From time to time, life presents us with opportunities that seem unbelievable or crazy to most people. But, to some, they blossom deep within their being. For me, that rang true four years ago. Thanks to an inauspicious IT job in Northern NSW, that would change my life and eventually, Carolyn’s, forever. How could we sell everything we had worked our entire lives for, on a notion of travelling the world. Especially, having been conditioned by society that the ultimate goal was the “Aussie Dream” of owning your own home. As Aussies, we were brought up to believe that a steady, secure job, that you worked for years in, to pay a mortgage off, was the sensible road to take. Hopefully, someday you will pay that mortgage off. Thus, securing your future with a place to grow old and live happily ever after.

I would say that most of you are nodding in agreement with me now. Important to realise, that was us not so long ago. Ultimately, achieving our goal of a unit by the beach. However, in debt and chained to jobs that were inevitably breaking us. Not blaming the actual jobs we were in but the culture we had as Aussies, built our way of life around. Yes, I understand that we could have taken different roads which may have brought about a different outcome. But, that didn’t negate the fact of where we were or how we felt. As the great writer Mark Twain said “Twenty years from now will you be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did”. Ultimately only you can decide if that is the case in your life, but for us, we believe that would be true.

Life with No Regrets!!!

The rest of Mark Twain’s quote is “So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Interestingly, I had heard the first part of the quote several times. But, never the second until we left the shores of Australia. Surprisingly, as I look back now to when I created our website and tag line, how it corresponds closely to what Mark Twain was expressing. “Travel is Sweet. Dream It. Experience It, Treasure It”. Words that we now are experiencing every day of our lives. Importantly, we realise how thoroughly blessed we are and we thank God every day for his guidance in our lives. Now, we have sailed away to catch the trade winds, we begin to fathom the depths of disappointment we would have had twenty years from now, had we not left our safe harbour.

However, leaving our safe harbour has not been without its challenges. Being away from our family, friends, church and Australia are things we definitely miss. Although, with today’s technology that has helped lessen those challenges. Having the ability to jump online and video chat with people halfway around the world is amazing. Missing foods we love such as a meat pie and sauce, fish and chips for our local shop, twisties, cheezels, chicken parmy and Tim Tams just to name a few. Albeit, we will be only gone for nine months this instalment. Our planning has already begun for our next adventure hopefully early 2020. In the meantime, we look forward to our time in Scotland, Spain and Thailand before heading home.

What will you regret?

Eight months ago we took a big step into the unknown, to follow what we believe was right for us. It has only been achieved by taking that first step. Looking back we realize that it wasn’t that big, we just had to be willing to take it. So I put to you this question. What step do you need to take to leave your safe harbour? Whether it be a new career path, to get out of bad situation, to house sit internationally or to accept Gods grace of salvation to name a few. All things that require you to take that first step. We know all too well that the first step is the hardest, but wow what exciting things do those following steps hold for you. We would love to hear from you if you take that first step.

I will leave you with this last quote from John A. Shedd “A ship in harbour is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.”

Join Us

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)

Find Your Flights

Skyscanner is a great tool for searching websites and airlines around the world to make sure you get the best available price possible.

Book Your Accommodation

Booking.com is our go to tool for booking hotels. It always gives us a large variety of hotels at great rates. We also use Airbnb as a wonderful alternative for those places you may want to go and live with the locals.

Always Get Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is a must and this is speaking from experience. Comprehensive protection will protect you against illness, injury, theft, accidents and cancellations. Just in case something goes wrong, heaven forbid. We never travel without it, having used it several times over the years. World Nomads have years of experience and knowledge to look after all your travel needs.