My Journey Journal

Welcome to my first-ever online travel blog!  Thanks for joining me virtually on my three month jaunt across New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia.  This will be my biggest trip to date, sure to be an adventure of a lifetime! 

I leave in just under one week....once I get through few more days of work and my last giant to-do list, I'm free!

How it All Started.....

Earlier this year, my nomadic friend Allie talked me into joining her on part of the round-the-world trip she's taking in for her 30th birthday.  Ever since she mentioned the trip, I had a feeling I'd be joining her at some point. Throughout the months we'd spend talking over possible itineraries and whether I'd really go for it, I always knew that NOT doing it would be a decision I'd always regret.

Clicking the button to buy that plane ticket was the easy part - the hard part was telling my boss I was leaving, convincing my parents I'm not totally irresponsible, and assuring myself that I could make it through three months away from my boyfriend and my puppy.

The boss conversation was a good start - expecting to have to quit my job entirely, i walked out of her office knowing not only could I come back after the trip, but with reassurance that this experience will in fact make me better at my job.  Of course it doesn't hurt that I work for Hostelling International doing travel education programs, but what I learned here is that it's worth finding out how much time you can really take off without losing your job. 

In case you're wondering, World Nomads (the host of this blog) is the company where I bought my travel insurance (yes Mom, I have travel insurance!).  For anyone whose brain hurts at the thought of reading through an insurance policy, I highly recommend them - they lay it all out in an easily digestible way, and they're affordable too.  Though hopefully I won't be using them for anything else, and I just paid $200 to create a blog.  

As the trip gets closer, people often ask me how the planning is going.  I've got my gear, my vaccinations, and most of the basics figured out, but I've noticed that the more I travel, the less I plan.  So aside from catching a flight every three weeks or so, the next three months are wide open......and that's a wonderful feeling!