The Trip Planning Commences

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Since this is our first entry, I feel the need to give some background. As I’m sure many of my friends would agree, I am a little impatient at times so I may not cover everything in this first entry so, expect more entries to come. Also, I’m sure Kel will want to add her two cents in here as we progress. She is a MUCH better writer than I am…you’ll see.

Some background to start this whole adventure off:
Kel and I met in 2000 when we both started working at Capital One. While we worked in different departments, we started training together with a group of 22 other “college hires” who were slated to be Front Line Managers in call centers and other production areas. When we first met, neither of us were interested in the other due to many interactions that turned out later to be the jitters that one faces whenever they meet a whole group of new people. After 8 months of friendship Kel and I overcame our initial incorrect assessment of each other and I got up the nerve to ask her out on a date. Subsequently, a few month later we were engaged and then married on the 26th of August

Our wedding will tell you a little bit about us as a couple and give you some insight into why we are on the path we are one. After fighting through wedding planning for a few months, Kel and I through in the towel so to speak and decided to get married on the beach in Hawaii. We just went the two of us, got married, and spent 2 fabulous weeks on Maui enjoying the fabulous weather and generous hospitality of the Hawaiian people. We had been bitten by the travel bug at that point.

Since then we have taken trips to Europe, New York, South Carolina, Florida, and Vegas. But we still hadn’t been able to figure out what the next big trip should be. We spent time toying with many ideas from Moving to England with Capital One to staying put in Richmond and starting our own business. Finally in late 2005 Kel stumbled on the gap year idea and figured out that there is a whole industry that supports taking a year off and traveling. Thus our dream of travel became more of a reality.

So, where are we now, we have both let our bosses at Capital One know that we are leaving work on October 15th. This past weekend we bought one way tickets to Portugal, Lisbon to be exact. But the planning is far from done…

Planning to be accomplished:
What do we do with our house?
Do we rent it, sell it, have friends move in to take care of it? The plan changes everyday, but once we’ve explored all our options we will settle on something.
What do we do with Catfish, our dog?
This one was a little easier but still not easy on us. My parents have agreed to take the dog for the year we are away. We will miss him fiercely but at least we can know he’s being taken care of, maybe even spoiled.
Insurance?
Do we keep our work insurance and do travel insurance? Do we drop our work insurance and just rely on travel insurance?
Cars?
I think we have settled to sell the cars and buy new one’s when we return.


These are just a few questions that still remain unanswered. I’m sure there are others but we will see as we go.

So, first off, thanks for reading. We would love your advice and comments as we go. We may not always heed your warnings or advice but it will always be appreciated.

The next 18 months will be an adventure to remember!!

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Photos

Mike and Kel in Barcelona 2005
We took a two week trip of Europe in '05. This is us in the rain...

Catfish Closeup
In your face...

Kel in New York, Christmas '04
We love traveling and have done some of the major US sites

Catfish
Our Awesome Dog

Catfish and Mike havin' fun
We will miss him tons!!!