You may be wondering how you go about enacting such a hair-brained scheme as travelling overseas for 12 months. Well it’s rather simple you must be a) mad and b) have a remarkable capacity for planning, detail and c) find someone who satisfies both criteria and hope they don’t mind you tagging along.
Along with this, what we soon discovered as we began…was that we had (like most people) a lot of this pesky residue around our house..we came to call “stuff”.
Selling our stuff
In preparation for our trip we sold virtually all our belonging. Furniture? Gone. Kitchenware? Gone. Playstation? …… admittedly, that one stayed. Nonetheless, we have ejected the many items that once complimented our life and defined our home. Sarah did the brunt of the work by bravely facing Facebook Marketplace, and swears she will need a full year of thearapy in 2025 to recover from the experience. Tosh played the role of ‘support animal’ during this trying time, and was an absolute champ in patiently listening to Sarah’s various rants about how difficult people are, and talking her down from imaginative, murderous plots. Apparently, putting the suburb clearly in the description will not deter stupid questions such as where are you located? and what suburb are you in?
Storing the rest
The remaining items that we simply couldn’t part with, mostly books ( looking at you, Tosh), have been ferreted away to family and friends for safe keeping. Even with our cut-throat attitude to getting rid of our posessions, we still ended up with many, many boxes. Clearly, we significantly underestimated the quantity of things and stuff we had accumulated over the past 10 years. Think about all the posessions you own. Now, multiply that by about 5, and that’s closer to the actual amount you own.
Gear, Documents & Vaccinations
Unfortunately, the movies lie. You can’t just throw clothes and a toothbrush into a backpack in 15 minutes and flitter out the door. We didn’t even own backpacks, so that was never going to work for us. We both detest shopping. It’s really not our thing. Granted, shopping for backpacks was a highlight.
Despite our reservations, we donned our ‘big boy’ and ‘big girl’ pants and ventured out into various shopping centres to ensure we were adequately prepared for our adventure. If you are curious about the items we bought for the trip and their costs, you can read about it here.
Tosh was very brave when rolling his sleeve for vaccinations. He didn’t get a lollypop though, and we both feel this was a significant oversight.
Travel documents such as vaccination certifications, visas, photos for visas, and international driver’s licenses have been gathered over the past weeks and months all in preparation for our adventure. Neither of us were quite aware just how much work was involved in such as task, but we are glad we took on the challenge and are here with just days until take-off! Has it hit us yet? Absolutely not. And I don’t think it will until we are staring at the departure gate.
Wish us luck!
Sarah & Tosh x
19 Responses
Omg you guys!!! This is hilariously accurate and I love it ❤️ Jem and I both chuckled throughout this post. Can’t wait to read the updates as they happen! Xx
Brilliant beginning. I can see that this is going to be a blast. This blog is a brilliant idea.
So much verve!! Va va Voom! Hilarious! I am so excited to trek a few paragraphs behind you as you take great strides into the wonderful world, undeterred and exhilarating determined to have a bloody good time.
Can’t wait to read about and view images of all your amazing adventures!!
And tricenarian is so much sexier than thirtysomething!!
Selamat jalan!
Looking forward to travelling vicariously with you both. Have a wonderful, wonderful time.
Be safe, make happy memories. Look after each other. Blessings.
Wow, enjoy. Looking forward to your next blog
Wishing you both the best of luck and looking forward to reading more of your adventure
This makes such interesting reading and it’s only just the beginning of your great arventures. Looks like you could be onto publishing a best seller. Good luck guys!
Auntie Jennie
Loving this already. Can’t wait to read more and share your adventure. Have fun
Love reading of the journey so far and you’ve hooked me in with the first chapter. Looking forward to reading about how the adventure unfolds. Love you both.
Best of luck to both of you + I look forward to reading your next blog + following your journey Be safe
What a great thing to do. I look forward to following you round the world, seeing all the amazing pictures and hearing all about the many different people, places and cultures you encounter.
Safe travels. All the best✈️❤️
Best of luck.
Can’t wait to read your blog and experience your travels through your eyes. Enjoy.
Trondheim, Norway you have a place… if you hit this end
Looking forward to travelling vicariously with you both. Have a wonderful, wonderful time.
Be safe, make happy memories. Look after each other. Blessings.
All the very best, looking forward to your travels.
Well done in making the dream a reality. You may develop an endless thirst to make this the first long trip of many in your life.
Incredible! This post reminds me exactly of the family newsletter your dad put together every Christmas, an absolute highlight of the year in our household. Have the best trip and can’t wait to follow along on your adventure (and quite frankly live vicariously through these blog posts). A full slideshow presentation will be expected upon your return, so take plenty of photos and live in the moment. Enjoy!! x