Damn, he’s done it. Adam Baker of Man vs. Debt has written the book I meant to write and never did. He’s gung-ho like that, never letting a good idea sit for too long. In fact, he’s included interviews with big names in personal finance and simplicity like JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly as well as a forward by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.
If you want to find out how Adam and his family …

This is part of our ongoing series called “Of course you can do it!”
No matter what your lifestyle goal, it probably doesn’t include being overweight or out of shape. This is a struggle very near and dear to me, and I was amazed and inspired on my last visit to mom’s to see how great she looked after a 60-pound weight loss. Mom has struggled with her weight all her adult life, and she …

(Ed. Note: In honor of our house officially going on the market this week, here is the post where we hashed out whether we should sell or not.)
One of the myriad of questions we had to confront in our planning is whether we want to sell our house in Seattle before we leave on our trip. This issue has both financial and emotional considerations so coming to a decision requires a great deal of openness …

This week I took a trip from Seattle to New Mexico with my cat, Roo. She is going to live with my mom before we head off on our adventure, and I thought I had planned everything perfectly:

Food and water with containers in my backpack
A checkup and health certificate from Roo’s vet
The appropriate carryon carrier for a pet

When I got to the airport I went to the desk to pay Roo’s fare. (If you were …

Every once in a while we venture out from our little blog to various points on the interwebs. Today we are guest posting on one of our favorite blogs, Free Pursuits. If you are a new reader clicking over from there, welcome. You can find out a little more about our story and why the heck we are doing this by clicking here.  And of course we’d love it if you decided to join our …

In 1991 I was a sophomore at Texas A&M University when I made the decision I did not want to grow up.  The concern was, maybe if I did, I would not be a Toys R Us kid.  Now, how in the world could I let that happen?
My passion for the toy industry began in earnest in 1988, at the end of 104 minutes which would change my life forever.  The experience that so rocked …

The first stop on our big adventure is Ecuador at 9,186 feet. We currently live in Seattle, which ranges from sea level to 520 feet. Pretty big difference, huh? Well, that difference can make a person really sick.
A few years ago I flew in to Telluride, Colorado for a hiking trip in the fall. It was gorgeous, and we exerted ourselves a little bit too much (plus had margaritas with dinner), and my first night …

Up until now, getting rid of stuff has been fairly easy. Even the reverse birthday party was only hard for a day or two beforehand. I’ve been pretty good about learning the difference between my memories and the objects that remind me of those feelings.
But lately I’m up against something I can’t easily overcome. You see, my cat is going to live with my mom in New Mexico this weekend.
Roo has been with me since …

I feel like this post should have a soundtrack because it is Very Important to our trip.
The Final Countdown by Europe, perhaps?
The last big step – financially and materially – is to sell our house. It goes on the market in 2 weeks, and we have a bit of competition from other townhouses in the area as well as a recovering but still down market overall.
Our house is in great shape, and we have some …

You guys remember a few weeks ago when we went to the University of Washington Travel Clinic and got all those shots? Well, it is almost time to go back for round 2 (Hepatitis A and B boosters). And we have to decide soon whether or not we want to get vaccinated for rabies.
If you recall, the vaccination costs about $900 for 3 shots over the course of 3 months and will give us 7 …

A name doesn’t always convey a company’s attitude, so they usually create a tagline to help round out their corporate personality. You’ve heard these before, and the really famous ones don’t even need a company name anymore.

Just do it.
You’re in good hands.
Because I’m worth it.

The same can be true for blogs and even people. Dan Pink’s new book Drive talks about just that – creating a sentence that states your big objective in life.
Our original …

You know that juicy delicious feeling you get when you spend time with a really creative person? The one who sees the world in different colors than you do, and when you combine your thoughts and ideas, magical things happen? Some people call this 1+1=3, but my designer friend Darlin informed me that the correct term is gestalt.
gestalt \gə-ˈstält\: a structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute …

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 …

Reality shows like The Biggest Loser, Intervention and Hoarders are popular for a reason. Seeing someone at the extremes of behavior makes us feel better about our own shortcomings.
My great-grandfather was a severe packrat. He would go to the local dump every day looking for treasures, and his house was covered up inside and outside with his finds. He never threw anything away and dressed like a homeless man when he had plenty of money …

