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You are here: Home / Archives for leaving

Things I Won’t Travel Without

October 20, 2011 By Jillian

Recently another traveler told me that getting rid of everything to travel was liberating.  Unencumbered by possessions he was free to live his life and go, do, be wherever he pleased.

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The idea of liberating our possessions is by some completely terrifying to some and exhilarating and exciting to others.  I admit to regularly flip flopping on this issue, some items I’m terrified to leave behind and others I’m excited to purge.  I traveled around the world with a small carry-on sized backpack.  As time went on I got rid of more and more until I felt as though I had truly reached my minimalist breaking point.  That’s when I joined the terrified to get rid of things camp.

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We’ve written extensively about what we traveled with, the gear, the miscellanea, the clothes, what we kept in boxes for two years, and what made it around the world with us.   We’ve also blogged about our fear of losing those last few possessions and the emotional attachment we came to feel to objects.   We’ve written a lot about stuff– what is our obsession?

As we pack for another travel adventure, I’m smile to myself as I see the first few items go into the bag.  Here they are:

  1. Steri Pen, Water Purifier.  My adoration for this product can simply not be described.  It is without a doubt the #1 object I’d recommend to any traveler going anywhere for any amount of time.  As my grandma says, without health you have nothing!
  2. Sarong.  Versatile, from a sheet to a skirt to a towel, this rectangular piece of cloth is a must.
  3. Med Kit.  We did leave this behind once and lived to pay the price.  It’s like an American Express card, never leave home without it!
  4. Ex-Officio undies.  Our little secret at first, but these are the most comfortable for travel – even if it’s 10 hours in an airport.
  5. A Hat.   If you’ve ever squinted in bright sunlight to read a sign you know what I mean.

Is that all I really need?  Maybe I’ve crossed to another level of minimalist travel. What are the first few items in your bag?

Filed Under: Headline, Journey, Travel & Planning Tagged With: gear, leaving, packing

Let’s get this show on the road

March 13, 2009 By Jillian

Departure day has come.  Along the way we’ve said goodbye to our apartment, our car (how we miss you shakira), good friends, and family.   Our last days in Florida were met with frantic last minute phone calls, errands, selling our car, becoming Florida residents (discount at disney world!) and saying good bye to Danny’s side of the family and his Florida friends.  Although Danny denies ever having enough cuban food, his parents had a big family dinner party for us (black beans and rice included!) where we gave last minute hugs and got final words of advice.  We said goodbye to Danny’s Florida friends at a bbq and extracted some promises to run the big 5 marathon in south africa.   It was a fun, but exhausting last stop on the family tour.  Wednesday we flew to California to spend a day with some of my good friends from high school.

We’ve been to Philly, Chicago, Arkansas, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, Huntington Beach and today we finally head to Mexico.   It feels like its been ages in coming, but as I sit here and type I can hardly believe the actual official departure date is here. Part of me wants to stay here in California another day, another week, but I know I can’t put this day off any longer.

To those astute readers out there, yes we were supposed to be in Mexico yesterday.  However, the rush of the last few weeks, coupled with the limited time we were going to spend with our good friends out in Orange County, and the complete screw up of Schwab Credit Card lead to one last wonderful day in the U.S.

Yesterday was a blur of packing, repacking, packing again and oh yea putting EVERYthing into small ziploc bags. Today we take the plunge and start our travel journey.  Yes, we are still going to Mexico.  Yes, we know about the travel warnings and no, we are not crazy (ok so the verdict is not out yet on that last point, but still you catch my drift).  I’m feeling anxious tonight, not because of the current situation in Mexico, but because I’m not sure exactly where I’m going to sleep tomorrow night.  Because I’m not exactly sure what is going to happen to me today or the next day or even next week.  Because today I become a world traveler.  Today is a launching off day to the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my entire life, I am anxious, excited, happy and truly looking forward to wandering the world with my husband.

Today officially begins our journey.  Today, we log off and live.  Today we get this show on the road!

Filed Under: USA Tagged With: departure, leaving

Farewell D.C.

February 28, 2009 By Jillian

I know we were supposed to give you Part 2 about how we made this trip a reality, but somewhere between our last day of work, packing up and moving, and saying good bye, Part 2 got pushed back a few days.  We promise, part 2 is on its way.

We’re finally off!  Last night was our official going away party in DC.  I’m not really sure how to describe how it felt to have so many people help send us off.  It was incredible to have everyone (ok our DC people) there and I will admit their enthusiasm was contageous.   As the night grew on, the feeling, at least for me, became more somber as one friend after another said good bye.  Over the next few months and potentially years, we are going to miss celebrating weddings, engagements, new jobs, new homes, new babies, not to mention birthdays and holidays. Some of the people that came to say good bye are new friends, some very old friends, but for both groups saying good bye was just as hard.  I’m not much of a crier, but if someone else gets going I can’t stop.   At least we did it all at once!

As if a big party wasn’t enough to get us excited and admittedly a little anxious about becoming unemployed and homeless (my favorite phrase from last night’s party!) , we packed up our final belongings today and hit the road.   Well…. that’s not entirely true; a great number of our belongings were forcefully dumped on others or trashed.  It is amazing what two people can cram, hide, and stuff into 575 sq. feet! My apologies to Jamie, Brian, Becka, Drew, Alicia, Falcon, Andrea, Alexis and Aaron who I refused to let leave empty handed.  “Take this lamp to remember us by!” All jokes aside, today was a long, long day.  Our feet hurt, our backs are achy and if I see another black trash bag I’m going to scream.

