quite small enough for Twitter.  So we’re going to …

Can you believe we’ve been blogging here for almost a year? In that time we have covered a lot of ground, and new readers to the blog might need a little help finding the information they need.
We developed a Beginner’s Guide page for both new readers and longtime readers who may want to refresh on a particular topic. I’ve also made a video for the page, so we are back on schedule with …

Since we’re starting our worldwide adventure in South America, it makes sense to learn a little bit of Spanish. If you look at our Wish List, you’ll see that it is also one of our goals.

Up until now, we’ve been investigating free and low-cost options, like Meetup groups, language podcasts, and practice sessions with native speakers. Our goal was to use Rosetta Stone, and we’ve been trying to figure out when we should buy it (now and have a lot of time to practice, perhaps incorrectly vs. later where we can practice with locals). The price is about $500 for 3 levels of one language.

Enter TechCrunch. They wrote a blog post about Rosetta Stone’s TOTALe interactive language learning solution, which is Rosetta Stone on steroids. In addition to the highly rated learning program, there is an online class where students can practice their pronunciation with the teacher and other students. This solves our problem! But then there’s the cost – $1200 (currently $999 as an introductory special). A bit steep for a program we aren’t sure will work for us, but also not outside the ballpark if we compare it to language school.

Today I told my boss that I would be quitting my job next year to travel around the world.  WOW, I feel more liberated than I could have expected.  He was incredibly supportive and happy that I gave him 15 months of notice.  Given that I just got a new role with more responsibility on Monday I would say he took it extremely well. In truth, he was amazingly supportive and I am fortunate to …

Editor’s Note: This is part 8 in a 10-part series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to read from the beginning.
Come on, we’ve all done it. You have a great night of sex and can’t wait to tell your friends about it. Or the reverse – the sex is so bad you can’t wait to tell your friends about it!
Usually this happens when we are single and it is safe to tell the story, but …

Editor’s Note: This is part 5 in a 10-part series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to read from the beginning.
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?
Believe it or not, I have the answer. The normal amount of sex in a relationship is (drum roll, please)…whatever works for you and your partner.
Seriously.
So stop stressing about whether you are doing it as much as “everyone else” or “what you used to.” The only opinion that matters in …

Editor’s Note: This is part 4 in a series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to read from the beginning.
When we talked about the 5 Love Languages, we learned that everyone has a preferred method of receiving love: verbally, physically, gifts, quality time, or acts of service. But we didn’t find out how we could tell if our actions were working for our partner. Gary Chapman has more to tell:
The Math of Relationships
Whether you look …

Editor’s Note: This is part 3 of a series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to read from the beginning.
Have you ever said “I know he loves me, he just has a lousy way of showing it?”
There is a bit of truth to that statement.  When we show love to our partners in ways they don’t understand, it can cause friction.
“Why doesn’t she touch me like she did when we were dating?”
“He never helps …

Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of the series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to start from the beginning.
When you met your mate, he or she was the perfect match for you. You laughed at each other’s jokes, couldn’t keep your hands off each other, and imagined a life of happily ever after.
Maybe you still have that, but I’m betting some of the shine has worn away from the hot and heavy early days. …

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series on sex and intimacy in your relationship.
Did that title get you revved up for a Monday morning, or did you just groan and wish we’d move on to something more relevant to your life, like decluttering?
Emotions run high in both directions when you talk about sex and intimacy in a relationship. There are those who have given up on intimacy because of work, kids, or apathy, …

Editor’s Note: This is the final post in a short series on vacations.  Click here to read from the beginning.
It happens all the time:  You plan the trip of your dreams, and somewhere along the way you fight with your travel partner and end up almost ruining the trip.  To top it off, the fight was over something stupid, like forgetting to pack an item, or even worse, a fight over something completely out of …

Editor’s Note: The theme this month is Money.
Now that you know how to make a budget, you can get down to the nitty gritty of where to spend and where to save.  And if you have a partner, the decisions can get complicated.

Your wife wants to keep her $150 hair appointments every month, even though you are over your head in credit card debt
Your husband plays golf every week to the tune of $100, not …

Okay, so you looked.  What does that tell you about the power of negative commands?
Negative Commands Don’t Work
Recently I’ve become fascinated by this subject.  For instance, when you tell a child  “Stop running!” they immediately visualize running, which is why they don’t seem to listen (at least not right away).  They are also unsure of what to do since they have not been given an alternative.
By saying “Walk slowly” instead, you give the child an …

How many days per week do you watch television?  And how many times have you said you don’t have time for a new hobby, social engagement, reading a good book, home project, etc.?
We watch TV at least some portion of all 7 days of the week.  We keep wondering why we aren’t making more progress on learning Spanish before our trip, or why we don’t have time to read as much as we like.
It is …

Do you have a great life, or are you just getting by? If you have to think about that question, keep reading.
A great life doesn’t come by accident, and those happy people you know are not just lucky or more intelligent than you (though it may make you feel better to think that way).
For years I’ve had people tell me that I’m lucky, and after working my buns off to show that I “deserve” this …

As our trip planning begins turning into a fulltime venture, we are spending more time researching and distributing information. 
What’s coming up?