Today’s post is inspired by a conversation with my friend Debb, who thinks I need an intervention for my reverse kleptomania. What’s so funny about this post is that I originally planned an article about hoarding today (you’ll get that next time). Read on to get the full story.
We’ve been downsizing in stages now for a few years, and things are starting to get really aggressive.
The house goes on the market in just a couple …

When it comes to making big changes in your life – saving money, decluttering, following your dreams – we often think of bold moves, things like winning the lottery or having a television show film your clutter in return for having an expert clean it up for you.
In reality, though, success is made up of a series of very small steps.
We’ve often talked about strategies we’ve used to save money for our big trip. But …

You know, I’d love it if you all thought I had nerves of steel and an iron will, but the truth is that I don’t.  And while it has been mostly easy to save the money and downsize our possessions, there are times when my willpower is tested.
This week we got a catalog for Crate and Barrel.  We don’t get many catalogs, but because we bought our couch there we are on the mailing list. …

This is part of a regular segment called “You want to know WHAT?!”  where we answer some of the questions we get from readers. Have a question? Email us.
[Gentlemen, you may want to skip today’s post. It is likely far more information than you ever wanted to know about the time of the month you want to avoid anyway. Feel free to skip down to the comments to suggest a “men only” topic for Warren …

A few nights ago we watched Into the Wild, the true story of Christopher MacCandless and his unconventional life and tragic end.
He’s quite a character, and early on in his adventure he burned his IDs and started calling himself Alexander Supertramp.  The name seemed to fit far more than the one he was given, and it made me think.
Does a new lifestyle deserve a new name?

Like most people, I think of my life in …

This series explores books on travel, interesting people and living well. Want to suggest a book? Email me or tell us about it in the comments. (These are all Amazon affiliate links, but you can easily find them in a used bookstore or your local library.)
Lately I’ve been in a “larger than life” mood in my book selections. The cold weather has made me feel small and snug, and I guess my mind …

You’ve heard the stories before:
A man doesn’t stop drinking until he loses everything.
A woman finally loses weight when she has a severe health crisis.
A near-death experience causes a person to start appreciating life.
I could go on, but you get the idea.  Most people need a wakeup call to initiate change in their lives. What’s even more interesting is that we often need *repeated* calls to continue living our best lives.
Take the example of the woman …

It’s not if you get sick, but when. Most people have a sad story about a trip that got derailed by a bug, an injury, or food poisoning. When you travel for months or years at a time, though, the risk goes up. Being constantly exposed to new environments, foods, and customs also means exposure to food-borne illnesses, diseases, and sometimes lower standards of medical care.
We visited the University of Washington Travel Clinic to talk …

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 …

Oh my god. Did I just say the word “itinerary?” It sounds so…planned. And that’s not really the way I want this to go, at least not like people generally think of planning a trip.
Watch as Warren and I discuss the first stop on our trip and why we chose to begin in Ecuador.

What do you think we should see and do in Ecuador?

The short answer is yes, of course you can live without a microwave. Lots of people in the Western world do, though they do seem to be in the minority. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
One of our goals this year was to make healthier choices in the food we put into our bodies. Because I work at home, I’ve relied a lot in the past on frozen entrees.  A Lean Cuisine might …

Dan Kern has had enough. In fact, he thinks most of us have had enough, we just don’t realize it yet. Over the course of 31 days, Dan is going to eliminate all but 100 possessions from his life.  Can he do it?
Dan’s story begins with Britney Spears.  No, he wasn’t there with her when she famously shaved her head. But he understands what she was going through.  He points to Mark Morford’s article about …

If I were talented enough to make a slick video about creating a life you love, this is what it would look like.  Since I’m not, I’m handing over the blog today to my  new Twitter friend @boxofcrayons (also known as Michael Bungay Stanier).  Enjoy!

Thanks to Chris Brogan for the discovery.

