It’s been over a month since my last post and you may be wondering what’s been going on.  Is something wrong?  Why the lack of updates?  Did we make the move to Indonesia?  Are we living the good life in a tropical paradise?  This post will answer those questions and more.

Evolution

One of the things that I’ve learned along this sabbatical journey is that adaptability is a good skill to develop.  Like those goofy commercials for Nationwide Insurance so blatantly point out; “Life Comes At You Fast”.  Life does happen fast and one needs to be prepared to adapt, innovate and act on varying circumstances.  Without the ability to do this it’s so easy to become trapped in circumstance which is what happens to so many of us.

People often hint that there are “circumstances beyond their control” but I’m not sure I believe that.  Sure things happen that we have limited control over but we always have control over how we react to them.  We always have control over what actions we take to overcome those circumstances.

We’ve had a ton of “circumstances” present themselves over the course of the past 2 months.  Many of these have had the potential to derail our sabbatical train and we’ve had to scramble and brainstorm a bit to figure out how to navigate the stormy waters.  As a result our sabbatical plans have evolved and our path seems clearer, although still littered with challenges and uncertainty.

Life Comes At You Fast

The circumstances I referred to above were all medical related.  September was not a kind month to our medical needs.  First, I had to endure both an endoscopy and colonoscopy (hopefully they changed scopes between the two) which themselves were not unbearable (it was the prep beforehand that was the worst).  Drinking that nasty prep solution and enduring a bad case of McGurggles and explosive backfires was much worse than a tube being snaked into every orifice.  But thankfully the results showed nothing of concern although in a year I will need a follow-up endoscopy.  Still it was a big hit to the financial aspect of our sabbatical planning.

Next it was recommended that one of my kids get an echo-cardiogram.  These tests are not inexpensive and with our co-pay and deductibles it is once again a huge hit to our sabbatical budget.  But there is nothing more important than the health of your kids.

My wife had some minor surgery which will better diagnose a condition that was recently discovered during an annual checkup.  Anytime a medical procedure includes the word surgery you better tighten your grip on your wallet or purse because it gets expensive really fast even when you have decent medical insurance.  But again, if you are able to potentially diagnose a serious medical condition early then money isn’t really a factor to dwell on.  Still the financial sting isn’t easily ignored.

So with all of these health related concerns we’ve really had to take a good hard look at our sabbatical planning and come up with solutions for dealing with it all.  Right now the biggest obstacle is the financial burden of paying for expensive medical tests and still have the money to travel like we had anticipated.

The Sabbatical Path is lined with Good Intentions

OK, maybe this isn’t the best proverb or euphemism to describe our situation but I think it’s important to realize that when faced with challenges we must not forget the good intentions and goals that we originally set out to fulfill.  In our case this was to take a sabbatical and experience the life and culture of Indonesia.

Admittedly I have never been good at dealing with difficult situations that challenge me in the arena of uncertainty.  I’ll typically fold rather than go all in.  But I think we all know deep inside of us that you never experience the excitement of playing the game when you fold all the time.  So we decided to go all in and purchased tickets to Indonesia for January 11^th.  It’s been a tough transition to make from “We’re doing this?” to “WE’RE DOING THIS!!!!”

The Challenges of Evolved Planning

Our original intent was to stay in Indonesia for a year, hence the domain name 1 Year Sabbatical.  We eventually expanded on that to entertain the idea of living there more permanently and explored different ways to generate a sustainable and supportable income.  But with the recent setbacks in medical issues and the resulting financial burden we have decided to just spend the 4 months offered up by my employer.

This doesn’t mean that we’ve given up on the larger dream.  We’re still intent on making changes in our lives and will be looking for opportunities to create those changes, but my wife and I also realize and acknowledge that while as individuals we have dreams and aspirations, we also have a responsibility to provide for and support our kids and to that respect we are not fully willing to take the same risks we might have when there was just the two of us.

Part of the problem and challenge here is that we haven’t done a good job at defining and outlining our own personal goals.  Sure, I’ve made it known that I am passionate about photography but I haven’t defined and described what that looks like from a revenue generating perspective.  It would be foolish for me at this point in time to jump in feet first without a clearer picture of what my life as a photographer would look like and how replacement income would be generated.  The same goes for my wife and her dream bakery.  Without knowing who we are in the spotlight of our desired professional endeavors, how can we know where we are going?  And if we don’t know where we are going it’s difficult to know what direction to travel.

Re-framing

In photography I often frame up an image in my mind but then find that the application of my mind’s eye on scene doesn’t quite work the way I originally imagined so I re-frame it and see what that looks like.  I often re-frame numerous times until I see what I like.  Even a bad photo can often be interesting and compelling when re-framed.

Life is like that as well.  Often we need to re-frame ideas we started with but that over time have evolved into something less appealing or something that no longer lines up with our original intent.  This is called life and it’s a constantly evolving process of learning and growing opportunities that lead us down paths of misadventure.

Any circumstance that life throws at you never looks bad when you apply re-framing to it.  Take our current situation as an example.  Sure we have some medical issues to deal with and the financial aspect of all that is problematic.  But if we re-frame it to realize that we have the resources to deal with such things and catch potential health issues early it doesn’t seem as bad as it first did.  Sure we have increasing financial obligations that cut deep into our sabbatical budget but we have tickets to Indonesia and a date set.  Re-framing in life is nothing more than highlighting the positive rather than the negative.

Out of Breath

If you made it this far then you’ll be relieved to know that I’m wrapping it up.  While it’s been a battle to deal with these unforeseen and unanticipated issues we see ourselves having two choices.  We can either throw up our hands and proceed to fall into the “woe is me” trap or we can take the high road and say, “ain’t nothin’ gonna keep me down” and re-frame things into a positive image of what is possible.

Ain’t nothin’ gonna keep us down which is why come January 11^th we’ll be cruising at 40K feet on our way to Indonesia.  The rest of this story remains to be written.

Cheers!

