More Than Two Weeks: Why We are Taking This Trip

It was a few years ago that we really started to consider the possibility of taking an extended trip. We were in the middle our 12-day vacation to Hawaii in 2013, having an incredible time relaxing, exploring, and eating our way across multiple islands when the conversation came up – Where should we head next? It’s not that we were bored in any way, but we were enjoying ourselves so much that we were excited to think about the next time we would get to travel somewhere new together.

Horseback riding in Kauai

“I’ve always wanted to go to India.”
“What about Greece?”
“My buddy just got back from Brazil and said we have to go there.”
“I really want to go back to France.”

Within five minutes, we had named off about 30 possible destinations for our next trip. How could we choose the next place? Like most Americans, we have 3 weeks of paid vacation each year. After taking one day off here and another day there throughout the year, we were typically left with only about two weeks to go travel. Many of the destinations we were considering would take at least a day to actually get there, so it wouldn’t make sense to only go for 3 or 4 days. Throw in the possibility of travel delays, dealing with jet lag, and you’re left with about 10 days to spend exploring a new destination every year. At that rate, it would take 20+ years before we began to even make a dent in the list of all of the places we wanted to go.

On top of that, it was becoming increasingly difficult with our jobs to truly get away on our trips. Yes, we were on “vacation,” but that didn’t stop the work emails from constantly setting off our phones. The trips were relaxing up to a point, but it was only a matter of time before the fear of returning to the office would begin to creep into our heads. Waiting for us back in the office was a pile of work that would take days or weeks of long days in order to get caught up. It became clear to us that we wanted something a little different.

So… why are we going to travel now?

Because we want to.

Traveling is something about which both of us are passionate. It’s something that we enjoy and that truly makes us happy. From the planning process, to the anticipation that builds in the weeks and days leading up to trips, to the actual trip experiences themselves, we love everything that comes along with traveling. It’s something that we talk about and, admittedly, that we daydream about almost every day. For whatever reason, we both have the travel bug and have this deep-rooted desire to do more of it. Taking this trip will allow us to spend time together doing what we love every day. Maybe it’s just a temporary feeling and we will feel satisfied at the end of our trip. Maybe we’ll want to do even more traveling. The only way we will know is to go.

Because we are able to.

There will never be a perfect time to travel around the world for months or years at a time. Whether it’s a wedding, a birthday, a graduation, or something work-related, there will always be plenty of reasons NOT to go. It can be easier to defer your dreams rather than go after them. We struggled with and debated for a while if this was the right time to take the trip. In the end, what it came down to was that we are fortunate enough to be in a position now that we are able to take this trip. There is no guarantee that we will have this opportunity again at any point in the future so we want to seize the moment.

Really, we think it’s a great time for us to go now. We are healthy enough to enjoy activities like hiking up mountains or biking around a city. We are still willing to stay in hostels or put up with long train and bus rides that will save us a few bucks. We do not own a house or have children which makes it easier to pick up and go (although there are plenty of families who do travel all over the world).

Because we’d like to take a step back.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life. We all have routines that can be incredibly difficult and uncomfortable to break. It seems like sometimes we are set on autopilot, cruising through life – and there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re happy. However, we both have felt this desire for a while to break away from our routines, take a big step back, and assess ourselves and our situation. Are we doing the things every day that we should be doing? What are our priorities in life? Are we heading down a path that we are excited about, both personally and professionally?

We both want to make sure that we are using our time here on Earth wisely and living the lives that we want to be living. This trip will provide us with that opportunity to break away from our routines, block out the noise and distractions of everyday life, and hopefully make sure that we are on the right path to living lives that are fulfilling. We are looking forward to getting outside of our comfort zones and allowing ourselves to grow as the result of our experiences.

Because we want to travel on our own terms.

No longer will we be constrained by the number of vacation days we have left or by what is happening at work. Taking this trip will provide us with a level of freedom we’ve never really had before and will allow us to travel the way that we want. In addition to seeing the tourist attractions, we want to be able to spend more time in certain places in order to really experience the culture. We want to eat like locals, practice our language skills, and get a sense for how other people live around the globe.

Instead of putting off our dream of traveling the world until we retire in 30+ years, we are choosing to go now because we can. We feel that our time away will expand our minds, teach us new things, force us to grow and ultimately make us better prepared for the rest of our lives. We are looking forward to the good, the bad, and everything else that comes along with this trip!

-The Morts