Yes, we are officially on our way to Ecuador on October 1, 2010 at 11:55 p.m.  A redeye from Seattle to Miami with a long layover on October 2 will allow us to have lunch with our friend Pat before we board the plane to Otavalo.
How much did this flight cost us?  $100!
How did we do it?  Well, like we do everything…a lot of planning.
First, we have always been good about keeping track of frequent …

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!  You may remember me bragging back in the fall of 2008 that I had successfully given up caffeine after a lifetime addiction.  In fact, you may recall that I was a bit of a trash talker about it.  I gave Warren a hard time for sticking with his coffee (I may or may not have called it his “morning poison”), and I regularly tooted my own horn about successfully …

This is the first in a new segment called “You want to know WHAT?!”  where we answer some of the questions we get from readers. Have a question? Email us!
Question:  Are you planning to bring makeup on your trip?
Answer: Warren’s answer to this question is “no.”
My answer is “probably, but not much.” Over the last couple of years I’ve stopped wearing makeup on a daily basis, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want …

I have a confession to make:  I have a love/hate relationship with resolutions and the new year.  Most people I know (including me) come up with the same resolutions every year – lose weight, save more money, exercise – but we fall off the wagon before turning the page on January.  Why does this happen?  I think it has to do with not having a plan.
This year Warren and I were inspired by Chris Guillebeau …

This is the first post in a new feature I’m calling “Of course you can do it!”  Each post will tell the story of someone who did something big and give few pearls of wisdom you can use to pursue your own goals.  We’ve got stories from people who have lost 50+ pounds, ridden bicycles on 100-mile races less than a year after taking up the sport, gone back to college, saved a lot of …

Happy New Year!  For us this is an especially important day because it begins our last 9 months before leaving on the Big Trip.  Last week my friend Karen pointed out the similarity to a pregnancy, which I’ve been thinking about ever since.  And in the immortal words of Prissy from Gone with the Wind: “I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ no babies!”
Fortunately for me, we are spending today away from phones, the Internet, and …

It was the approach of Y2K and people were getting a little crazy.  Remember that?  Planes were going to fall out of the sky, and the computers that manage our money, oil, food, and government were going to stop working at the stroke of midnight.
The sky was falling!
Some people were making shelters with razor-wire fences, stockpiling food, and buying guns and ammunition to fend off the desperate people who would try to steal from them …

Only a few more days left in 2009, and I’m excited to turn the page to a new decade.  But before we do that, let’s take a look back at 2009 and what was most popular on the blog.
I may be compiling this list, but YOU made them popular by clicking through, commenting, tweeting, and sharing with your friends.
So what’s popular? Saving money, getting rid of junk, and living a life true to yourself.  I’d …

Life seems to slow down these last 2 weeks of the year, which means most of us get to read more than our usual share of books.
Books can take you on travels without even leaving your home, and I love discovering (or even rediscovering) a city this way.  Don’t you?
This month I’ve read 3 that I really enjoy, and I’m going to share them with you below.
(I’m putting in Amazon affiliate links to all the …

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some good times.  And I don’t regret the time we’ve spent together.  But I’ve got to go my own way now.
Surely you’ve noticed my distance these last few years.  I haven’t really done a good job of hiding my feelings, and frankly, I’m a little surprised you haven’t called me on it before now.
The more I simplify my life, the less a season of excess appeals to me.  My …

Later this week two of our friends will be delivering a laptop courtesy of another friend to a student in Ecuador.  The friends don’t know each other, and we don’t know the boy in Ecuador – yet.  It all came about through a request from our friends Jim and Mimi, who own the house we will be staying in on our first stop in Ecuador.
Jim and Mimi have strong ties to the community there and …

Did you get a chance to hear Debb Whitlock interview me on the Femme Finance radio show on Friday?  She was generous enough to provide me with a copy of the interview, which I have edited down for you below.  (If you are reading this via email or feed reader, you may need to click over to the site to get the audio player.)

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Listen in to find out:

How we set up our lifestyle …

Do you know how long you have to work to pay for your stuff?  A picture is worth a thousand words (or, in this case, perhaps a thousand dollars).
Matt over at Steadfast Finances has made me see our possessions in a whole new light.  He has used a Google Calendar to show how many days of work it takes to pay a mortgage, car payment, utilities,  etc.  Click here to see the photo.
If you do …

Tripbase started a meme about the best-kept travel secrets and it finally made it’s way to our little old blog thanks to Audrey at Uncornered Market.  (Audrey and Daniel have been traveling continuously for 3 years already – my heroes! – check out their blog if you haven’t already.)
Tripbase plans to put all of these tips together in a huge list, from great places to go, what and how to pack, and the best ways …