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Honestly I don’t like baseball.  If I’m flipping through the channels and hit a station airing a baseball game I just keep right on flipping.  I’ve been to a few games and I did enjoy myself but I think a large part of that enjoyment was all the beer I drank which distracted me from the fact that I was actually watching a baseball game.

But I do respect the skill involved in swinging a bat at a fast moving ball and making a solid connection.  The batter never knows what pitch is going to be thrown and in a split second has to decide whether it’s worth swinging at and then swing perfectly in order to hit the ball.  How they react in a split second to each pitch determines whether they get a hit or not.

Recently life threw me a curveball and I not only reacted to it in my typical knee-jerk way but I also had a hard time adjusting to it.  It’s funny and almost pathetic how when life throws us a curveball we almost instantly want to close our eyes, imagine the worst case scenario and swing at it wildly hoping to at least hit something besides air.

The Pitch!

Here is a brief synopsis of the scenario.  Ever since my last stay in Indonesia I’ve suffered from gastrointestinal problems.  At one point I had been diagnosed with a parasite and endured countless regiments of antibiotics.  I’ve taken herbs, probiotics, aloe-vera liquid, fiber supplements, and specialized vitamins; pretty much anything that promised a cure, yet nothing has brought total relief.

Sometimes I feel great and at other times my symptoms cause me problems.  Doctors seem clueless as to what it might be and instead of delving deeper into the mystery diagnose me with IBS.  So I decided that before I head back to Indonesia I’d go see one last gastroenterologist and see if they had any ideas.  They advised that I undergo some invasive and expensive procedures to rule some things out.  I agreed as I don’t think it’s wise to gamble with one’s health.

If you are American then you are familiar with the mess that is healthcare.  Americans have excellent healthcare as far as standards and quality are concerned but how we pay for it is a different beast.  Healthcare benefits are tied to your employer.  Many employers pay part of the premium and pass off the rest of the cost to the employee.  In my case my employer pays for all of it but that comes at a cost. Most diagnostic testing is not covered until my $500 deductible is met and then they pay 80% of the rest.

So I’m on the hook for an “estimated” $1100 for this procedure.  I say estimated because the great thing about American healthcare is nobody can give you a straight answer on what procedures cost because it depends on who you are and what insurance you have and what codes are used when billing the insurance company. It’s a bit like driving a new car off the lot without knowing how much you are paying for it.

The Swing!

Now, $1100 is a lot of money when you are budgeting for a 1 year sabbatical.  It isn’t chump change.  It has put a bit of a dent into our sabbatical fund. Naturally my knee-jerk response was to announce to my wife that our sabbatical was off.  “We’ll never come up with $1100 so let’s just cancel this thing and try again another time.”  My mind was flooded with all the what-if’s.  What if they find something serious?  What if they find nothing and the mystery continues?  What if I need expensive treatment?  Where am I going to get $1100?  It’s so easy to view the worst case scenario.

I made myself suffer for several days obsessing over the unknowns and uncertainty of the situation.  I could cancel the procedure and just live with my condition.  I could postpone the sabbatical departure.  I could have the procedure and still take the sabbatical and worry about where the money would come from later.  I played around with different scenarios in my mind twisting them around, moving different pieces here and there always searching for an answer that seemed just out of my grasp.

Then I read a post by Caleb Wojcik of Pocket Changed who had just announced that he quit his job to pursue his own goals.  In his post was this quote:

“Time is a zero-sum game, a limited resource. Life is too short to do only what we have to do; it is barely long enough to do what we want to do.” ~ Tal Ben-Shahar

Caleb also said “If you’re not at least a little scared about the future, you are not pushing yourself hard enough.”  I realized that there are always going to be curveballs in life; lots of curveballs.  How we react and adjust to those curveballs determines whether we strikeout or whether we knock it out of the park.  It determines whether we do the things we really want to do or whether we relegate ourselves to a mediocre life.

The Hit!

I don’t want to be the batter who never swings.  I also don’t want to be the batter that reacts to the pitch by swinging blindly at the ball.  I want to be the batter that is confident in his batting ability; the batter that is able to read the pitch, concentrate on the ball, analyze the speed and angle of the pitch and adjust his swing to knock it out of the park.

I’ll admit it.  I’m scared.  I’m really scared.  But as Caleb points out, that means I must be pushing myself hard and in the right direction.  I don’t know what the results of these tests will be.  Frankly I’m beginning to not care because I realize now that I can’t control the pitch.  It’s out of my control and I can’t worry or care about the things I can’t control.  What I can care about and what I must care about is how I react to the pitch and to the things that are outside of my control.

So we will continue to play the game.  We may swing and miss a few balls but we’ll keep swinging.  We have some major announcements coming up soon here at 1 Year Sabbatical and I can’t wait to finally share them with you.

Until then think about the game you are playing.  Have you stopped swinging at curveballs in your life because you’re scared of striking out?  Maybe you’re swinging wildly at any pitch that comes your way.  Stop and realize that you can’t control the pitch.  It’s OK to be fearful of the pitch but be confident in your ability to react in ways that knock it out of the park.

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My good friend Sean Ogle of Location 180 has put together what I think is an awesome program that teaches you many of the methods that Sean uses to build a business you can run from anywhere on the planet.  It’s called Location Rebel and Sean was gracious enough to grant me early access in return for becoming one of the case studies for the program.

I’ve spent the past 2 months going through the material, interacting with the first group of Location Rebels, learning a ton of new skills and starting my own online SEO business.  And now I’m thrilled to announce that Location Rebel is open to new members.

Where do you start?

I have quite a few different business ideas that I’ve always wanted to pursue but the problem was I didn’t know how to start or how to implement those ideas.  I also had a lot of fear and trepidation and lack of confidence in my own abilities to pull it all off.

I still struggle with all those things but being a part of Location Rebel and meeting people from all walks of life who struggle with the same things has really been an encouragement.  And watching and learning from people trying to change their lives has been a great motivator.  Being able to connect with people in the forum is probably one of the best aspects of Location Rebel.  The forum is packed with topics and information and the experts that chime in to answer questions really make it a very dynamic environment.