I’ll admit, I cried after everyone left our empty apartment this afternoon.  As Oprah says, it was ugly cry.  [Author’s Note:  Danny confirms…ugly cry]  Trying to calm me down, Danny offered to reverse our course and give up on the trip…he knew what my answer would be.  After enumerating the reasons to stay: no job, no apartment, no dream, no travel (wow there are just so many reasons to stay!) I had to turn down his tempting offer.  We’re off, next stop family roadtrip.

Filed Under: USA Tagged With: goodbye, leaving, moving, packing, party

The first goodbyes….

February 24, 2009 By Jillian

Parting is such sweet sorrow… perhaps for Romeo and Juliet, for us, I’m not quite sure.  Almost nothing is harder than saying good bye to people you care about, even if you are about to take the mThe survivorost exciting trip of your life, even if its something you are 100% sure you want to do.  Maybe the first goodbye is the worst, but emotionally, I feel like I’m at the edge of a waterfall about to go over.   I am overwhelmed by the idea of saying goodbye to everyone we know – to our colleagues, our friends and our family – literally everyone we know.    Everyone is an overwhelming word.  Of course we’ll be back to the States and I sincerely hope others will come visit us, but its likely that over the natural course of life, some of these people we may never see again.

February 16th was technically our first goodbye.  Long time friends from NYC, Chester and Catherine, came to visit in honor of Danny’s birthday and after we dropped them off at the train station it was hard to ignore the momentum this trip has taken on.  No matter what, we are going.  We have quit our jobs, we have sold our apartment….We have begun to say goodbye.  We are closing in on that waterfall.

Admittedly I may be reading too much into this and acting all “emotional”.  I mean its not like we’re moving to Siberia or Antarctica.  Hopefully most everyone we will see again, but there is such an element of unknown this time that I’ve never felt before.  Going away to college was difficult, but I knew what was in store for me there.  Going away to Italy was difficult, but I knew when I would be home.  Going away this time, well its just completely unknown.  No return date, no expectations of the journey to come. Le Saut d´Acomat I begin to think like this, and well I get teary and next thing I know I’m on the verge of a major tear fest.

Our second goodbye came this weekend, and perhaps because it was family it was more difficult than the first.  After dropping our cousin Sharone off at the bus, we held each others hand and I said, “Its here, we are really doing this.”  One squeeze of reassurance in my right hand and the tears faded away to a smile.  “Its here! We are really doing this!”

I can see the edge of the waterfall now.  We leave our home in a few days and while I admit to being terrified, I am equally excited and happy that we are following our dream.  Friday we jump.

Filed Under: USA Tagged With: goodbye, leaving

Today is My Birthday: Four Weeks Until Our Expatriation

February 12, 2009 By Danny

I’m not sure which milestone is the bigger milestone. Today marks the 27th year of my life, of my past. Today also marks four weeks before our departure, before the start of our very exciting future. Only four weeks are left until we leave on the trip we’ve spent the last 5 years planning and preparing for. I’m not sure how I feel. Mostly anxious, I think. I feel nervous and excited, worried yet exuberant. Are we making the right choice? Will we land on our feet? Perhaps we’ll strike gold importing hammocks from Guatemala, or maybe we’ll become so disenchanted with poverty and indifference we’ll return home early…worse for the wear. Many have said we are foolish and many have said we’re nuts. One thing is for sure, we’re about to embark on a great experiment, one which will become the most memorable adventure of our lives.

A very wise man once said; “I love fools’ experiments. I am always making them.” Today, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of that man’s birth. That man was Charles Darwin.

I remember taking my first drive on my 16th birthday. It was dark outside and I was more than a little nervous. I made it out and back home and survived to tell the tale. I remember on my 21st birthday, taking a shot of rum (Cacique) in a bar. I remember it being awful and not wanting to drink the second that was already purchased and in my left hand, but I did and survived to tell the tale. Twenty-seven may not be as exciting a birthday as 16 or even 21, but my (our) gift to myself this year will undoubtedly be the most memorable. Just this week I heard Good Morning America tell me that youth is wasted on the young, I think I’m beginning to agree.

A very wise man once said; “And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Today, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of that man’s birth. That man was Abraham Lincoln.

In planning this “departure from reality” I’ve often found myself thinking about the future. I don’t have all the answers; I don’t even have most of them. I don’t know what city we’ll end up in, nor do I even know in what city I want to end up. I don’t know how much this will cost. I don’t know if we’ll ever make back that money. But what do I know?

I do know I don’t want to work in a 9-5 job the rest of my life. I do know I don’t want to stare at a computer screen for 60 hours a week. I do know I prefer kayaking in untamed whitewater to squeezing in a morning jog on the treadmill, even if I can watch MSNBC at the same time. I do know one time in high school I was so stressed out that when I went to bed one night I couldn’t understand why I was so hungry…until I realized I had forgotten to eat dinner. I do know over the last 6 months, with the trip getting closer and closer, my spirit has become more free, my complexion clearer, my smile brighter, my aspirations higher, my health better, and my laughter more frequent than I can remember for a long time.

A very wise man once said; “Log off and live!” Today, we celebrate the 27th anniversary of that man’s birth. That man is me.

Filed Under: Travel & Planning, USA Tagged With: Birthday, leaving, Travel & Planning

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