Good news! This Friday I’ll be a guest on the Femme Finance radio show in Seattle.  The host, Debb Whitlock, is a financial advisor here in Seattle who specializes in working with women.  We’ll be talking about money, specifically the lifestyle and financial changes we had to make to get ready for this trip.
The nice spin on this interview is the fact that Debb and her husband Pat (“The Mayor”) were with us at dinner …

When it comes to downsizing, you can easily get bogged down in not only what to get rid of, but how to get rid of it.  You know that I’m a big fan of Craigslist, and we’ve made thousands of dollars by downsizing this way.
But what about the good stuff? You know, the things that are beautiful, distinctive, and loved but no longer serve a purpose in your life.
My birthday was this week and …

Or at least it should be on your birthday.  Today is mine, and I turn 39 years old.  What amazes me about this is that I don’t feel like I ever really age; I just have more experiences.  Maybe it is because I don’t have kids and move fairly frequently that there are no real mile markers of growing older.
Except the annual birthday.
Tonight I’ll host my own birthday party.  In addition to what you’d expect …

Groupon is such a good idea that I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it first.  Groupon features one deal per day with something fun to do, and if enough people sign up for the deal they can offer it at that price.  Emails go out in the early morning, and you’ll always know how many people have to sign up to get the deal.  By the time I log on the deals are usually …

Do you cringe every time you open your cable bill?  Yeah, we did, too.  And in an effort to save even more money for our trip and gain back a little bit of the time we were losing to television, we gave up our cable last summer.   We’ve now saved an additional $600 toward our trip, and we’ll keep saving at the rate of $100/month until we leave.
But that still leaves a hole in …

Are you ready to hit the open road, buy a house, take a big trip, go back to school, or just stop working so damn much?  Boy, have I got a deal for you.
We started saving for our round-the-world trip in 2008 and have currently saved over $80,000, which will keep us on the road for at least 2 years.  Since we aren’t leaving until October 1, we have plenty of time to save enough …

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 …

The project is simple:  If you have ever set a goal and achieved it, no matter how small or large, I want to hear from you. This 5-minute survey will ask you a few questions about the process, allow you to identify yourself if you want to, and give you some room to add your own comments.  The survey will only be open for 5 days, and at the end of that time I’ll start …

Whether you’ve ever had a one-night stand or not, you’re probably familiar with the phrase “walk of shame.”  That’s the next morning, when you are still dressed in your glittery clothes from the night before and have to make your way home amongst the regular people getting coffee and going to work.  Everyone can tell by looking at you that you went overboard the night before.  Chances are you probably have a hangover as well.
This …

Have your Facebook friends been updating with “thanks” messages this month?  I noticed the trend a few weeks ago, and about 20 of my friends were doing it.  They even encouraged the rest of us:
Let’s see how many people can do this. Every day this month until Thanksgiving, post one thing you are Thankful for. The longer you stick with it, the harder it gets! If you choose to accept this challenge, repost this message …

Do you like famous quotes? I do, and it seems like every couple of weeks I find a new favorite, which I scribble on a pink index card and keep on my desk until a new one comes along. It takes me that long to really think about it, appreciate, and apply it to my life (with varying degrees of success).
In honor of Thanksgiving in the US this week, I want to share …

You are not going to believe this, but I’m signed up to do a half-marathon next year.  (Did I mention that I haven’t run since grade school?)  You see, I’m getting fired up to do all kinds of things now that we are less than 1 year from our departure date.  I’m not sure why, but time seems more precious now and I want to make the most of it.
Check out the video I made …

We get some really cool questions, both in person and online.  And over the last 14 months we’ve answered many of them in blog posts.  But you guys know I tend to get wordy, so Warren came up with the brilliant idea of putting them together in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.
We received a few really great questions last week that haven’t made it into the FAQ yet, so I’ll answer them here now. …

This weekend I had a big revelation about my friendships:  People are going to miss me when I’m gone.  I know that sounds crazy – who wouldn’t realize that her best friends would miss her if she left the country? – but I really didn’t consider it before now.
On Friday night I was sitting in my bedroom with a friend going over some of the items I’m going to auction at my birthday party next …