So what exactly is Location Rebel?

So you might be wondering what Location Rebel is and how it can help you.  Location Rebel is a program that will give you the tools you need to start building your own business.  It’s not as much a step by step guide as it is a foundation building kit.

Some of the key aspects of the program are:

• 9 Modules of awesome content covering all of the things you need to know and learn in order to start your own lifestyle business
• 8 (with more added all the time) in depth interviews with successful location independent entrepreneurs that will teach you how to get started making $1000/month within three months of starting the course with elbow grease and hard work
• 8 simple, step-by-step business blueprints you can copy and paste to start generating income with skills like:  SEO, copywriting, web development, design & advertising, project management and more… (Even if you have no prior experience in any of the areas.)
• Access to discussion forums to connect, share and learn from your peers who are going through the same transition as you and dealing with the same issues and questions.  It’s been an incredible forum to be a part of so far.

One extremely useful component of the Location Rebel program is the entrepreneur blueprints which highlight the businesses built by 9 successful entrepreneurs.  Each blueprint will teach you a bit about their business and how they got started and then dives into the resources you need to get started down a similar path.  They are really well done and the cool thing is they hang out in the forum as well so you can always ask questions and get answers.

I chose to first follow the Freelance SEO Writing blueprint and immediately started laying the groundwork for setting up my own SEO business.  I utilized several of the resources listed in the blueprint, interacted with members in the forum who were pursuing a similar path and set to work building a website.  I started telling everyone I knew what I was doing and as a result I landed my first SEO writing job!

Could I have landed that gig without Location Rebel?  Maybe, but this program gave me the resources and the encouragement to overcome my fears and start down the path of building a lifestyle that I can be happy with.  It isn’t about becoming location independent, although if that is what you want then you can definitely obtain it.  This program is more about building a business that allows you to become master of your time so that you decide when and where you work.  And that is what true freedom is all about.

I’ve really enjoyed being a part of Location Rebel.  From the curriculum to the forum to the blueprints and bonus content I think it’s a fantastic program and has really provided me with new skills and resources to start laying the foundation of a business that I’ll be able to do while living in Indonesia.  And Sean is updating and providing new content on a regular basis as well as holding webinars for members as a forum to answer whatever burning questions one might have.

Is Location Rebel right for you?

So you’re probably asking yourself whether Location Rebel is right for you.  Well, 9 out of 10 successful entrepreneurs say yes and the 1 holdout was liquored up when he filled out the questionnaire. (OK, I made all that up).  But seriously, maybe you’ve been giving some thought to starting your own business but don’t know where to start.  Maybe you’ve always dreamed about being the master of your own time.  Have you ever been sitting at work looking out the window and wishing you could spend a few hours outside instead of hunched over your keyboard?  Ever want the ability to walk your kids to school and pick them up at the end of the day but you’re stuck at work with no escape?  Well Location Rebel is your escape pod.

Maybe it’s time to jettison the things in your life that don’t add to your happiness or sense of fulfillment.  I’m not saying that Location Rebel is your savior but for me it’s been a great program to get me started building that foundation from which I can grow the business of my dreams.  I’m really learning a lot of things that I can equally apply to my photography business as well.

Are you ready to take that first step?

If you are ready and want to get in on the action head over here and get signed up.  After you sign up send me an email letting me know.  I’d love to connect more with you and find out how I can help you start building that foundation. And of course I’ll be seeing you inside the forum.

Of course I’m all about transparency so I am obligated to mention that I am an affiliate of the Location Rebel program so if you do decide it’s what you’ve been looking for and use the links above I will receive a percentage of the sale which will enhance our sabbatical fund.

If Location Rebel isn’t for you I’d still love to connect with you and learn more about what your life goals are and how I can help.  Drop me a line introducing yourself and I’ll email you back.

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So we decided that we would start homeschooling our kids after a series of drastic budget cuts within the school district and the closing of our local neighborhood school.  We also didn’t want to put the kids in school just to pull them out again in a few months when we take off for Indonesia for our 1 year sabbatical.  It was really easy to start homeschool, we just filled out a form and mailed it to the local Education Service District.  Done!

That was the easy part.  The hard part was shaking our kids out of the typical back-to-school expectation of new clothes shopping and school supplies.  It’s funny how much of a routine it’s become and how it’s almost like another Christmas for the kids.  There are new clothes, new shoes, a new backpack, the great scavenger hunt of the school supplies list.  It seems that every year the list grows longer and longer.  We avoided most of that this year.

The First Day of School

The first day of homeschool was tough.  Both kids started out excited and really enjoyed a few lesson plans my wife had created.  They were really getting into it and taking a lead role in what they wanted to learn.  But at the end of the day my oldest son realized that he was missing all the interactions with his friends and started crying that he wanted to go to regular school.

I figured this might happen but unfortunately I didn’t have a plan in place to deal with this complaint.  Telling an 8 year old to just give homeschool some time so we can work out a system where everyone is happy is like trying to start the car without the key.  I’m sure that this will be the key complaint from both boys so we’re looking to join local homeschooling groups as well as see about getting the boys into some local sports where they can interact more with other kids.  We’ll need to do the same once we land in Indonesia and start to acclimate.  It’s going to be an adventure.

My oldest son is always so curious and studious.  He’s excited and passionate about learning and we really want to cultivate and grow that into a lifelong passion. Since he’s gone through grades 1 and 2 in a traditional classroom setting I think the challenge will be in showing him that learning isn’t something that can only happen in a classroom with a teacher and uncomfortable chairs.  It happens every second of the day in a variety of different circumstances.

I really think we’ve taken so much out of the learning process in our schools so I’m excited to be bucking the system and letting my kids experience the freedom of true learning without expectations or boundaries.  It’s good to see them excited about learning and excited to be a part of it rather than just being told what to learn.

