Carolyn and I have travelled quite a bit, but this year has been and will be, our biggest to date. The Road Ahead promises to be challenging, eventful and exciting. We have made significant changes to our lifestyle as we strive to become full time world travellers. Its been decades in the making. Fears, trepidation, negativity from ourselves, and others to taking that big step and finally saying “YES LETS DO IT!!!!!!!!!”

So, what did that “YES” physically mean to us?

The biggest and probably the most important was our finances “How were we going to pay for this”? “What steps did we have to take to see our ultimate dream come to life”?

Let me first clarify this by saying we did this for us. For better health and well being, and to be debt free. We realise this is not for everybody, this may or may not work for you. Hence this is our journey, our road ahead. Maybe you will want to try it too.

We have not done this on a whim it’s been with careful consideration and prayer. We believe we have made the right decision and that our God has everything in control.

To Sell or Not to Sell………

Our first and most important decision was could we afford to keep our unit? After going over the prospects of renting and with all the resources both financial and time needed we decided NO….. we couldn’t afford to keep it. Now this has been a monumental decision and Carolyn has had to change her mindset to this (if you knew my wife she is very security, planning and backup plan orientated) so this was by no means easy, it was very challenging to her. Me I was sorry to sell our unit, but I knew what adventures lied ahead for us. I am a bit less concerned of what will happen when or if we come back and settle down.

The Road Ahead Working It Out……….

Next major factor was our jobs what “would we do for money!!!”. We both believed we would have to resign from our jobs as we couldn’t continue doing them while overseas. I worked in IT fixing computers onsite while Carolyn worked in an accounting practice and had numerous roles to fill. There was no way I could continue in my job. To be honest I needed a break from computers, I was mentally and emotionally drained.

Carolyn was also drained emotionally and mentally and believed one day that she would have to resign. Luckily due to unforeseen circumstances, it didn’t quite come to that. Her amazing boss offered her a new arrangement that would allow her to do only part of what she used to do. Also, be able to do that work remotely from anywhere in the world. What a blessing!!! This meant money coming in and that we didn’t have to rely on getting other options working straight away. Allowing us time to get them right (I will expand on this in later posts).

To Store it or Sell it……….

Being married for over 30 years you tend to accumulate lots of stuff. Did we want to pay for storage or sell most of our possessions was the question. It once again came down to where we believed our money was best spent. A couple of thousand to keep our stuff in storage for a year was one way to go or to sell as much as we could and keep storage costs to a minimum or none. After much toing and froing, we decided to sell off as much as possible, keep the items that meant most to us. Pictures, letters, items of sentimental value and a few other items were kept. Items such as TV, lounges, beds, fridge, washing machine, dryer, cabinets, clothing, kitchen ware and anything else you can think of was sold or given away. SCARY STUFF….

We managed to get down to 11 small boxes and 1 big box and some of my photography items which I will use when we settle back in Australia. Our road ahead Is quite scary and liberating at the same time to see your life in boxes (PS. don’t tell Carolyn LOL).

The Road Ahead Where would we live …………

This was probably Carolyn’s number one question… “where would we sleep”? Here is where 3 years of looking into house sitting came into our plans. Eureka problem solved or was it!!!! The idea of looking after a stranger’s house and beloved pets is quite scary and intimating at first glance, this was true for myself and Carolyn. Could we do it, would people feel we could do it, was it for us. Negative thoughts reigned supreme.

Step back and let’s look at this positively and see if it really was for us. We both love animals yet due to unforeseen circumstances, we have been without pets for a number of years, we missed not having any furry creatures to cuddle and care for. This could be an itch that could be scratched. Would we be capable of looking after somebody’s house…… of course so (duh) we have done it all our married lives with our homes from the new to the renovators and the in between. Would we be able to find house sitting assignments….? THE ANSWER IS MOST DEFINITELY YES!!!!!!

What we Researched………….

From our research over the years we have found house sitting is very popular for both home owners and house sitters. We decided that we would jump in and sign up with Aussie House Sitters to start with and see if we would be able to acquire a house sitting assignment or if home owners would consider us, to look after their house and animals. Yes, was the answer to both questions, we will share our progress in upcoming posts.

Our last major consideration was our car would we need it, would we store it, would we trade it in or sell it. Once again after much deliberation and talking we decided that we would sell it and use the money to buy a van when we arrived back in Australia or if we go to New Zealand for an extended period of travel. We will leave that to the last minute as we need to use it for the time being.

Where are we in the process now………

As of 5^th of August 2018 we began our first house sit on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia for 5 days. We have just secured another sit in Northern NSW (Tweed shire), Australia for a week (YAY).

The road ahead starts with us heading to the United States where we have secured a house sit for 1 month in Loveland Colorado. We will travel within the States for just under 3 months and then head off to the UK and Europe for 5 months. Continually looking for house sitting assignments, visiting family and exploring the countries within. Then head to Thailand for 1 month to visit a good friend and explore the hidden gems of Thailand.

After those amazing countries we head home to Australia and will re-evaluate what we want to do. We will definitely be catching up with family and friends and then look at either continuing our house sitting journey around the world or travel within Australia. Our road ahead is now clear and within reach.

We would love for you to follow our exciting journey by joining our friends list here on our website and following us on our social media pages below.

If you have any comments or questions we would love you to leave them below or email us.

Take care

Andrew & Carolyn

Travel is Sweet (Dream It, Experience It, Treasure It)

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