Of course, the actual experience is going to be completely different then the dream. I am aware of this even though we have not yet boarded the plane for Thailand.

The execution of our departure was different then what I expected too. It’s been over a month now since my last day at work. Many things are exactly as I expected them to be; no real schedule, getting as much rest as needed (instead of running on no sleep all the time), bumming around in my house cloths, and hardly ever blow drying my hair. Each one of these things adding up to no longer being employed and a free bird.

On the other hand, I also dreamed about getting up at 6am and going to the beach to watch the sun rise, riding my bike everyday, meditating with my husband, and both of us becoming very zen in our overall existence.

I quickly learned that all of the stress which I had so eagerly cast off had been transferred to Michel. Every task required to prepare the house for our new tenants and get us started on our trip was being meticulously planned and planned again. Sleepless nights and concern about meeting deadlines were now all part of his day to day. Meditation and harmony must be postponed for now.

It is one day before my Dad and I leave on our cross country trip. Michel will join us in Washington State in a few weeks. Most of the tasks that were required to get ready for our trip are complete.

I’ve provided a list of some of the tasks below. It is not complete but gives a high level idea of tasks required before leaving it all behind.

Rent a storage – ours was 10X10X10

Figure out what to keep and what to get rid of.

Have a garage sale and sell all of your junk (we made $600 dollars – unbelievable)

Move what is left to your storage and figure out how to make it fit in the space (Michel was the miracle worker here).

Turn off all of the monthly bills. No surprise, Comcast and the utilities companies are no help at all.

Unlock your phones so you can use them with a simcard in Thailand: always an adventure to deal with the telecommunication companies.

Learn how to turn my Ipad into THE computer (thanks HR)

Buy backpacks and downsize until you fit everything into them. We bought Osprey packs. Mine is a Ariel 65 and so far I love it. We don’t really plan to do much mountain hiking but rolling bags will not work in some of the places we plan to go.

Review immigration requirements for Visas. The majority of the countries we will visit provide Visa on arrival.

Review immunization requirements. Michel and I do not usually get shots when we travel to other countries. However, as our stay will be long and hopefully off the tourist path, we plan to. We decided to get our shots in Thailand when we arrive.

Categories: US Travel