Moving Forward

Our first week has been a bit eye opening.  We definitely see a few areas we need to work on and realized that the methods used for our two boys will need to be different.  We should have realized this anyway given their vastly different personalities.  I’m sure there will be lots of realizations as we progress.  We are definitely not rushing things.  It’s a learning process for us as well.

We’ll be working on getting into a homeschooling group for more social interactions.  We’re also looking at an online Oregon Charter School called Oregon Connections Academy that offers lesson plans, interactions with certified teachers and curriculum books.  It looks interesting and we’ll be attending a meeting this next week to learn more.

I’ve also roped my dad into taking the boys out for a little botany lesson and hike through the woods.  We’ll be learning about how to mount and frame a photo from a local frame shop.  My wife will be working with the kids to do some baking, learning to follow a recipe and measure different ingredients.   You can turn any normal day activity into a great learning opportunity.

We’ll also be exploring options in Indonesia.  I have no idea if there are homeschooling groups there or even how homeschooling is looked at.  My wife doesn’t seem to think that it’s a popular option.

Do you homeschool your kids?  What resources have you found to be invaluable?

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Yesterday we had our very first garage sale.  I’m not talking about the first of the Summer or the first of the year; I’m talking about the first ever.  I’d never held a garage sale before and the sheer amount of clutter that was strewn about our yard was evidence of that.

We were garage sale noobs and at the end of the day it really showed.  But despite everything, we did make some sales and most importantly we got rid of more clutter.  We also learned some important lessons along the way.  Here are 5 lessons we learned from our first garage sale.

1. Have cash on hand to make change – the first guy that bought something paid with a $20 bill.  While I was thankfully able to make change for him it wiped me out for the rest of the day.  I suggest having at least $40 in singles so you can easily make change for people who don’t have the exact amount.  It’s easy to think that people will show up with the exact amount of cash in hand.  The problem is they typically don’t.
2. Price high, negotiate low – I think we sold a lot of our items for less than we could have gotten for them and I say that because of the gleeful look in buyer’s faces when they saw the prices on some of our items.  Granted, the main goal of our garage sale was to get rid of clutter but we also wanted to make a few bucks for our travels and not give the stuff away either.  It’s easier to negotiate prices down than negotiate prices up.  People show up at a garage sale looking to negotiate so give yourself some wiggle room so you can play the game.
3. Don’t schedule a conflict – We didn’t realize that we scheduled our garage sale the same weekend as the Eugene Celebration.  I’m guessing that a lot of people that would typically garage sale were down at the beer garden enjoying the celebration.  We saw pretty meager traffic until after the morning parade ended.  I’m thinking we would have done better on any other weekend.  Also, be prepared for the early bird.  We advertised our sale starting at 7AM but we still had people show up well before then.  People smell blood and they want to get the early deal.  Nothing you can do about that but prepare for it and hope they buy it all early so you can enjoy the rest of your day.
4. Have tough skin – That fancy vase your now long departed grandmother gave you doesn’t have the same sentimental value to the person looking to get something for nothing.  You have to keep those emotions in check and realize that your ultimate goal is to get rid of the clutter and make a few bucks in the process.  The first guy that showed up at our sale offered me $7.50 on an item priced at $30.  At first I was offended but then I realized that this was the game; the allure of garage-saleing.  I try and maximize profit and he tries to minimize cash outlay.  This is why I believe lesson #2 above is an important one.  We ended up making a deal in the end and we both parted ways happy.
5. Don’t let your kids into the negotiations – I was selling a swimming pool with lots of extras.  I had a guy interested and one of the first questions he asked me was whether it had a leak.  I assured him that the pool hadn’t leaked when we took it down a year ago.  He agreed to my price and paid me.  Just as we were getting ready to load it in his car my son comes up and says “Is that the pool with the leak in it?”  I then had to quickly explain to my son (but mostly for the benefit of the buyer) that he was obviously confused with another pool that we had that did develop a leak that I ended up patching.  It didn’t work and he continued with his emphatic insistence that this was the pool with the leak.  So now I’m in an awkward situation of my son blabbering on and on about some non-existent leak and a guy who just handed over his money to me with a big question mark on his face.  I felt trapped in an episode of “Kids say the darndest things”.  But he ended up taking the pool and made a comment about my son “throwing me under the bus”.

So how did we do on our very first garage sale?  We ended up selling over 40 individual items and bringing in $125.  Could we have made more money with better advertising and more aggressive pricing?  Probably, but the big win of the day is that we are now 40 items lighter and to me less clutter means we’re one step closer to realizing our sabbatical goal.

We plan on having one more garage sale before we depart despite not really feeling that it’s worth the effort.  It takes a lot to price everything, move it out into the yard, sit around negotiating with people and then move everything that didn’t sell back into the house.  I think when one takes into account the time involved that Craig’s List and eBay are better more efficient avenues of selling.

Have you ever put on a garage sale?  What have your experiences been?  What tips can you offer to the garage sale rookie?

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You are a Jedi Knight (seriously, you are).  You have been enslaved on the Death Star for years but are implementing your escape plan.  You are now stealthily searching for the controls to the tractor beam that is keeping your ship from escaping the hangar so you can finally fly to the Liberation Galaxy where you can live a life you’ve only dreamed of, doing things you’ve always wanted to do.

Episode I – The Beginning

Armed with only your lightsaber of truth you sneak around the inside of the Death Star searching for the controls to the tractor beam.  Amazingly you find it without being detected and disable the beam that had been keeping you and your escape ship trapped.

Now as you quietly and stealthily make your way to the hangar and your waiting ship your heart starts to race with excitement and anticipation.  This is going to be freakin’ awesome you think as you secretly make your way through hallway after hallway avoiding droids and storm troopers.  It had been many trying years of living on this Death Star and you were now finally going to escape.