I double-dog dare you to break a mirror, walk under a ladder, cross paths with a black cat, and step on the cracks in the sidewalk today.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Yeah, I’m not quite ready to do all that either.
Most of us laugh at superstitions, but they are so ingrained in our everyday lives that we subconsciously follow them.  In fact, you will have a hard time finding a building with a 13th floor since …

Have you ever been dying to know the answer to something but felt too embarrassed to ask?
We often do this in group learning environments because we don’t want to look dumb.  But when it comes to gossiping with our friends, there seems to be no limit to the questions that can be thrown on the table.
Now that we’ve all become such good friends, I’d like to gossip a little bit with you.  And I don’t …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
There, we’ve done it.  You now know exactly what we did to save half our income last year to take the trip …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
How would you like to see the world while you pay off your debt?  Living without cable or a car seems much more …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
You can really complicate your budget process by adding a bunch of tools, reading a ton of books, and listening to everyone’s advice. …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
One thing that can easily throw you off track with your budget is a birthday or holiday.  Guilt, habit, and social pressure make …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
As part of this series I want to show you other people who have reached a personal financial goal. …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
So you’ve made up your budget and you’re on the way to financing your big dream.  And then you look around your …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
Now that you’ve worked out how much your big dream will cost, where you are currently spending your money, decided which expenses are …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure.  And what’s right for me may not be right for you.  But I think we …

Today I’m coming to you from my office closet with a confession about a purchase that was unwise, inappropriate, and way too expensive.  You’ve probably done the same thing, too.
The point is to start thinking of those types of purchases, why you made them, and how you can exercise a little self-control in the future.  After all, what you are saving for is more important than any purchase you make now in a moment of …

This is part of a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
Back in my spending heyday, it was nothing for me to drop $300 on a pair of boots, plan a weekend trip …

How much are you spending?
Can you tell me how much per year you spend on groceries or cable TV? Or how much money you charge each year on your credit cards?
If you don’t know, you are not alone.
What’s important to many of us is what we can have right now, not what we can have later on.  So it makes sense that our spending habits function much the same way.  We worry if we have …

This is the first in a series called How We Saved Enough Money to Change Our Lives and How You Can, Too. Click here to get all the posts delivered directly to your email inbox or feed reader.  You’ll want the inside scoop on how we saved $75,000 for the adventure of a lifetime!
How much money do you think it takes for two people to travel around the world?  Actually, let’s take it a step …

This blog is all about living your best life and following your dreams.  In order to be able to do that, you have to allow other people the same opportunity to live their best lives and accomplish goals.  You can’t do that when they don’t have the same rights as you.
Referendum 71 was placed on the Washington ballot by a man who doesn’t even live in Washington State.  He became outraged when our legislature passed …

You’d think someone who is willing to get rid of all her worldly belongings to travel the world would not be so focused on safety nets, but I am.  Lately I’ve been thinking about the small ways the idea of  a “backup plan” keeps us from reaching farther toward our goals and actually reaching them.
In other words, the potential pain of not having a safety net (or having a very small one) could make us …

We’ve talked a lot about our lifestyle changes over the past year as we get ready for the Big Trip.
Now that we’ve hit our financial goal, however, it makes sense to tell you exactly what we did to save almost half of our income in a year (and the things we did leading up to this year) so you can do it, too.
Whether you are planning for a trip like ours or a completely different …

It has been over 3 months since we pulled the plug on cable.  How are we doing?
First, a Recap
You may recall my first post about television being a problem for us when we implemented TV-free Tuesdays at our house.   That worked well for a very short time, and then we began backtracking by switching the date around to coincide with nights we already had plans out of the house (how convenient!).  Then we just started …

How many times have you ever said that to yourself:  A) every day, B) on a good day, or C) never?
This week I discovered a great little exercise to help you appreciate your strengths and use them to accomplish more every single day.  Want to know what it is?
It is called the “I like who I am” game, and it was sent to me by Chris Haddad, a marketing and copywriting guru here in Seattle. …

Do you ever watch those “docu-dramas” on television about the incredibly obese, people with addictions, or terrible relationship issues? Sometimes seeing the extremes helps us feel better about our own issues (at least I’m not THAT bad!) and sometimes it spurs us to action (I don’t want to end up like THAT!).
If your issue is clutter, then you are probably aware of shows like Clean Sweep, Clean House, and Hoarders.
Today Oprah, the Queen of …

