21 countries, eleven months

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How did I get in to this?



In 40 days, my wife, Susan and I will leave for an entire year of travel. We’ve always done some amount through all the years of working, raising kids, paying bills, coaching sports and trying to find a few extra dollars to spend on a get-away. None were very long, what with the demands of work. Now that we are retired, we’ve taken progressively longer trips. Our last, to Croatia and Italy, lasted six weeks. Towards the end Susan asked me, “Are you ready to come home?” “Yeah,” I said. “Not me,” was her response. She delighted in the sights, food, people and blessed relief from our country’s internal turmoil.



After our return, Susan was on the phone with our daughter, Erin. She was facing the coming year without her oldest and only daughter, Ashton, who was due to leave for college; leaving mom with her two boys and husband. She talked about her large house, its inland heat, her hopes to return to the coast – in Southern California – and to have a more relaxed vibe to life. Susan had an idea.



“Why not live in our house for a year?” “You can spend the time finding a place closer to the beach and we can know the house will be well tended.” It took a little time to hatch the plan with all the details, but soon Susan put the proposal to me. “You want to travel for a year?” Well, neither of us was getting any younger (my 70^this around the corner), we had the house covered and we are both committed to “living the dash”. The dash is that mark on your tombstone that splits your birth year and year of passing. We’ve been advised that it is best to really live that dash. It’s all gone in the blink of an eye.

So I said “of course.”



What has followed has been both energizing, enjoyable and sometimes, terrifying. What do you have to deal with? Visa restrictions, lodging, transportation, clothes, gear -I’m an avid photographer – time zones, currencies, reservations, banking, mail delivery, our cars, storage, itinerary, weather, communication, computers, phones, converters, grooming, contacts, medical concerns, medications, Oh my!



Susan has bitten off the biggest chunk of the planning. We’ve decided she plans, I execute. She will tell me where we need to be, and I will, hopefully, get us there. We will share our experiences and mistakes in the coming posts along with photos of all that there is to see out there in a world full of possibilities and beauty.



Samuel Clemens is reported to have written, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely in these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” We agree. We will post, discuss our mistakes and triumphs, and generally enjoy the dash.

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