Episode II – The Empire Fights Back

You make it to the hangar and see your ship.  You stay hidden waiting for the perfect moment to make your move.  But just when you think the coast is clear, just when you begin to think that you could really make this all come together and finally escape this Death Star, two shadowy figures approach.  You recognize them instantly as Darth Uncertainty and his master the Emperor of Self-Doubt.  Both have been extensively trained in the art of fear and their ability to brandish that power was well known throughout the galaxy.

As they approach you wield your lightsaber of truth; it’s pure light shining brightly in the sterile hallway of the Death Star.  Darth Uncertainty approaches first and draws his lightsaber.  Its light sings forth and seems to tarnish the glow of your lightsaber of truth.

“Where do you think you’re going Jedi?” he barks.  “No one escapes the Death Star!”.

The glow from his lightsaber seems to expand to fill the room as he speaks.

“You’re Jedi skills are weak and you are no match for the power of Uncertainty” he continues his voice bellowing.  “Stay here with us and we will protect you, provide you comfort and safety and together we can rule the galaxy, as long as you do exactly what we say when we say to do it, offer subject to change at any time.  But we can offer you a real future without fear or worry.  You go off half-cocked and fly into the blackness of the galaxy and who knows what will happen.”

You look at the now pale light emanating from your lightsaber of truth.  Your mind begins to run rampant with all kinds of thoughts.  Maybe he’s right.  It’s safe here and there’s great luxury to be had.  I wouldn’t have to worry about what might happen.  And besides, where else in the galaxy am I going to get a decent haircut?  I mean look at me, I’m starting to look like a Wookie!  I could stay here and work for a bit longer, maybe get some more Jedi training, build my own Jedi mind control business first before venturing out.  It would be nice to have that safety net.  I mean he’s got a point, the galaxy is a damn scary place.

But as soon as you start to think those thoughts you know what it means.  Delaying your escape just condemns you to a life you could never be satisfied with.  All those hours in the office polishing droids just isn’t what you want.  And then as your confidence grows; as the light from your lightsaber of truth begins to shine a more brightly, you hear the voice of the Emperor of Self-Doubt speak up.

“Young Jedi!  You don’t have the stones to escape us.  You don’t have what it takes.  Your skills are weak, your training is inefficient.  Just look at your lightsaber.  See how dimly it shines?  Can you really believe the truth as you see it and rely on your feeble powers?”

Your mind switches gears once again.  Maybe he’s right, maybe I don’t have what it takes.  I don’t even have a plan once I escape this place.  My skills are useless.  I’ve never been able to do anything big and probably never will.  It’s easier to do what people say is the best for me and live with it.  This Death Star is just too hard to escape from.

As these thoughts flood your mind the light from your lightsaber of truth begins to dim once again.  You begin to feel weak and deflated and the confidence you once held begins to dissipate and evaporate away.  Your Jedi mojo is now slipping away from you, replaced ever so insidiously with self-doubt and uncertainty.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all?  It seems so risky now.

Episode III – A New Hope

This is your episode where you write the ending.  You have a decision to make.  Do you cave and go back to a life of cleaning dirty droids and washing Wookies; always dreaming of what life could have been like? Or do you mercilessly attack Darth Uncertainty and the Emperor of Self Doubt with your lightsaber of truth and roar out of that hangar at full throttle never looking back?

As our planned sabbatical departure date gets shorter and the list of things to do gets longer the dark force of Darth Uncertainty and the Emperor of Self-Doubt have raised their ugly heads and threatened to make all that we have worked and planned for seem impossible to accomplish.  They’ve drawn their lightsabers and sent forth their dark magic to confuse, dissuade and demotivate our resolve.

I expected this.  It’s the lizard brain that Seth Godin talks about or the Resistance as Steven Pressfield refers to it.  The resistance gains strength when we get too close to accomplishing something, prodding us to back off, take things slow, don’t rush, think things through a bit more.  It works in conjunction with the lizard brain, feeding it’s hatred of change and risk.  Neither is going away so in order to write this last episode of our story we have to find a way to either circumvent them or ignore them completely.  How that happens is different for everyone.  But we must persevere.

You can’t go through life quitting everything.  If you’re going to achieve anything, you’ve got to stick with something.  ~From the television show Family Matters

Have you had to face down Darth Uncertainty and the Emperor of Self-Doubt?  How did you overcome the resistance of the lizard brain?

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People search all their lives for the meaning of life.  They read books.  They find religion.  They go to school.  They take a sabbatical.  They commune with nature.  They seek the truth high and low.  Well today I uncovered the meaning of life on a bumper sticker of the car I was tailgating into work.

The Meaning of Life Is To LIVE It

So simple and yet so profound.  The meaning of life is to actually LIVE it.  Are you actually LIVING life?  What does it mean to live life? Isn’t anyone who is breathing living?  And how do you know if you are really living life?

I think the litmus test that answers these questions is – Are You Happy?  Are you truly happy with your life?  I’m not talking about the days when someone pissed you off and you got a case of the grumpies because of it and cursed and condemned the entire world before sinking into a self-pity party.  We all have those days.  I’m talking about are you genuinely happy and excited about your life, about what you do on a daily basis, about your future as a whole?  I’m talking big picture here.  Do your happy days far outnumber your grumpy days?

Each of us has to come to terms with the decisions we make on a daily basis that shape the course of our lives.  These decisions are heavily influenced by the people we associate with, the way we were brought up, our education, our belief system and a host of other factors.  But the decision is ultimately owned only by us.  So it would behoove us to make decisions that make US happy and allow us the ability to do the things we really enjoy doing.

Yes, I know we don’t live in a vacuum.  Each of us is surrounded by people we call friends, family or loved ones and the decisions we make affect them in different ways.  But ultimately this is your life and as selfish as it might sound you deserve to be happy.  I don’t think that being happy and having great relationships with loved ones are incompatible.  In fact I think you hit your sweet spot of life when you discover how to put all those pieces of the puzzle together.

Do what makes you happy and there you will find the true meaning of life.  Now get out there and LIVE!