Most people don’t move as often as we do, so they don’t get the chance to become experts in the process.  After a couple of local moves (within 30 miles) and a few cross-country, we’ve developed a system that makes moving almost painless.
Today I shared these tips with Redbook magazine for an upcoming story about making your new community feel like home and wanted to share them with you.
7 Ways to Take the Stress out …

Do you look back on high school as the best time of your life?  Probably not, but for many people it was the easiest time in their lives to make friends.  Think about it: exposure to hundreds or thousands of students every day and organized social activities meant that it wasn’t hard to make friends if you put forth even the slightest bit of effort.
(I know, I know – not everyone was class president or …

So many blogs and news sources point out when things go wrong, and we’re always waiting for the next scandal, aren’t we?
One of my favorite newsletters is by Chris Brogan, and he has a regular column about Who’s Doing it Right.  This just seems like a small way to balance things out, so I’m going to follow suit and post regular updates on Who’s Doing it Right.

Josh Hanagarne is the World’s Strongest Librarian.  Josh is …

This is it!  We are now one year exactly from our departure date to Ecuador, the first stop on the big trip.  It is hard to believe that it is so close, and we still have so much to do.
At the end of each year I like to take an inventory of what has been accomplished and what I want more of in my life going forward.  Since we are now on a one-year countdown …

It is a bit ironic when you think about it, but most of us need help to live simply.  You’d think it would be easy, wouldn’t you?
For those of you who have struggled with this (and I count myself in that number), there is a now an easy resource to help you along your path.
The book is called The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life and it is written by Leo Babauta, the blogger behind …

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 …

It’s a provocative question, and one I’ve had directed at me for much of my adult life.  And you know what?  I’m not going to answer it for you today (mainly because the answer is both yes and no and because it doesn’t really matter).  What I am going to do is talk about the paths that we all choose to take and why it is so important to appreciate personal choice.
First, let me direct …

So, how are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? Yeah, me too.  They started going south when the weather was still cold, and here we are at the end of summer already.
Do we just cross them off the list and say we’ll do better next year?  Give up all together?
One thing I learned during the 3-day Novel Contest was that you can sustain even a very big effort if you put a boundary around …

Before you ask how you can get infected with the happiness bug, you should also know that unhappiness, obesity, and cigarette smoking are contagious as well.
In fact, it seems as if we never left high school.  Who you hang out with matters, and the lifestyle they live will greatly impact yours (and vice versa).  And it’s not only your close friends but the friends of those friends that matter.  Your entire social network impacts your …

If you like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley, you can’t miss Black Canyon National Park in Western Colorado.
Black Canyon is so deep that the Gunnison River loses more elevation in 48 miles than the Mississippi River does from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile, and up to 480 feet in one 2-mile stretch.  At the the highest elevation (Warner Point), the gorge is 2,772 …

Have you heard of No Impact Man (Colin Beavan)?  This is the guy who convinced his family to try living one year without making an negative environmental impact.  This meant no electricity, no television, no trash, and no motorized transportation (including elevators and escalators).  He wrote a blog and a book about the experience (subtitled “The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and …

Have you been to a national park lately?  Sometimes we overlook these vacation destinations as we head toward locations with better advertising budgets, like Las Vegas, the beach, or a cruise.
We’ve just spent a few days in Colorado and took some time to tour 2 different national parks (stay tuned for detailed posts with pictures).  Both were breathtaking in different ways, and we could enjoy them as either drives, hikes, or a combination of the …

I have wanted to write a novel since I was 8 years old.  Quick math tells me that was 30 years ago.  In the last 30 years, guess how many novels I have written?
If you guessed zero, you would be right.  If you guessed higher than that, I thank you for your optimism about my work ethic and hate to disappoint you.
Ever since we decided to redesign our lives and take this trip around the …

Do you reserve your explorations for the 1-2 weeks per year you actually leave town? Consider changing that mindset to regularly see new things in your own backyard.
No, I’m not talking about an I’m-broke-so-I-can’t-go-anywhere staycation. I’m talking about cultivating the curious attitude from your travels into your daily life.
People will travel halfway around the world to see a culture that is likely living in an area of their own city.
Have you been to your …

