Category Archives: Preparing for the Journey

T Minus 5 Days Until Lift Off!

“Don’t be afraid of change. You may end up losing something good, but you will probably end up gaining something better

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We both prefer the Seahawks.

– Unknown

Well, I have been a vagabond for 2 months now,  4 days until my last day of work, and I leave in 5. I am a big ball of emotions. I am stressed, excited, and tired. In 5 days, I will have put the last of my belongings in storage, given my Idaho friends my last loves, and began my trek.  I have a pretty significant road trip to take my last fur baby to his temporary home and then from there… my first international stop will be the land of kangaroos, great white sharks, and camping, where Marlin finally found Nemo, the land down under… Australia. 🙂

Originally, I was going to talk about the stresses I have

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Awkward 4 year old faces

dealt with in the last two months, jumping from house to house, my entire life organized into two suitcases, a shower caddy, and one rather large makeup bag. But as I started putting it into words, I realized that every stressful situation also had a blessing counterpart. So instead of whining, I am going to tell you what has been great about my last two months.

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Clearly, no love here

It has been one long sleepover with friends. I have stayed at 3 different houses, each place the stay has been between 2 weeks and a month. These women have gone from coworkers and casual friends to deep rooted friendships. There have been talks until 4 AM, late night dinners, early morning coffees, some pretty serious Game of Thrones 20160715_163735theories, and of course Netflix marathons-you can’t truly know someone until 7 straight hours of Drop Dead Diva.  We have enjoyed happy fun conversations and some not so happy talks of how life may have not been so fair. These people have opened up their homes, but more importantly their lives and hearts. It has been sad when the stay comes to an end, but I am so appreciative of these memories and friendships I walk away with.

Boss and Rommy

Boss’ current best friend

My preparation time is drawing to a close. As I come to the end, it is a little convenient that I had to pack everything into storage early, now I have time to address the little details that will make this complete inversion of my life a little easier. People keep asking me if I am scared; yes, I am stressed about getting everything together, but not scared about going to a foreign country. That could definitely hit once I get on that plane, and all those previous issues have been handled, but as for now, I feel like a 6 year old child, waiting on Christmas, except I have chores I am required to complete in order to even participate… the responsibilities seem like they will never end and time, is just not moving. But again, the positive counterpart is: while doing these ‘chores’ I have more coffee dates, Netflix marathons, and late night puppy snuggles to cancel out the long work days and my suitcase ‘dresser.’ They are all good problems to have when you consider what I am getting in return! 🙂 Australia, I hope you are ready!

Phase 1: Complete

“He who is outside his door already has the hardest part of his journey behind him.”            -Dutch Proverb

I am not exactly outside “the door,” but I am outside MY door, the moving process is finally completed. I have officially fit my entire life into a 5×10 storage unit-with some pretty strategic stacking- and am sitting here in my new bedroom, my window open, listening to a thunder storm have it’s way on the outside world.  It was surreal, walking out, locking that door one last time, and driving away. Call me crazy, but I have grown attached to my home of the last two years, so much has happened while living there, walking away one last time, kind of felt like leaving a part of my life. Bittersweet emotions surfaced as I closed this door, to walk through another.

My next stop things became more bitter than sweet; I delivered Delfina, my fur baby of eight years, to her home for the next few months. Of course I will be visiting her regularly until I leave, unfortunately she will no longer be snuggled up with me while I sleep, yowling at me because her food bowl has been empty for an excruciating thirty seconds, or battling with Boss for my complete attention. All pet owners know the bond you establish with your animal family and well, I am missing her.

On a much happier note, Boss has landed himself into puppy paradise. He has a new doggy roommate and the human roommates aren’t too shabby either. Between the three of us he is getting more attention than he ever dreamed possible. The last two days he has walked around with a big puppy smile, tongue hanging out, and tail wagging. Did I mention that every time I turn around he is getting a treat-apparently feeding a dog twizzlers has a similar effect to peanut butter. All I can say is … SPOILED.

So for now, life slows down. I will be focusing on the details of August. Work and plan, these are the words of the season. I do have a little request from you. I have been researching for a couple months now, but I would love other perspectives. I need suggestions, places to go, things to do, if you went to Asia/Australia (yes, this has been added to the docket, we will cover that soon) where would you go? What food would you have to try. Would you be going to temples, lounging on the beach, or fill up your time learning yoga. I would love if you would weigh in, this is my trip, but the whole point of doing this is because I want to make you as much apart of it as possible. Give me some suggestions people! 🙂

 

The start of a new journey

“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.”

-Anna Quindlan

In the last 72 hours I have made a decision. This choice, I am confident, will change my life as I know it. Frankly, I have never been more excited or terrified about what lies ahead. What is this choice? Before I get into that, let’s take a step back and allow me to tell you a little bit about myself.
My name is Lori, the youngest of seven children, and raised on a little farm near a small town in northern Idaho. Growing up, the outdoors was my playground, the animals were my playmates, and my imagination would run wild creating whatever reality I chose. I would spend hours outside in the woods, convinced I was in the jungle and my dog was a vicious tiger, or hiking a hill, this time taking on the roll of Heidi, climbing the Alps to grandpa’s house. It was a simple life, but in the eyes of that little girl, it was perfect.
Unfortunately, as I have grown older, that imagination has been quieted by generic, everyday living. I have become accustomed to the cookie cutter lifestyle of the 9 to 5 job. Working to live and living to work. Am I unhappy? I don’t think so. Could it be better? Absolutely! Until now, I have been too comfortable, or maybe too scared, to seek out better.
Last summer I received the opportunity to spend ten days in Thailand. I was shocked at how much I fell in love with everything about that country. The food was amazing, the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, and the people, the happiness and kindness of the Thai was something I never expected. The vacation truly flew by faster than I could’ve imagined, and soon enough, I was boarding that dreaded plane to return home. My time in Thailand had ended, but the spark in that little Sandpoint, Idaho girl had been reignited. As I watched Bangkok fade into the distance, I promised myself I would be back.
Which brings me back to this “big decision.” The whole reason I am sitting at this computer, telling you about my childhood. I have decided to take the jump, uproot the comfortable, and throw my life into an exciting whirlwind of unknowns. In 4 months, I will have quit my job, put everything I own in storage, and jumped on a plane with a one way ticket, destined for Asia. I will start in Bangkok, the city that stole my heart, and the rest of the specifics, well I have four months to figure those out.
While the real excitement doesn’t start until then, the story begins now, with the preparation. First order of business: tell my parents. Wish me luck.