A Dose of Inspiration

To get you inspired to take those steps to LIVE your life here are a few people who are out there LIVING it right now.

Tyler Tervooren recently climbed Mount Kilamanjaro on his quest to summit the highest peak on every continent.  He also climbed Mount Elbrus in Russia.

Drew Jacob is leaving a job that he absolutely loves to follow his dream of a self-propelled journey across two continents to meet the gods.

Michael Huffman left his cubicle in June to move to Bali and build an eco-house.

Jenny Blake author of Life After College quit a good paying gig at Google to pursue her own dreams of traveling while working on her speaking, coaching and writing career.

Kim and her husband Brian are in the process of selling their house and everything inside it so they can fulfill a dream of traveling the world.

The Common Thread

And what do all of these amazing people have in common?  They are all normal people just like you and I who made the decision to not accept what life hands them but to go out and actually LIVE life.  Just as that bumper sticker said, they have discovered that the meaning of life is to actually LIVE it.

What are you doing today to actually LIVE?

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I’ve spent the last several weeks shaking my head over the negotiations going on in Congress regarding raising the debt ceiling.  In many respects it’s sad to see the partisan bickering and school-yard bantering going on.  I thought we had elected grown-ups but current actions are proving me wrong.

But the whole debacle should provoke average Americans to think about their own finances.  One of the most common questions I get asked is “How can you afford to take a 1 year sabbatical?”  Many people think it takes a large bank roll to live overseas and while it does take some money you can get by on much less than you probably think thanks to a lower cost of living.

But I think the issue is more than just money, it’s about how we place a greater value on stuff over experiences.  Let’s face it, we live in an age where we are marketed to on an almost 24/7 basis.  We are led to believe that we need the latest gadget, a new car, a bigger house or a Snugee made out of ShamWow.  We’re working long hours at the office just to afford the payments on all this junk.  The truth is that experiences are worth more than gadgets so ask yourself where do you really want to spend your money; that new iPhone or two months on the beaches of Thailand?

Most of us are probably not in a financial position to travel long term and that is mainly because we’ve placed our priorities on “stuff” rather than on “experiences”.  We’ve succumbed to the marketing attacks.  So how can we turn this around?

Get Out of Debt

The first big step is to get out of debt by whatever means necessary.  We’re now only $2K away from being completely out of debt.  I can’t tell you how good that feels knowing we won’t be indebted to anyone.  But that doesn’t mean we have a fat bank account itching to be spent in some foreign and exotic land either.  To get that you can do one of two things: earn more money or spend less money.  Doing both is an even quicker path to that fat bank roll.

Ways to Spend Less Money

Let’s start with spending less because there are several ways that one can do this immediately.  Here are some things that we’ve done to shrink our cash outlay:

• Skip that morning coffee and Danish at Starbucks (this place should really be called Five Bucks).  Instead bring your own coffee and danish from home or just get off the caffeine highway for good.
• Bring your lunch to work instead of eating out.
• Speaking of eating out, don’t frequent restaurants.  We had a period of time where we were eating out a lot.  It’s easy, and frankly the food somehow tastes better.  But it’s expensive and often not all that healthy.  For the price of a nice restaurant meal in the US you could eat for a week in SE Asia.
• Cut the cable.  Consider cutting back on the cable bill.  You’re paying mainly for stations you don’t watch anyway (Home Shopping Network).  Get a Netflix streaming account if you want to watch movies or use Redbox.  Seriously, would you rather watch someone else on TV having a great life or be out there experiencing that life for yourself?
• Stop watering your grass and hang dry your clothes.  It might not seem like much but every little bit helps boost that savings account.  Sure, during the summer your yard might look like crap but you’re saving money and not wasting water.  Same goes for hang drying your clothes.  Let Mother Nature do the work rather than your gas/electric dryer that you’re paying for.  And on this same idea turn your water heater down to 115-120F. Your water will still be hot but you’ll be saving energy.
• Don’t run a balance on your credit cards.  If you have a balance on your cards that you are not paying off at the end of the month then you are losing money by paying interest.  Pay it off as quickly as you can and stop giving your hard earned money away.
• Walk, Ride or Mass Transit. If you live 2 blocks from the grocery store there is no need to drive there (unless that store is Costco).  Gas isn’t a cheap commodity and anything we can do to not use the car will save money.  Drive only when necessary.  Consider carpooling to work.  Do your body good and walk or ride a bike.  You’ll thank yourself for a great looking physique.
• Implement a 30 day hold on all major purchases.  Think you need that new 55” TV or a new camera lens for that Canon 5DII?  Take 30 days to think it over before handing over that credit card.  Chances are after 30 days the allure of that purchase will be waning.

Obviously there are lots of ways that we can spend less.  I’d love to hear some of your suggestions.  Feel free to add a comment below with your tips and advice.

Ways to Make More Money

OK, so now we’re saving money on a daily basis by adjusting our lifestyle a bit.  Remember, we’ve got dreams to turn into reality here.  So, how about some ways that we can bring in more money?  Chances are your employer isn’t going to give you a significant raise (or maybe they will if you ask nicely) so here are some ways that you can make a little extra cash on the side.

• Sell your crap.  If you are like us you probably have a lot of stuff sitting around just taking up space.  If you haven’t used it in the past year or even the last 6 months chances are you won’t ever use it.  Sell it and sock that money away into your travel account.  If you want the definitive guide on selling your crap check out Adam Bakers excellent step by step guide.
• Turn a hobby into a side biz.  Love taking photos?  Sell some prints or schedule some portrait shoots.  Start shooting the local school sports and market images to parents (they can’t resist buying a photo of their kid scoring a goal). Turn your passion into money whether it’s photography or needlepoint.
• This one may not be too popular but consider taking a second job for a while.  It doesn’t have to be a traditional job in an office setting or one pumping gas.  Instead consider online jobs you can do from home like affiliate marketing or SEO writing.  The Internet has opened up an infinite array of possibilities for making money.
• Enslave your kids in a street-side lemonade stand.  Who can resist a cute kid selling lemonade?  OK, this one is a bit of humor but why not enlist the whole family to earn money?

