As some of you already know or suspected, we just can’t stay put, we can’t help ourselves, we have to go traveling again! I was hoping to get rid of the travel bug after our 2015 Journey but as it turns out that’s not how it works. If you travel once you need to travel again… and again… and so we are going on another adventure! Read on if you want to know where 🙂
Dreams come true! For real!
For those of you who haven’t followed the blog yet, here is a short recap. In March 2015 we – that is: me and my partner Jakub, we had decided to quit our jobs in London, and spent 6 months traveling around South East Asia. We have managed to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore but also Australia & Bali. We had our ups and downs but it was the best thing we have ever done!!! It was also so far; the furthest and the longest we have traveled for. It was stunning and unbelievable! It was 6 months of absolute freedom! We loved it!!!
But what happens afterwards? How can you possibly outdo that and how do you come back to the ‘normal’ life, to 9-6?
The bigger picture.
Well, the truth is you never fully come back. The trip changes you, it forever stays with you and gives you a completely new perspective. You kind of take a step back and see your life for what it is and for what it could be. You see people around the globe and realise we are all the same, we have similar dreams, hopes, problems. We are all together on this incredible journey on this fantastic planet! We all love and lose the loved ones, we all laugh and struggle, smile and cry. We are all part of the same planet that ‘floats’ in this specious, incomprehensible universe, we are all Earthlings 🙂
What is reality? It’s what you make of it!
How do you come back to ‘the reality’ after that? How the heck do you get back to your 9-6, Monday – Friday??? Well you don’t, you could but you don’t have to! However you have to be brave and prepare for difficult, you have to forget about stability, forget about safety. You have to be courageous and try to find new ways. We were lucky enough… well very lucky!!! We have both taken on various freelancing roles after we came back. I have started freelancing as a Digital Project Manager and after a few months landed a job that allowed me to work from home and gives me a lot of flexibility. I finally had enough time to take on new hobby and try e.g. painting, mosaic etc. Jakub had it a bit more difficult, he tried various gigs for a few months but landed an interesting role recently that might lead him to a career in facility management. He also persisted with trying on some new hobbies like carpentry or French and loved it. We have even managed to try life on aboard a narrowboat – something I always wanted to try! We still think about it as a potential solution for a long-term housing 🙂
It really hasn’t been easy and it was very stressful at times but we achieved more freedom, flexibility and we have more time for ourselves.
What happens after you make your dreams come true? You find a new dream!
We’ve been back for almost a year now. But once traveller, always a traveller. We had to start planning something new, a new adventure. We had a few options; we were considering going to Japan and back to Bali for a few months, or maybe to New Zealand and Bali 🙂 or maybe south America… or north America… and Bali?? What can I say we love Bali 🙂
After a lot of discussions we’ve agreed on doing a road trip around USA for a few months. At first we wanted to do the ultimate US road trip visiting all states but it would have been too costly and a bit longer then we were thinking about. In the end we decided to visit a few cities on the East Coast and do a road trip from LA; visiting Grand Canyon, Monument Valley etc and up West Coast to Seattle. Altogether we think it will take us about 2-3 months this time. Here is a bit more detailed plan of the 2016 Coast to Coast Road Trip 🙂
Oh, yes! There was one tinny problem: none of us had a driving licence 😀 Luckily Jakub passed his test in May so we are now set to go! We already have tickets to Boston for the 7th of September 😀 Can’t wait!!!
And you know what? We both have a chance to come back to our recent jobs after traveling! How lucky are we?!?! Or do we make our own luck? 🙂 I believe it’s both.