Can you recall an experience that, perhaps inconsequential at the time,
with hindsight clearly led you to your current path? For me it was
family cross country camping trips as a little brat. These trips opened
my eyes to all the new things outside of my neighborhood and town. My
crush on traveling grew as I got older and I started focusing on new
destinations. My jaunts became more frequent, further away and for ever
longer periods of time. By the time I met Lianne, my fixation was
firmly entrenched and I had to make sure she was on board with it. Two
years ago we had the opportunity to take 3 month leaves from our
respective jobs. I wanted to test Nug out on a longer term trip and see
if she had what it takes. I feel that you can find out the most about
who someone really is when you are traveling with them. We backpacked
through Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Her biggest test came in
Lombak. We had a $3 night room (pancake breakfast and coffee included!)
which consisted of candles for light, no electricity, a yoga mat as a
bed on a cement/dirt floor, a hole in the ground to deposit your
“processed food”, and a bucket shower. We stayed in this resort for a
week and I even left her alone a few of the days to surf. She was a
an absolute champ and still had a great time. One day as she was
washing our laundry in a bucket in our bathroom a 6 inch scorpion
started trying to box with her. She was a picture of serenity as I
karate kicked the arachnid into eternal rest. As we left the island
(which is absolutely amazing) to go back to Bali, I knew she was “The
One”. Fast forward 2 years and a few more quick trip strikes and we
started to get the itch for a longer trip. I have thrown around the
idea of an Australia work visa for years and finally got Nug on board,
but “only if we visit Greece and Italy on the way home.” We were
married October 1 and are booked to leave for our expedition on November
13. As of now we will be in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga) for a week,
New Zealand for 2 weeks, and Australia for an undetermined amount of
time. We have booked a
place in Rarotonga
as that will be our honeymoon, but everything else is up in the air.
To quote Lao Tzu, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent
on arriving.