There are an infinite number of ways to pad your bank account by either spending less or earning more if one is willing to work hard and think in non-conventional ways.  What it really comes down to is what do you really want in your life; more stuff or more experiences?

Do you have some awesome tips you’d love to share on making more or spending less?  Share them in the comments below.

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OK, so maybe I am a bit late to the party but it was only a few days ago that I saw that Phil of Phil in the Blank had secretly nominated me to be a part of the 7 Links Project back on July 6^th.  (And then this morning Gillian of One Giant Step nominated me).  OK, maybe he didn’t do it secretly as it was a public post but I didn’t see it, not because I don’t read his blog (I do and so should you) but because I’ve been lax in reading blogs lately what with this whole sabbatical planning thing going on.  But I figured better late than never.  Plus it means I get to secretly nominate 5 more bloggers to do the same.  The idea behind the 7 Links Project is to take a look at past posts and maybe deserve another look.  OK, so what about those 7 posts that may or may not deserve a second look?

Most Beautiful Post – What is Your Vision of Peace?

I wrote this post after attending a choir performance that my eldest son was in.  It was a fundraiser for a local Peace Park being developed by the Nobel Peace Laureate Project.  The kids held up signs displaying their vision of peace.  I think future peace in the world needs to begin with our kids.

Most Popular Post – 4 Reasons Why You Need a Sabbatical

Not sure why this has been my most popular post.  I guess the idea of taking a sabbatical is becoming more popular as people begin to realize what is really possible.  These are 4 reasons why you might need a sabbatical in your own life.

Most Controversial Post – Don’t Touch My Junk – Security Screening Questions/Is Travel Blogging Bad for the Environment?

I couldn’t choose but I’ve always felt that these two posts were the most controversial.  The first deals with US security and the broad-handed approach we have taken that basically relies on passenger fears and humiliates those that get selected to endure it.

The second post is a compilation of thoughts as to whether travel blogging as an effect on the environment and what responsibility travel bloggers have in working to preserve and protect our world from exploitation.

Most Helpful Post – Cost of Living in Indonesia/How to Write a Sabbatical Proposal

The cost of living in Indonesia post has been the second most popular post on this blog.  People frequently find my site by searching for this information.  One of my top priorities after landing in Indonesia is to update this post with fresh data.

OK, maybe I’m cheating again by including two posts in this category which will make more than 7 links but it’s been another post that people have found useful and frequently search for.  It’s all about how to put together a sabbatical proposal.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me – Love Conquers Fear

The response to this post really surprised me.  I only wanted to write about a time in my life when I let my guard down and took a chance, overcame that fear block and lived.  People really seemed to connect with it.

A Post I Felt Didn’t Get the Attention it deserved – Fear Buster Episode 1 – Mark Powers

This was an interview I did with Mark Powers for the first episode of Fear Busters a series I am putting together about people who overcome fear in their lives to do incredible and inspirational things.  I really thought that it would garner more interest.  It’s one of my favorite interviews with a great guy.

The Post That I am Most Proud Of – The Most Important Word in the World

I’m proud of all my posts as they take a lot of work and effort but this one I wrote for the “Most Important Word in the World” series talks about being an introvert and ways to overcome that and connect with people while you travel.

OK, time to “secretly” nominate 5 other bloggers.

1Dad1Kid – Talon and Tigger

A World of Inspiration – Matt Bailey

Powers Percussion – Mark Powers

So Many Places – Kim and Brian (who are selling their house to begin a trip of a lifetime)

Footprints of a Backpacker – Sarah

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One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about the travel community we’ve become a part of is the number of families I’ve met that have made the same decision as we have to uproot and travel the world.  You could say that they are taking a sabbatical of sorts.  One of these is the Canadian family that makes up Worldschool Adventures.  They are Amy, Mike, Lan and Kayden.  What I like about this family is that they are going through a similar process of planning as we have been and dealing with many of the same issues.  I talked with Amy about why they made this decision to travel overseas with kids as well as what barriers they have encountered along the way.

Tell us a bit about your family and why taking this Worldschool Adventure through Asia is so important to you?  How did this idea come about?  When do you anticipate departing?

We are a family of four and we are preparing for a Worldschool Adventure in Asia.  Our plan is to slow-travel throughout Asia for at least two years, settling down in the places that we love for a few months at a time and moving on when our hearts tell us its time.  Traveling slow with the little ones in tow and letting the world be our teacher!

It was on our honeymoon in 2004 when the idea of travel with our future children took seed.  We were backpacking throughout SE Asia when we came across a traveling family in Vietnam.  Mike and I had been planning on starting a family when we got back to Canada and all of a sudden it became very clear to us that having children did not need to equate to putting traveling on the back burner.

We decided to have our two children as close together in age as we could so that by the time we deemed them old enough to travel, we would be prepared financially to do so.  So we came home from Asia and got pregnant.  Nine months after the birth of our first son we were pregnant with our second son.  Our boys are now 3 and 5 years old and we are ready for our next adventure.  Our departure date, however, remains unknown.  We are trying to sell our house and can’t leave until it is sold, so for now we wait.

Throughout the planning stages of your Worldschool Adventure in Asia what are some of the challenges you have faced that might be more unique to families?

One of the biggest issues has been the vaccine debate.  When Mike and I first traveled overseas we didn’t think twice about getting all the recommended vaccines.  But I am weighing the pros and cons of each individual vaccine very carefully for my children.  I am not anti-vaccine, I just want to make sure that we know and understand the inherent risks of the disease as well as the possible reactions to the vaccine.  It has involved a lot of research and I am still not 100% sure on which ones we will be getting.

Vaccines are a big concern for us as well.  We’ve gotten the kids all the standard shots but there are a few that we are being very cautious about.  For your travels which vaccines are recommended and which of those concern you the most with your kids?

