Did I mention I wrote the book on confidence? Increase yours now. ~ Betsy

video post: the adventure begins

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.” ~ GK Chesterton This is it! The day we have planned for over 2 years has arrived. How are we feeling? Any last-minute problems? Tune in to find out about our last 6 weeks in Seattle, the going away party last night, and of course the attempted coup [...]

The backpack dilemma (or, how I tried to pack for every possible scenario in the world)

Man with too many suitcases

What exactly do you take with you on a trip around the world? If you’re me, everything but the kitchen sink (and that’s only because I don’t have a kitchen sink anymore). We had a little wakeup call on Saturday morning, 6 days from departure, when we packed up our things to move in with [...]

Letting the Balls Go

Warren's first sky dive - 18

“What will you do when you get back?”  This is one of the first questions people ask when they find we have sold everything we own and are preparing to go on the road for a few years.  Instead of embracing the break, people tend to fast forward 3 years to determine what we might [...]

feels like Friday night

Photo of a "way out" sign by Redvers via Flickr

Friday night has always been my favorite time of the week. The work has been done and I can feel good about that, and the possibilities for the weekend are wide open: Should I go out or stay in to snuggle up with a good book or movie? Will I sleep in on Saturday or [...]

two years after deciding to travel the world: what have we learned?

Margarita

Happy Anniversary! Today marks 2 years since we drunkenly agreed to travel around the world. (Tomorrow marks the day that we woke up and said “holy shit!”) We could have never imagined the changes we would go through in order to make this round-the-world trip a reality, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, each [...]

How to learn a new language for free with Mango Languages

Cappuccino in Japan

You know, hosting Meet, Plan, Go! in Seattle has been a great learning experience for us, and the biggest bonus is meeting great people and learning about new companies that support long-term travel. One of my favorites has been Mango Languages, not only because my contact Beverly Cornell is so fun and engaging, but because [...]

So, what do you do with your house while you travel the world?

2959833537_af77ed5003

One of the main questions we get asked about our trip is what we did with our home. Even before we sold, we had a lot of debate amongst ourselves and with friends and family over the best plan. Selling meant possibly losing money and not having an automatic place to return to after the [...]

What am I scared of?

Today marks 50 days until we leave. I find that the closer we get to taking off the more my mind seems to focus on the life we have ahead of us. However, in addition to the excitement comes a healthy dose of fear. Instead of trying to articulate my trepidation and concerns with text, [...]

What do you want your future self to learn about what you are doing right now?

Letter to myself

Have you heard that I recently ran a half-marathon? I can’t imagine how you could have missed it. I won’t rehash all of it (unless you give me the slightest indication you are interested, of course), but I do want to follow up on a post from a few months ago about motivating your future [...]

The naked truth about being comfortable in your own skin

SolsticeParade20108.jpg

There is something about covering your body in paint and biking through a crowd of 40,000 people that requires a bit of conviction.  Or lunacy. Saturday was the annual Fremont Solstice parade celebrating the beginning of Summer. The parade always kicks off with a couple hundred cyclists donning artistic statements and nothing else, and the [...]