The plan (.. and Ed's idealistic rantings!)

OK, we've been planning this for about a year - it is about time I start documenting it:

We are in the process of getting rid of the house, cars, and superfluous belongings in order to start a 4 (or 5) year circumnavigation. That's the plan - beautifully simplistic, ironically difficult.

I think it all started with the quickly rising fuel prices (utility prices, grocery prices, service prices, taxes, etc, etc) of 2006-7. Our budget, however poorly constructed it may have been, was starting to crumble because of our failure to consider these creeping costs; we found that we were making the choice we promised each other we wouldn't make: we were cancelling vacation plans in favor or more 'sensible' expenses.

OK, you say - that makes sense. Who wouldn't do that?! We wouldn't...

Life experience is what we were (and are) about. We've worked to purchase a house, some property, and a couple of vehicles - but we don't feel the need to go further. We have all the 'stuff ' that we could want. Whatever little extra money we might acquire now, we invest right back into vacations, museums, parks, experiences, recreation. We savor the easy and difficult moments together while basking in the glow of our excited children, still able to look back with appreciation to times that they weren't too excited. Experience - that is what life means to us. To hell with the new car, or the 'comfortable' career that will secure us for tomorrow - if Misty and I have learned anything in our adult lives, it is that tomorrow may never come! Many times we regret ed spending our money on a big screen t.v. or that much needed appliance - but we don't have a single regret for spending it on a vacation (despite the fact that we have had our share of 'bad' vacation experiences)!

...anyway....

We had to cancel our vacation, and apparently that got us both thinking. Driving to the bookstore one evening, Misty turned to me and asked: 'Do you think we could travel on a sailboat?'

'We could... but I really don't think you'd want to do that." This had been my dream (unmentioned for the last 8 years), not hers.

'No, I think I would. I want to show the girls the world while we still can - with the way the economy is going, that is only going to get more difficult.'

'Yeah, but it still won't be easy...' I spent the rest of the weekend providing very compelling arguments AGAINST my dream, somewhat irritated that she would tease me like that. After a couple of weeks, I realized that my dream was now our dream ... apparantly it was contagious!