Questions Become Answered

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So, its been a few months since our last entry. In that time we have gotten answers to some of our questiosn and done some initial planning. As our plane leaves on the 7th of November, time appears to be disappearing quickly so the sense of urgency to get things planned, or at least partially planned, increases.

Questions and Answers

What to do with our house
Thanks to much cajoling my co-worker and friend Jeffrey has decided to rent our house fully furnished for the next year. It took a little convincing that moving further from work.city was a good idea but I think the fact that he wasn't going to pay more than he does now for his apartment was what really made it all possible. This allows us to keep all our stuff there at home and not have to worry about moving out or getting storage. It also means that if we have to return home for some unexpected reason Jeffrey and Sara (his girlfriend) could find an apartment in a reasonable span of time and we could move back in to our old digs.

This issue in particular was the one issue that was causing us the most stress. Since its been resolved it has taken a huge load off my mind!

Catish...our dog
While it pains us to leave him home, my parents will definitely take care of him. If anything he may not want to come back to us because my Dad will spend tons of time with him and probably spoil him rotten. We may come home to a 65 pound dog instead of a 50 pound dog...but man will be be happy!!

Insurance
My parents have talked us into keeping our insurance with Cobra when we leave Capital One, as well as getting travel insurance. The act of keeping the insurance will make our trip considerably more expensive, but if either of us got seriously ill it would be really worth it. Insurance is nothing but gambling on your health. Since we are taking a huge risk leaving home, and our jobs...we might as well be conservative with our health.

Cars
We are definitely selling the cars. After getting our tax and insurance bill this past week we realized that we could have traveled for at least a few weeks on the amount of money we spent on just having cars. Selling cars sucks, but it has to be done. It will make it a little wierd when we return knowing we have no way of getting around. Mass Transit here is nearly non-existant, so cars are a necessity.

Trip Planning

Some of you hard core backpackers might disagree with our methodologies but we are not the hardcore types. Taking a year to travel is hardcore enough...
For our main resources I have been reading every book that Rick Steves has written. I find his books to be easy reading, informative and in some cases pretty funny. I have finished reading his books on Portugal and Spain and have started reading about Germany. The plan as it stands now (take it for what its worth, it will change...I promise you):

• Lisbon, Portugal
  
• Algarve, Portugal
  
• Sevilla, Spain
  
• Granada, Spain
  
• Some place on the beach in Spain...haven't decided yet
  
• Cordoba, Spain
  
• Toledo, Spain
  
• Madrid, Spain
  
• Barcelona, Spain
  
• Germany...possibly Nurnberg for Christmas
  
• Italy
  

That's about it for now. I will continue to work on these details, as Kel is in school and working harder than I. She and I talk about the plans frequently and continue to make changes on the fly. I'd like to have a good idea of the whole path before we leave. This will at least make it easier to decide where to go when we get there even if we don't stick to the plan.

Much love, hope all is well,

Mike and Kel

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