Sneak Peek: 2013 Travel Plans

One thing is for certain: that whole blog post I wrote a month or so ago about going to Japan for 5 days? Totally out the window, and you'll understand why.

A few weeks ago, Matt and I shook on a trip plan. Why did we shake hands on it? Because ever since we set foot in this country we have both been guilty as charged of spending countless hours conjuring up travel plans only to scratch them the following day/week/month. We were getting sick and tired of always changing our minds. Of course this decision, especially on where to go when we're done, shouldn't be taken lightly. When we are finished in Korea, our things will be sent home on the slow boat from China (almost literally), and truthfully, we both know that it will be our last chance to travel for a while. Once we touch down in Maine it will be also systems go towards solid jobs and a down payment on a house. After that, it's kids. Now, this all sounds so typical, right? The adventurous couple gets it "out of their system" young and then comes home to dig in to "real life".We don't like to think in those terms. We are very committed to staying adventurous in the future, but we are both realistic about these goals. In the next 5-10 years we want to focus on jobs, children and, if all goes to plan, starting a small farm. Whether or not this farm becomes anything more than just a backyard, sustainable project we're not sure. Regardless, we won't be able to take a lot of time or use a lot of money to travel internationally. Because it is important to us to farm and concentrate on family, we are perfectly okay with this.

So, when deciding on where to go, we had to come up with a set amount of time to do it. We knew we didn't want to be away for too long, but we also wanted to take advantage of the time given to us, and our proximity to other places. We finally agreed that 4 months of travel will be the perfect amount. We finish our contracts the last week of February, 2013. Our goal is to be home by the 4th of July. One reason for coming home in July is that it will coincide with openings for teaching jobs. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would most likely be twiddling my thumbs until the end of June anyways, since most teaching positions for the following year aren't posted until then. For Matt it doesn't matter when we come home. He can apply for business jobs any time.

So, where to go for 4 months? What did we decide on? Because this is only a sneak peek post, I'm not going to reveal our actual plans. All I will say is that our theme for the trip is "the long way home". Maybe that will give you some idea as to how to plan on traveling. You never know! Our final choices for destinations are varied and AWESOME. We are so excited to make it all work!

When we realized that the cost of 5 days in Japan is equal to 2 months of our big trip, we quickly diminished thoughts of making it there before we leave! We can't believe how expensive it is!

More to come at a future time. For now, it's back to wedding planning and finishing the save-the-dates!! We are psyched with how they are turning out, and only have a few more to put together before we can mail them home! Pictures of the process will be posted within the next week or two :)