It’s now or never

After I told some family and friends about my plan to take a career break and travel for a while, I got amusing responses followed by questions thrown at me La Tomatina style.

Here are a few that caught me off guard:

• No you cannot quit your job, you won’t find another one this secure and offers these great benefits. I forbid you!
• What? You’re going to do what? (with increasing volume and pitch)
• Go! Go now, I wish I had!

Here are some of the bigger questions answered:

How are you going to afford this?

I saved up some money with the intention of buying a place. Guess where the downpayment’s going instead? And luckily, through my mom’s work at United Airline, I’ll get some good deals on airfare. Who knows how long the airline will include family members in their benefits? Another reason why it’s now or never. I’m actually saving money by traveling now. This isn’t going to be a vacation style travel either, most of the time I won’t be staying in nice hotels and eat at fancy restaurants. I will submerse into the local lifestyle by staying at B&Bs, hostels etc. Very iffy about the concept of couch surfing but I won’t take that off the table just yet.

What about health insurance?

With lots of time and research spent on forums and blogs, all arrows point to World Nomad as the most preferred travel insurance agency. Though it doesn’t cover preexisting conditions, on their plan with higher coverage, $380 for six months is cheaper than what I pay now through work.

What are you going to do with your stuff? Your car?

Going to get rid of as much stuff as possible and split the rest amongst the boyfriend and family for temporary storage. As with the car, Geico said they can adjust and prorate my current insurance plan when I jet out.

What about your boyfriend?

He has been super supportive and he likes to travel too. We plan on meeting up somewhere in Argentina and/or Asia down the road. Thanks to the internet we can keep in touch frequently. Figuratively speaking of course, unless I get him one of these?

What about you job?

My current job cannot allow me to take a sabbatical longer than two months, therefore I had to resign. Hopefully the position will still be open when I return but I will certainly need to be prepared for other scenarios.

Why are you doing this?

It’s always been a dream of mine to travel the world and explore as many different cultures as possible. Short term travels are great too but long term will allow the chance to experience not just the sceneries but also the lifestyle. Plus most countries in South America are changing so rapidly, I want to visit before they start building chain stores like Starbucks or Walmarts in every city.

What now?

The last couple of weeks prior to departure has been a blur of moving, wrapping things up, making sure I pack all necessities, moving, spending time with family, more moving. It was nuts. Would have been even more nuts if it wasn’t for the bf and my family’s help. I’m now ready for the road and to embrace whatever it is South America will throw my way. Nervous? Hells yea. Also a bit (okay a lot) sad that I won’t see the bf for a while. SKYPE ME people!!! The name is “ifoundyu”