Just 7 more weeks, (or 49 days, or 1,176 hours) to go.......how do you measure a career? How do you just walk out of the office that for 22 years as been your home, your life, your stress, your hard work and not to forget your dreams... on that last day? Easily, when the next chapter offers adventure, cultural experiences, a foodie overload, and sights you just can't even imagine! My emotions are a roller coaster ride...selling the home you raised a family and memories in; decisions on what to keep, what to trash, what to sell, and what to give away; the fear in not having a home when the overseas adventure ends; will we get through the trip with our health intact; will the kids be o.k. while we are away (no, we are not leaving little ones behind. The "baby" is 25!). It has always been a dream of mine to do this for many, many years now and convinced my Husband, Nathan, that this should be his dream too. Thank goodness he loves to travel and it didn't really take much convincing....except for not having a home to return to part.....that he wasn't so sure about. Not having a home and all the expenses that come with home ownership would basically be paying for the trip. Did you ever stop and think how much you spend in a year? Mortgage (well, we already paid that off so can't really count that now...), insurance, cars, more insurance, gas, repairs, utilities, home maintenance, food, taxes (we're from New Jersey - the land of high taxes!), cable, Internet, etc. If all we have is the rent on the self-storage unit (that will store our scaled-down belongings), our cell phones, a travel insurance policy, food and lodging (in SE Asia that should be relatively cheap), and some transportation expenses (initial flight to New Zealand paid for with frequent-flier miles, and remainder fairly cheap due to the presence of so many low cost air carriers there), tours, and a few souvenirs (o.k. - maybe more than a few.....shopping is my sport of choice!), we should be able to spend much less than our current day-to-day expenses. So................ Here's to a lot of trip research, a very flexible and loose trip itinerary, new backpacks, sneakers, sandals, and a yearning to see the world. Let's do this!!!! Oh, forgot, we still need to sell the house.....and then there are those 7 weeks, 49 days, 1,176 hours till my career comes to an end. Stand-by mode!