Around the World Travel. Part 1 (Deciding)

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Ok, the hard part is behind you, you decided for a ‘anywhere but here’ attitude. Now comes the planning. First on that mental checklist is in fact a checklist. This is your security blanket as you prepare to justify to yourself and everyone else, that you are indeed not a mental patient, but a sane member of society that chooses to go down a different path. Some questions I asked myself that you may too.

1. How long do you go for? 12 months at least- with long stops in countries to study the language
2. Sell the house? Rent out the house? Neither? What if you rent and the tenants leave half way through your trip? Too much stress for me, I am selling
   
3. Keep the car? ditch the car? Do you really want car/insurance payments while you are gone, I don’t, so it’s gone.
   
4. Who watches the dog(s)? Thanks Mom!
   
5. How do you tell the friends and family (w/o being considered a nut ball)? I broke it slowly over a few months in parts and pieces but in the end this is your life and no one should tell you how to live it. STOP APOLOGIZING!
6. How much do you need for an adventure like this? 12k, 15k 20k? My goal is to save $15k
7. Where do you go?  My itinerary includes: SE Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa- the cheaper countries
8. Can I make money while I am gone? Blogs? Travel writing? Teaching English? I will try all of the above and aim to make a coupe hundred a month, but this is easier said than done.
   
9. What do I do when I get back? Plan to have a small nest egg just in case it takes you a few months to get grounded.
   
10. How do I keep track of it all? I am keeping an excel spreadsheet of all plans/budgets/ideas
11. I am afraid to quit my job, what do I do? My company has a Leave of Absence (LOA) policy , does yours? Or you may just have to bite the bullet.

I like the Go Backpacking site, it is a great reference for physical preparedness.