We have seen a Travel Doctor and the vaccines recommended to us that were beyond our routine childhood vaccination list were Hep A, Japanese Encephalitis, and Rabies.
The Hep A I had no problems with getting and the children have already had their first round of it.  However, I am very hesitant for the JE Vac because after doing some research I have found that the actual occurrence of JE among travelers is extremely low.  I also talked to another traveling family from England and their travel Doctor there advised them against the vaccine, siting that the ratio of risk of contraction with risk of adverse reaction to the vaccine made it not advisable.  I have to say, it makes me nervous when two different Travel Doctors tell patients different things!

I am also on the fence about the rabies vaccine.  It is a course of three shots that will boost your immune response if you come in contact with the disease.  But even if you have the vaccine you still need to seek immediate medical attention and receive more shots if you have been bit or scratched by a possible rabies carrying animal.  My boys are very cautious with dogs already and are old enough to take instruction in regards to animal safety.  Right now, my line of thought is to do everything we can to avoid rabies carrying animals and to educate our children on the dangers.  If any one of us ever did suffer a bite we would immediately seek medical treatment.

Probably the most asked question I get is how are you paying for your sabbatical year?  How are you addressing the financial aspect of extended world travel?

We have been playing the real estate market for the last six years.  We build our own houses (Mike is a Carpenter) live in them for a while, and then flip them.  This is why we are not able to travel until the house we are in now is sold; we have all of our money tied up into the equity of the home.  So once the house sells we will be drawing upon that equity to fund the trip.

Are you considering any other streams of income to finance your adventure such as monetizing your blog, travel writing, photography, affiliate sales etc.?

This is a question I have been thinking a lot about lately.  I have been trying to figure out what direction I want my blog to take.  My blog was born from passion; it is a creative outlet for me and something that I really enjoy doing.  My main goals for the blog are to just really enjoy the process and to share our adventures with the world, hopefully inspiring other families to begin to think outside the box.  So for now, my answer is no, I don’t want to monetize it.  I don’t want the blogging to become a job or to write posts just to get the numbers up.   If, in the future, a monetizing opportunity came up and it fit with my blog then, yes, I would consider it.  But for now, I am just in it for the joy it brings me and the connections and friendships that I am building along the way.

We’re planning to home school our boys and I know that you’ve been homeschooling (unschooling) your kids for a while now. Can you tell us a bit about that experience and how it’s been working out for your family?

Originally we started to look into homeschooling in preparation for our travels.  We were back and forth on the decision to either keep them out of school all together or to put them in and then pull them out when we started our trip.  After much debate we decided we would keep them out and try our first year of homeschooling in the comfort of our own home.  The method we chose was to unschool, or child-led learning.

I am very pleased with how our first year turned out.  Every day I am surprised by the curiosity in my children.  We have learned about so many things, from letters and numbers to gravity and natural disasters.  We learn about whatever the boys are interested in at the time, and they are always interested in something!

Do you think the way you home school now will change once you are on the road traveling and if so in what ways?

I don’t think the method will change at all.  Unschooling , in my opinion, is the perfect type of homeschooling for long term travel.  What will change, however, is that the learning will be more intense.  We will be immersing ourselves in different cultures, trying different foods, seeing different animals.  Everything will be new to us and our eyes, hearts, and minds will be wide open to receive the wonder.

Are your kids excited about this?  What are some things you’ve done to prepare them for the changes?

My oldest boy is incredibly excited and he talks about it all the time.  We have learned about many of the places we will go through books, stories, pictures, and maps.  He is most excited to see panda bears (his all time favorite animal), the Great Wall, and the Terra Cotta Warriors.

My youngest son is not quite as enthused.  Often when we are talking about the trip he will say “I don’t want to sell the house!”  Although a few months ago we were watching a program about Indonesia and when it was over he said “I want to sell the house tonight!”  He is still at an age where security is very important but I do believe that once we are on the road he will adapt very quickly.  We hope he learns quickly that home doesn’t have to be a physical place, home can be anywhere in the world as long as we are together.

We have tried to prepare them by just talking about it all the time.  The boys see how excited and enthusiastic we are and the enthusiasm rubs off on them.  We constantly tell them stories about trips Mike and I have taken in the past, we show them pictures, and we take them out to ethnic restaurants and try new food at home.  We also talk about possible negatives of the trip like unwanted attention from the locals, nasty public toilets, mosquitoes, smells, heat, etc.

What role has fear played in all of this?  What have you done to push through it and keep moving forward?

Of course there are things we are afraid of.  What if we hate it? What if we get sick?  What if there is an accident?  But fear is a part of life and I am more afraid of not living our dreams.  I always remind myself that we only have this life and it is too precious to waste on fear.  Carpe Diem, seize the day!

Throughout this whole process what is one thing that you’ve learned that you feel would be important for other families planning to travel to know?

The biggest surprise for me was how many other families are doing something similar.  I have received so much support and encouragement from my online community of family travelers, much more support than what most people in my “real” life have given us.  My advice to other families who want to do long-term travel is to get involved on Twitter, Facebook, and forums and “meet” families who are already doing it.  We really are a great community, willing to help, support and answer any questions you may have.

Anything else you want to say to maybe a family who wants to travel the world but doesn’t know where to start?

The first step is just to commit.  Once you make the commitment you can worry about the logistics of it.  You may not be in a position to do it over night, and as with our family, most families will need to plan and save for years.  But don’t give up because it seems hard.  You can do anything you set your mind to!

A great way to find encouragement and figure out logistics is to read the blogs of families who are already doing it.  A simple Google search will help you find long-term family travel blogs and always check to see if there is a blog roll with links to other family blogs that you may not have heard of yet!

If people want to connect more with you where can they find you?

Website: http://worldschooladventures.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/worldschooladventures

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/worldschooled

Thanks Amy for taking the time to talk about your impending Worldschool Adventure.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that you’ll sell that house soon. We’ll see you out on the road very soon.

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