Our New Adventure

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Yesterday I promised to give my answers to the question: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”, so here it is:

Resign from our jobs
Move out of Chicago
Pack up and store all our belongings
Travel the world

WAIT…..that’s my reality!  After a lot of thought and consideration, Justin and I have decided to leave our jobs and Chicago for a once in a lifetime adventure beginning September 17th!  A three-month stay Down Under, volunteering in Thailand, celebrating the Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, and hiking to Everest Base Camp are just a few of the many adventures we currently have penciled in for the next eight months!  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid terrified of leaving a city we have grown to love, all our friends and family, our two cuddle bugs, my fulfilling job of taking care of the two most adorable, well-behaved children, and all the comforts of home, but as Christopher Columbus once said, “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore“.

With that said…I would love ANY and ALL recommendations you have for living accommodations, places to eat, must experience adventures, sights to see, markets to shop, etc for anywhere and everywhere!  Specifically these countries as of now, but we are completely open to changes in our schedule:  Australia, Thailand, China, Nepal, Turkey, Greece, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Europe in general.  Thanks in advance for all your advice!  Here are some images of the places we will get to see!  Let the packing and planning begin!

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

34 thoughts on “Our New Adventure”

  3. I will have a good think and probably come up with about a million and one things to do in Australia and Hong Kong! You are going to have such an amazing adventure. I do hope you will continue to blog so we can hear how you are going and where you are!
    Cheers and best wishes,
    Laura

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  5. Having recently gone through a similar life changing move in our lives the best advice I can give you is to plan thoroughly, make lists (and don’t lose lists!) and deadlines for the critical tasks on the lists, review these lists frequently with all parties involved to make sure they are getting done (allocation of tasks is good too but you need to review to make sure they are done or are getting done), take breaks and have fun doing things that aren’t so fun (take lots of pictures too), and most importantly make sure to have extra copies (hard copy) of friends, family, and emergency contact information-somewhere you won’t forget or you know where to get at it readily (this should include all financial, insurance, … info too). You guys have your work cut out for you with just a month to go. We had 6 weeks to plan our complete move with a week long house finding trip and a wedding in between too. Good Luck and Have a GREAT adventure.

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    • We took your advice and have successfully created a scary yet detailed comprehensive list (we had about 20 random ones going all over the house). It has definitely helped us be more productive! Thanks for the advice Doug! 🙂

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  11. Wow! I didn’t really take your question seriously but now I understand the meaning…..How exciting! Don’t be afraid! It’ll be amazing if you let it! I’m sure we are all curious how are you able to do all that and whether you plan to return to shy town after those months!

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  12. Wow, congrats guys! I love it!! Wishing you all the best and totally the right choice. You are following your heart and what could be better? Sounds like an AMAZING adventure ahead. My husband & I have both left our jobs to move to a new state, right by the beach as we fell in love with the place whilst on holiday. I’ve been here 2 weeks now in my new home in a new place, with a new job. It has been such a fun adventure & as scary as it was, it was totally worth it & so glad we followed our bliss! Change is good – only the brave do it by choice 🙂 You only live once – no regrets I say! I’ve got plenty of Aussie tips for you when you are ready, just holla! 1 month to go… that’s super exciting girl!

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  13. So envious! Traveling is a passion of mine, so I couldn’t be more thrilled for you guys! Any advice at all for France (lives there) or Italy (been twice, once for honeymoon), let me know. I can say that when you go to Greece, don’t stay in Athens more then 2 days…. It’s rough… Enjoy the islands and countryside of Greece. The cities are suffering from their economic issues.

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    • I would absolutely LOVE any and all advice you have for France and Greece!! Thanks so much! (thethreadaffect@gmail.com) Hope everything is going amazing with you!

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  14. What an amazing adventure! I hope you can periodically update your blog. It would be so interesting! On your list of countries, I have only been to Greece. It was my last college class. Epic. We got in just about everything in two weeks. My favorites were the Athens Museums and Acropolis. We ate dinner one night right under the Acropolis so when you looked up, you saw the Parthenon. 🙂 Be sure to eat a gyros. Simply delicious. They also make the best chocolate filled crossaunts. 🙂 I ate one at every meal! LOL. My absolute favorite destination was Delphi. The ruins are beautiful. You can walk right up to Apollo’s Temple. Best pictures! Plus it is neat to see where the oracles took place. You can see the cave. Another favorite was Phillipi. The rocks on the main road entrance are the originals. Slippery but a neat experience. They also had the ancient public restrooms down on the corner end of the ruins. A fun group picture and laughs for sure! There is so much–ah! King Phillip II’s Royal Tomb is also fascinating. And the Mycenean ruins. I am not sure where or for how long you are in Greece but it is well worth the effort to hit the islands. 🙂 Those are just a bit of my favorites. I hope you have a fun time getting this all figured out. It will be worth every minute!!

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    • THANK YOU so much for all the Greece advice! We have been extremely focused on the first four countries of our trip (Aussie, Thailand, China, Nepal) so this is so unbelievably helpful. I will definitely be periodically updating my blog as time permits! Thanks so much girl for taking the time to write your recommendations! Super appreciated!

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  18. I love reading about all the happenings and all the pictures you two have taken. I am truly envious of all you two have done. I am also proud of all the accomplishments you have both made. You are very strong and very smart. Stay strong and stay safe. Have fun. We love and miss you both!

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    • That means a lot to hear (read) that. We feel truly blessed to be able to travel and explore for these eight months with one another and the support of our friends and family makes us feel even more blessed. We absolutely love being able to share all our explorations with everyone! We miss and love you guys too! Looking forward to a family reunion July 4th weekend!

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