Today is the anniversary of the day we decided to take the trip.  Oh sure, it started out as a tipsy conversation after a long dinner and a few margaritas on a holiday weekend.  But the more we talked about it, the more we liked it.
Maybe we were loosened up because of the holiday and festive atmosphere.  Or maybe we were just ready to make a big move in our lives and needed a little …

Q: Where can you see whales, deer, farm animals, and a camel within minutes of each other?
A: San Juan Island, off the coast of Washington and just a stone’s throw from British Columbia
We spent 3 days in this isolated paradise and didn’t want to come back.  I can see why the owner of our cabin leaves out real estate guides for guests – you cannot visit without wanting to move here.
San Juan Island History
San Juan …

Do you start dreading going back to work the minute you leave on vacation?  Does the thought of all those emails and tasks piling up prevent you from enjoying your time off?
Most people do struggle with this, and many seek to resolve it by keeping up with email and work while on vacation.  Hey, whatever works for you (but it doesn’t sound like much of a vacation).
We just got back from 72 hours of disconnected …

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 …

Today marks 400 days until we leave on our trip around the world.  Yes, it sounds like a ridiculously long time away to be marking as a milestone, but I just love to count down to events.  Plus, when you consider I started the countdown when there were over 700 days to go you will realize I am a bit obsessed.
Counting down is how I have marked big occasions throughout my life.  It started when …

When we first decided to take this trip a year ago, we didn’t know anyone who had done it.  Oh sure, there were famous travelers like Tim Ferriss and Rolf Potts, but not anyone we actually knew or could relate to.
We started our blog partly because we couldn’t find the information we needed to plan such a big trip.  That statement seems really funny to me now because we have virtually and literally met dozens …

Making the decision to leave your job and career is daunting.  It requires you to face a some significant issues head on: money, pride, security, opinions of others, uncertainty, and fear.  I admit that making the decision to step off your career path and head in a new direction is not for everyone and certainly not to be taken lightly.  However, I hope my story helps give you pause to consider the possibility.
First, a …

Okay, I get the irony here. I’m posting a video about us *not* watching television.  But getting past that, you’ll see that we’ve made some good changes in the last 6 weeks:

Learning Spanish with lessons every night
More time to read
Increased exercise – mainly hiking and walking
More and better sleep at night
A busier social life

There are a few things we are worried about as we end summer and start moving into fall, which is the rainy …

Imagine there was a movie made about your life.  Not the life you already have, but the life you have just started.
Well guess what?  I just saw my movie!
Julie & Julia is the story of the blogger who spent a year cooking Julia Child’s recipes and writing about them in her blog.  Along the way, she grew as a person, deepened her relationships, and even gained more confidence in herself.  And she learned to cook!
Now, …

Have you ever thought of combining your favorite causes and your free time into one great vacation?
Last week at the Vacation Matters Summit in Seattle, Bonnie Michaels spoke about this method of vacationing and why she an her husband enjoy it so much.  Bonnie is a life coach based in Chicago and is a spokeswoman for the Take Back Your Time project.
Besides meeting people from all over the world who share your passions, you get …

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 …

Oh my gosh!  This is so unexpected…and I didn’t even write a speech!  First of all, I’d like to thank my mom…
Excuse me for a moment.  I was in Academy Award mode and picturing myself as I would look if I had a stylist.  The reason for my daydreaming?  I was just given the Superior Scribbler Award by one of my favorite bloggers, Angela Barton at My Year Without Spending.
The award was started by The …

Are you feeling a little fenced in lately?  Need to break free and establish a little more freedom to go after your big dreams (or even your small dreams, like a day without checking email)?  Read on for a  list of great articles and websites I’ve found recently on the subject of FREEDOM.

Leo at Zen Habits is ready to kill his email, and he shows you how to do it, too.  And believe me, you …

One of the first things you notice when traveling is that the food is different.  It doesn’t matter if you are overseas or just in another part of the States.  And when you love something, you can’t imagine why other people don’t love it, too.
People in Pennsylvania like a big breakfast with scrapple, and anyone not from that area would cringe if it was served to them.  Same goes for fluffernutters in Massachusetts, cheese curds …

This week I’ve been traveling in New Mexico visiting my family.  I grew up here, though I haven’t lived here for several years.  In the time that I’ve been gone, there has been an oil boom and bust (the main industry), the addition of a casino and a uranium enrichment plant, and more construction and beautification than this little town has seen in at least my lifetime.
You’d think I would fit right back in.  And …

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.

