What am I getting myself into?
As of now, the plan is to hide from the recession and travel abroad for a year. Yep. I logged on to my myspace to see what some friends were up to, and saw that my "status" (which I had set something like 6 months+ ago) said "Eva wishes she could quit work and go to beautiful places." Seems like I should check the status on some other wishes, because it appears that wishes are in season.
This will be no easy feat considering we'd like to leave by Apr. 1st at the latest. We have health coverage until the end of January. We'll need vaccinations, visas, travel insurance, etc. etc. etc.
We looked at backpacks over the weekend, which was part funny, part scary. Remember that I've never even been camping and now I'm going to spend a year with my home, life and vehicle (approx. weight= 50lbs.) on my back. RTW (round-the-world) airfare is suprisingly varied, but a few alliances offer good flexibility, and that will likely be the way to go. The major concern is turning out to be Six, our kitty. My folks aren't keen on taking her, J's family is allergic, and she doesn't really love other cats. Lots to think about. But she's our baby, and there's no way in hell I'd give her up.
Making lists and watching my head spin with new things to add every minute. We need a lot of things, but at the same time we need to travel with as little as possible.
I'm also making a LA "bucket list" because we likely won't be returning here. So far we have visiting the Griffith Observatory (I went before the renovations, so I'd like to see the results), the new Chinese Gardens at the Huntington (ditto), a bike ride to Santa Barbara the backroad way (we checked that off the list this weekend), Off-roading in Big Bear (got to get some more out of that lift kit before we sell the Jeep), and taking some pictures of our place before we sell off stuff and move out.
I'd like to put together a blog/site for our trip too. I need to get on that ASAP. I hope that maybe I can get some sponsorship or some free stuff to offset our expenses. Can I write AT&T and ask them to "sponsor" us with a year of free wireless internet? Ha! It would be fun to do something with photography on this trip too. I wonder if I could get some sort of deal worked out.
Anyway, tips and comments appreciated.
This will be no easy feat considering we'd like to leave by Apr. 1st at the latest. We have health coverage until the end of January. We'll need vaccinations, visas, travel insurance, etc. etc. etc.
We looked at backpacks over the weekend, which was part funny, part scary. Remember that I've never even been camping and now I'm going to spend a year with my home, life and vehicle (approx. weight= 50lbs.) on my back. RTW (round-the-world) airfare is suprisingly varied, but a few alliances offer good flexibility, and that will likely be the way to go. The major concern is turning out to be Six, our kitty. My folks aren't keen on taking her, J's family is allergic, and she doesn't really love other cats. Lots to think about. But she's our baby, and there's no way in hell I'd give her up.
Making lists and watching my head spin with new things to add every minute. We need a lot of things, but at the same time we need to travel with as little as possible.
I'm also making a LA "bucket list" because we likely won't be returning here. So far we have visiting the Griffith Observatory (I went before the renovations, so I'd like to see the results), the new Chinese Gardens at the Huntington (ditto), a bike ride to Santa Barbara the backroad way (we checked that off the list this weekend), Off-roading in Big Bear (got to get some more out of that lift kit before we sell the Jeep), and taking some pictures of our place before we sell off stuff and move out.
I'd like to put together a blog/site for our trip too. I need to get on that ASAP. I hope that maybe I can get some sponsorship or some free stuff to offset our expenses. Can I write AT&T and ask them to "sponsor" us with a year of free wireless internet? Ha! It would be fun to do something with photography on this trip too. I wonder if I could get some sort of deal worked out.
Anyway, tips and comments appreciated.