First Post

I’ve kept a number of diaries/journals since I was young, and it’s interesting to read about the many things I’ve long since forgotten that were important to me 10 or 15 years ago.  Though it’s somewhat scary to realise just how much I forget!

This year I turned 30.  I’ve done a lot of things in the last 30 years, but there are also a lot of things I haven’t tried.  One of those things is the typical ’round the world’ trip that many of my friends took a year or so off to do.  I’ve been to quite a few places on holidays, but I haven’t experienced as much as I would like.  To start addressing that, myself and my boyfriend decided at the start of the year that it was time to take a trip.

This is a year where worldwide, the economy isn’t doing so good.  Most jobs are no longer even relatively secure, and many have deteriorated as companies try to cut costs and employees find that their options for changing to a better job are severely limited, or maybe even non-existent.  On the one hand, this probably isn’t exactly the best time to be taking off on an expensive journey to see new lands… yet it’s also particularly appealing to escape some of the doom and gloom for a while and see what else is out there.

We decided to set aside 3 months at the end of the year for our ‘trip of a lifetime’.  This amounts to something like your typical year-long round the world trip condensed into 3 months.  So we can’t do everything we’d like to, or choose the cheapest options.  But we have a hefty mortgage to pay, and little interest in depleting our savings as much as a year out would do.  This trip is just the start of making bigger lifestyle changes instead of getting too stuck in the rut of the rat race.  And after 10 years of hard work we’re definitely due a little time off to enjoy ourselves.

So instead of keeping a journal to cover the trip and beyond, I’m taking it online where friends and family can keep track of where we are and what we’re doing.