REI is a fun place to go shopping if your idea of a good time is anywhere outdoors.  We have the flagship REI store here in Seattle, so we recently took an afternoon trip to try on backpacks.  Because we had signed up for the REI newsletter, we also had a handy 15% off coupon if we found something we liked.
When you go to REI, you get a sales associate with some outdoor experience.  Our …

As a veteran traveler and someone about to get rid of everything to travel around the world, I’ve got some opinions about what is really necessary for a trip.
Most people don’t travel as light as I do, and that’s okay.  But there are a lot of people who travel with so much stuff that it actually gets in the way of them – and their traveling companions – having a good time.
Unless you have your …

Today’s video post is courtesy of my friend Leslie (and because my new Flip camera has not arrived yet). The thing I love about this video is that they broke all the “rules” about what a wedding should be and celebrated in a way that made sense to them and their loved ones.
Isn’t that what life is all about? Remember, the only rules you have in creating your life are the ones you …

I was listening to This American Life this week, and one story was about a man who acted out his dreams at night, to an often hilarious or scary result. His doctor told him he was missing a key chemical in his brain that signaled his body to stay sleeping while he was dreaming.
Think about that for a minute.
Our bodies produce a chemical that keeps us physically controlled while we dream. Sure it is for …

Making the decision to travel around the world was, for us, a wonderfully liberating experience.  Betsy has done a lot of wonderful writing on how we reached that moment and feelings since then.  For me, the morning after started with a litany of questions and mountains of research possibilities.
After taking a couple days just to explore all the possibilities, I set down to the task of identifying the big questions we would need to tackle. …

The more I think about our big trip, the more I worry about my physical shape. Not in the self-esteem-challenged, superficial way I have for the last 38 years, but in the sense that I won’t be able to do everything we want if I don’t get in better condition.
Just carrying a backpack as we transition from one place to the next will be a physical burden, not to mention plans like hiking up the …

I am a Planner and not just in the sense that I love to plan. In truth I honest to goodness (who talks this way?) have the title Product Planner for software company here in the Seattle area. They actually pay me for the opportunity to look 3-5 years out and determine what functionality and strategy we need in order to meet the market needs. For a person that loves to plan, this is a …

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 …

A few of you have emailed me about putting the decluttering advice from earlier this year into an ebook, and last week I finally got around to finishing it. (See how productive I can be without cable?)

Those of you who have known me for years know that decluttering is a new skill for me. As a matter of fact, I was packrat and “shopping for the fun of it” kind of person until 2006. So …

You may remember our TV-Free Tuesday post where we attempted to give it up one night per week to do more meaningful things, like learn Spanish and pursue hobbies.
Well, that didn’t work out so well. We began changing the dates of TV-free Tuesday to coincide with nights we already had plans out, so we weren’t really accomplishing anything. So we made the decision to go cold turkey (after the US Open, of course).
Since then I’ve …

Today is the Gay Pride parade and celebration in Seattle, and Mr. Betsy and I will be attending with some very good friends. I’m pretty sure my “opposite marriage” will remain secure as we celebrate life and love with good friends who currently don’t have the same rights as we do.  Not even the right to name a little ole blog “Married with Luggage.”
But this isn’t a political post (much).
This post is about all the …

Editor’s Note: This is part 6 in a 10-part series on Sex and Intimacy. Click here to read from the beginning.
Raise your hand if you like to do it with the lights on.
Yeah, me either.
Oh sure, I have and do, but it is not my preference.  You see, I suffer from a lack of physical self-confidence.  You can blame the media, gender stereotypes, or the extra pounds my 30s have brought me, but it doesn’t …

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 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, …

Do you feel a sense of dread when a friend or family member comes to visit?
Thoughts start racing through your head over where they will sleep, how you will get things organized in time, and hoping they will not judge you for being so cluttered.  If you are any kind of packrat, the guest bedroom is usually the first place you start storing things.
I used to be that way, too.
This weekend my nephew came to …