Introduction

Wow.
I cant believe today is the last day of July.  Today is Wednesday, and we leave Omaha on Monday afternoon on our flight to Amsterdam to begin approximately four months and three weeks abroad.  By "we" I mean me and my boyfriend of a year, Matthew.  I am on sabbatical from the salon I work at as a stylist, and Matthew is taking a semester off at the school he teaches at.  Matthew has been on his summer break, which we have spent that time painting and redecorating our home, which we own, in preparation for departure.  We have filled all of our empty bedrooms with tenants, which allows us to not worry about the expense of rent, but also makes it really easy for us to keep our belongings stored here in our bedroom.

We have spent the last week and a half tying up any loose odds and ends before our life is paused here in Omaha until December 19 (the day we return).  These tasks are not fun, but as we reach the bottom of our long to-do list, we begin to have time for fun things such as pack our bags, and start a blog. Finishing up our to-do list and having only a few days before we board a plane is starting to finally make this trip feel real for the first time, which is very intense and exciting.  I can't lie though, the most dominating emotion right now is anxiety.  You see, this whole process has really taken some courage, and I am really riding that wave.  I feel very brave.  I suppose this whole process has been pretty positive.  This last Christmas we officially decided it was time to make a big life change in terms of where we live, so we begun saving and fantasizing about the possibilities.   We decided a few months ago that we should do some world exploration before we move to a bigger city and lose the funds to explore. So it was decided that we would backpack through Europe, and I refused to go to sleep until we had tickets purchased.  That night, we bought our plane tickets that would drop us off in Amsterdam on August 6th, 2013. The next day I was floating on cloud nine... my wildest dreams had the potential to come true.. to be a nomad, a gypsy, a free-living spirit.  Even if people view this as an extended vacation, for me, this trip represents a new courageous life, a liberation of my spirit; I'm deciding to live my life to the fullest while I am alive and healthy, and not letting fear control my decisions. 

One of the greatest things about preparing for this trip is having to save money.  You don't realize how much money you just blow on frivilous, pointless things that you think are making you happy, but really just leave you with piles of stuff, and an empty wallet.  I was dining out constantly, I was buying nice clothes, and I was going out all the time, but I was just trying to mask the BOREDOM.  Life was feeling so blah. I realized that you make a prison for yourself and you get a nice car, a nice apartment/house, etc, all with monthly payments, and before you know it, you're slaving away just to have all this fancy furniture and clothes staring at you asking you if it's worth it.  Living in a minimal way to save money for this trip has taught me happiness doesn't come at all from buying stuff, but rather, it makes you quite miserable and stuck, and just distracts you from the cold utter truth that YOURE BORED AS HELL. Don't get me wrong, I love cool clothing, and I love some fine dining, but with the money I have saved in a half a year, I am able to not work and explore the world for 4.5 months... I'll take that over good sushi and designer clothes any day.  And it is super humbling when you live like a poor person; you see how truly wasteful you're being, and you begin experiencing life, which is FREE. There is no cash value price for being alive and present. It doesn't cost money to laugh and cry and explore every corner of your brain with good company. 

This is getting long, and it is now past midnight, so I will write more tomorrow maybe... 
EMBRACE NEW EXPERIENCES, BE ALIVE!  Namaste, good night.