WHY?

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By Greg

To be or not to be, this is the question; without question the most asked question (I wanted to see how many times I could use the word ‘question’ in the first sentence) is, “WHY do you want to travel for so long?”  There is a long complex thought out answer however sometimes short and sweet is better. Before I get to the details the answer is why not. As Mark Twain once wrote, “you will be more disappointed about the things you didn’t do not than the things you did do.” Now more about our decision, at the deepest levels it has to do with the purpose of life, yes we have spent some time thinking about this and how travel fits into the purpose of live. Many experts on this subject believe as humans we have a shared purpose to make the world a good place to live, as individuals our purpose is to be happy. We haven’t totally figured out the global perspective but we do have strong thoughts on our own purpose in life. Yes to be happy is numero uno in our book! Then comes helping others in need. If you achieve these two purposes than we believe you will live a fulfilled life.

We began the discussion by creating a sort of mission statement or vision (we haven’t lost all of the corporate thought process yet, just give it a little more time) we broke it down into three major components or categories: 1)experience new cultures 2) Give back 3)have fun. So lets use the famous David Letterman’s top 10 format to better describe why we have decided travel and what we are most looking forward to experiencing.

10-finding the free spirit in us and letting go of “things” that make life safe.
9-Strip away the materialism so you will know what really makes you happy
8-Be spontaneous, much of the time is unplanned
7-Greater tolerance for differences
6-Give back
5-Challenge ourselves, get out of the comfort zone
4-Seek adventure and explore
3-Gain better perspective of why things are done certain ways outside of America.
2-Become more cultured, or some would say less ignorant
1- to experience the world for ourselves, not on TV or read in a book. Good old fashion living it

We also recognize based on many conversations that this is not for everyone, long-term travel is a lifestyle change not just a long vacation. We have chosen to change our life style, at least for the next year. We have agreed not to make any decisions about whats next in life until we return, because after all once we “live it” I am sure we will come back different people.