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Published: November 17th 2008
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Bayon Temple
Bayon Temple, Angkor, Cambodia Sometimes I wish I were 18 again, looking to backpack across Europe after high school, or even 22, traveling after college. A lot more goes into a RTW trip when you are 33, married, and a professional. Gone are the days of asking if I can store my worldly possessions in someone’s closet. Instead, for those of you readers who ever consider doing this some day, and particularly for those who are more established (read: crazy for taking a year off) these are some of the considerations we have taken into account before doing this trip. The age comparison also comes into play when you consider that an 18 year old probably saves a few thousand dollars and heads on their way vowing to sleep in dorms or train stations, and eat beans from a can. After traveling for work, occasionally with upgrades, and generally staying at Ws, Westins, the Four Seasons, the Shangri La, etc., dorm rooms with strangers do not cut it for a couple who has been married for 7 years. And, the largest joy from travel for me is eating the local food - whether it be shopping for fresh fruit at the local market, enjoying an
Tobi cat
Our Tobi - Looking for a new home espresso at a local café, or dining out for dinner with the locals. As a result, the can of beans or spaghetti in the hostel kitchen does not work.
But, what needs to be handled at home?
• To start, what does one do with a 3 bed/3 bath duplex condo in Chicago in a depressed real estate market? You rent it out and hope the rent covers at least most of the mortgage and other expenses. Stress level soars when this is the largest expense that needs to be covered during the trip, but one of the last things on the list to be accomplished. To say it another way, if anyone out there is looking for a rental starting February 1 - please let me know.
• Also, when you are 18 you don’t usually think about arranging for life insurance, a will, a trust, a living will, etc. This is the downside to having assets, even if they are depreciating every day Bush continues in office.
• We are not selling all of our stuff like most younger travelers do. We are coming back to a condo that will need to be furnished, and I am
National Palace
The National Palace in Bangkok not buying all that stuff again. A large storage unit it is.
• We will be setting up a safe deposit box for important items.
• We will be setting up a PO Box for mail, which will need to be checked regularly, particularly leading up to tax time.
• Insurance - We will have emergency, evacuation style health insurance. We will be arranging renter’s insurance for our storage unit and condo owner’s insurance for our rental unit.
• We established a credit card and savings account with 0% foreign transaction fees (Capital One, by the way).
• We need to get new glasses and contacts, go to the dentist, see a travel doctor, etc. I have seen every doctor known to man it seems over the past year while I still have insurance.
• Communications and electronics - purchase a new, but cheap lap top, establish a skype account, load up the ipods, have the camera serviced.
• We are trying to decide whether to sell our car, which is almost paid off, or to service the debt while gone and trust our Mini to a dear friend.
• And, we have yet to find a home for our
Le Meccine
Aaahh, Tuscany purrfectly grey pretty kitty. Yes, I said purrfectly.
• And, none of these tasks involve researching anything for the actual trip itself. Like avoiding the South Pacific during the typhoon season, and not wishing to be in India in the middle of the summer. Or, what clothes to pack, bags to bring, shoes to wear, etc.
Maybe the stress level is increased because I am a plan-a-holic. A little OCD never hurt anyone, right? I am certainly not complaining in the least about the work that has gone into this trip. I recognize it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that we are lucky to be able to arrange our finances to permit the trip. But, this is not something to be entered into lightly by any means. For every item on the MP task list that is completed, another one is added to the list. I guess if it were easier, the world would be filled with extended travelers . . .
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