Templates to help you budget for a big trip (or any big purchase/debt consolidation)
Photos and info from upcoming trips like New Mexico, Hawaii (Pro Bowl!), road tripping the Northwest, and a women’s shamanic retreat in Ecuador
How-to guides on selling your stuff through sites like Craigslist and eBay
Advice from simplification gurus on more freedom with less …

Last night we watched a terrifc movie called The Visitor.  The movie was about 2 illegal immigrants – one from Senegal and one from Syria – who live in NYC and meet a lonely widower who has closed himself off from enjoyment.
I won’t go into a review of the movie (which is very good), but I do want to talk about the music.  The character Tarek is a drummer and he shows the widower Walter …

One of my life goals is to learn and become fluent in a foreign language.  Whenever I meet new people from other countries I try to learn how to say “hello” and “how are you doing” in their native tongue.  This has been a great way to break the ice as I can now great people from Israel, Russia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and China.  Everyone loves when you make the effort to learn something …

Since we’ve started telling people about the trip, we’ve seen the Six Degrees of Separation at work.  I am inundated with offers of introductions to people in other countries, and ex-pats in the US keep popping up.

For instance, this week I’m attending a personal safety class from a man hailing from South Africa, and I’m reliably informed that his wife is a phenomenal entrepreneur.  Travel safety, interesting people, and a woman entrepreneur…all things I need to know.

Another woman tells me of great contacts she has in Hong Kong and how she will be happy to connect me.

Yet another friend is an editor who is going to help me put some of my intellectual property into a form I can sell online to help finance this trip.

A new contact in New York has introduced me to several websites to plant the trip as well as enhance the research for my book proposal.

You know, I was a little bit scared to start telling people about this great trip.  One reason was a fear that it would negatively impact my current business or my husband’s job before we leave, and another reason was that my friends and family would think I was crazy or irresponsible.  Or that I possibly had more money than sense (which might be true, but sadly not because I have a lot of money!). 

This is another lesson in the power of intention and how stating what you are going to do will make it happen.  Keeping it in my head allows me to create all kinds of scenarios that really aren’t there, and I’m finding that I’m quite the internal storyteller.  Making it real gives it really only one story – the one that is happening.  So I can now concentrate on that real story instead of the crazy imaginary ones in my head.

So, here’s to wishing for more interesting people to cross my path as I continue to talk about this trip and my intentions for a book and a successful conversion to an online business. 

We haven’t left for the trip yet and I’m already learning something about people.  My people, actually.

Last night I called my mom to tell her we were going to take this trip.  I was a little bit scared to do this because we are already a few thousand miles away from each other and the distance has always been tough.  My mom’s favorite place is home, and my home is always where my favorite current place happens to be. 

I braced myself for a difficult conversation and a lot of explanation about why we wanted to do this.

Mom surprised me by saying she thought it was great and then asked where we planned to go.  Just like that.  She was naturally curious and asked a lot of questions, but she was as supportive as she has always been.  It is no wonder I feel confident enough to undertake this trip with a lifelong support system like that.

Husband called his Mom to tell her, and she was also enthusiastic.  Of course, she was getting ready to jet off to Napa Valley for a week of wine and relaxation, so you could say she likes to travel.  She also raised Husband to be a curious and ambitious guy, so we did not expect her to be anything but supportive.

It will be interesting to see the reactions of our friends and the rest of our family as we start spreading the word about the trip and sharing this blog.  I have a feeling they will surprise us more than we will surprise them.  Isnt’ that a great thing?

One of the many decisions that we need to make is when to tell the company I work for that we are planning on taking this trip.  Right now it is 2 years seems like a lifetime in many ways, but when I think about my career it seems like a blink of an eye.

After talking to several trusted people I have decided to keep mum for now and tell my boss 6-12 months before we leave.  This goes against my desire to tell everyone and get their support and involvement in the planning process. However, I also know that by telling them now it will affect my bonuses, raises, promotions, and stock grants for 2 full years.  Given that we really want to use that money for our adventure I hate to risk losing it. 

I do believe there is a good chance that I could return to the company after the trip and I worry that by keeping this a secret for now I could risk that opportunity.  For now though I am taking the advice of my dear friends and thus the "big secret" is born!