We are a fairly normal couple in our early forties. We have been together since 1987, and both had steady and fairly well paid jobs, Nic in commununications regulation and Tabitha in HR. We had a good two bedrooom flat in central London, a mortgage to match, and spent the rest of our money on going out and buying nice things.
Our focus was, like most people, to keep earning, take regular holidays, maybe move to somewhere bigger and better, and try to retire as early as possible. In theory, we had the leave allowance and money to take good holidays, but in practise we always found it difficult to coordinate time off, and when we did, we normally stuck to a week or so in some big city, mostly just relaxing and trying to forget about work!
Our focus was, like most people, to keep earning, take regular holidays, maybe move to somewhere bigger and better, and try to retire as early as possible. In theory, we had the leave allowance and money to take good holidays, but in practise we always found it difficult to coordinate time off, and when we did, we normally stuck to a week or so in some big city, mostly just relaxing and trying to forget about work!
We had often talked about our notion that one day we might be able to do some serious travelling. On leaving school, we spent a month interrailing around Western Europe and never forgot how much we enjoyed it. In 2002, we did it again, this time around much of Eastern Europe, and while it was inevitably more challenging, as we had got used to holidays in hotel rooms with proper beds and ensuite bathrooms, we enjoyed it just as much. We loved the chance to take a long break, but didn't think it would be possible to do it again for ages.
More recently, we both started to feel that there should be more to life than working just to have 'more', and our desire to travel rekindled. It wasn't that our jobs were bad, but they could be stressful and we spent too much of our time and energy on them. However lots of people dream that they might give up work to travel and never do it, and we were no different - it is after all a major step to give up good jobs and a comfortable lifestyle for an uncertain future. So we carried on as normal.
More recently, we both started to feel that there should be more to life than working just to have 'more', and our desire to travel rekindled. It wasn't that our jobs were bad, but they could be stressful and we spent too much of our time and energy on them. However lots of people dream that they might give up work to travel and never do it, and we were no different - it is after all a major step to give up good jobs and a comfortable lifestyle for an uncertain future. So we carried on as normal.
But at the start of 2011, we both had the opportunity of taking redundancy from our jobs, and we decided that this was our chance to do something while still relatively young. We had been to an adventure travel show the previous year which had helped open our eyes to the options for long term travel, with companies like Intrepid and Dragoman, as well as a huge range of volunteer projects. Having done some serious sums, we decided that with renting out our flat, using our savings, and picking up bits and pieces of work as we travel, we could make the dream a reality.
So we did it. We knew it would be a shock to have much less money and often very few of the comforts that we had got used to, but we decided it would be worth it. After all, even on the worst days, we just have to remember that we could be sat in the office instead!
