the big fat world

So, you put a stick in the sand and tell yourself and the world…I am leaving June 1, 2010, no wait March 1, 2010, well more like December 23, 2009. What to do when you have the rapidly slipping departure date?

Patience has never been a virtue of mine and when deciding on a RTW travel in April 2009, 13 months of preparation seemed ideal. But as the weight of the trip sinks in, the thoughts of packing it all in and leaving immediately come to haunt my day dreams. So, hence the reasoning for my receding departure date.

I thought the hardest part was making all the life changing decisions before I left, selling the house, the car, quitting the 6-figure job, saving the cash in order to go, but in fact the hardest part is the waiting. The simple waiting to leave is killing me. I want to go yesterday! But I am proud that I have given myself enough time to go through the mental and physical struggles of a trip of this magnitude.

I am lucky that I have the luxury to push up my date (thanks to a certain friend for having a house in an exotic country that I can live in for a few months), but for the others of you out there that are itching to leave. think long and hard about shortening that 12 month preparation time. What are you giving up by leaving earlier?

• would 2 more months working at home give you 3-4 months of travel dough?
• have you completely downsized your life and relationships that you won’t feel guilty or pressured if you leave sooner?
• did you give up valuable research time that would pay off financially somewhere down the road?

In my case, I am probably sacrificing some LT benefits for my short-term thinking, but thinking more about it, you never can research enough, or prepare the family and friends enough, or ever save enough…so, just do it, if you can, just do it!