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#indie30, Musings, Travel Plans

High Sights, Diligence, and Travel Goals

November 1, 2011

Thanks to Sean, Chris, Olivia, Jessica, and the rest of the wonderful crew over at BootsnAll for feeding travel dreams and equipping adventurers to live boldly. This month they’re at it again, inspiring travelers to reflect on experiences and memories during November’s 30 Days of Indie Travel. I look forward to posting from time to time and reading stories in the #indie30 stream.

The Question – Day 1: Goals

What were your travel goals last year? Did you accomplish them? What travel goals do you hope to accomplish this year?

Tools and inspiration: Learn more about setting a BHAG–a big, hairy, audacious goal. 

The Answer – In a Nutshell:

Travel Goals 2011: Save, Save, Save. (A continuation of travel-related goals from 2010, 2009, etc. — and yes, we’ve met the mark!)

Travel Goals 2012: Go, Go, Go. (Things are looking good: there’s a date on the calendar and we have tickets in hand to begin our Round the World Journey.)

The Musings – Since marrying, Ted and I have intentionally compiled a list of goals each year and agreed to aim toward them together, praying for wisdom and direction as we go.

I’m a firm believer in the power of putting goals in plain sight, whether writing a list and taping it to the mirror or covering a wall with images of inspiration. Day in and day out, seeing, reading, acknowledging the priorities we’ve said to ourselves we value – these practices have kept us on track to meet and pass milestones on the journey.

Our Wall of Dreams, Pinning Inspirations and Mapping Out Travel Calendars in Clear Sight

Too, it would only be fair to acknowledge our bigger ambitions in life. Beyond travel, beyond adventure, beyond possessions (or lack there of), we have a goal set before us as a couple of faith: to experience God’s love and truth in profound ways, and to reflect that beauty to the world.

12 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. 13 Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. 14 I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

 15 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision-you’ll see it yet! 16 Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. -Philippians Chapter Three, The Message

Funny BootsnAll’s mention of BHAGs. This past year, I spent time reading or listening to audio recordings of recommended books on business and leadership; one in particular was James Collins’ Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. Mr. Collins referenced his concept of BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) several times throughout, and I so appreciated his acknowledgment of the effectiveness of setting overarching, unifying, unusually audacious goals.

Such bold visions rally troops in a company, band together family members, and motivate the individual to set high sights and apply diligence with every last ounce of strength.

There’s a favorite Dave Ramsey quote posted on a sticky note above my office at work:
“Diligence is discipline with excellence over an extended period of time.”

Another favorite of his: “The difference between a dream and a goal is a PLAN.”

As this year (and entire life season, really) of diligent, disciplined saving and planning draws to a close, I’m so grateful to report that we’ve met our 2011 goals, and as part of the “Go, go, go” of 2012, we hope to cross paths, enjoy company, and share stories with friends we’ve yet to meet but are sure to love.

Here’s to dreams.

And here’s to fruition of so many years’ worth of plans.

Cheers,
Bethany


Musings, Travel Plans

Throwing Antiques from Covered Wagons…

October 27, 2011

…and other lessons in abandoning material possessions to reach the trail’s end.

You’ve heard the stories (and perhaps played the computer game?): Wild-minded risk-takers threw caution to the wind, kissed their hometowns goodbye, buttoned up canvas awnings, and wobbled their wagon frames across the plains and prairies and mountain passes of rugged North America.

They’d heard of the Willamette Valley. A land of fertile soils and ripe possibilities. A new way of life for those who dared risk it all to reach the goal.

It’s true.

Oregon sang a siren’s song, and the adventurous were drawn to come.

What happened to the possessions unable to be jammed into tight corners of the settlers’ prairie schooners? Who gave them a new home? The in-laws? Dear friends? Neighbors remaining on the east coast?

How many valued pieces of sentiment and function remained in Missouri, I wonder? How many more soared over the side of wagons, perhaps accompanied by tears and sweat?

How did their meaning shift from top-priority-packables in a 4’x12′ bed to dead weight no longer carried by weary oxen?

I imagine a couple discussing the reasons for adding goods to the packing pile: “It’ll be useful for our new life at the end of the journey… We won’t be able to buy another one… It’ll be a reminder of our loved ones…”

But a thousand miles in, I imagine the conversation shifting to practicality in the face of survival. Health trumped comfort. Determination trumped desire. Reality trumped fantasy.

Now, a hundred and some odd years later, it’s our turn to grit our teeth, sort through artifacts of settled life, and part with all but the household basics and the dearly cherished. And I still suspect we’ll need to chuck a few more items over the edge when all is said and done…

If you find yourself in the area this weekend, come drink a celebratory mimosa and buy our stuff!

We’re clearing out our house before we pack up and leave to travel the world. Furniture, books, clothes, tools, odds and ends…everything* that doesn’t fit in a backpack!
(*not really everything. but sort of.)

Saturday, October 29th: 9am-noon

The Corner of East Burnside + 92nd Place:
9205 E. Burnside Street #201
Portland, OR 97216

Musings, Travel Plans

Home: Letting Go of Place and Things

October 9, 2011

Sunday night. Holed up at home. Desperately avoiding to-do lists.

Day 88 (but who’s counting?) until departure.

I visited a recommended link and landed in the middle of Cheri Lucas’ thoughts: “Roots vs. Wanderlust: On Home, Accumulation & What’s Missing.”

I’ve wrestled deeply with these themes during our season of preparation.

I’m a designer. A cook. A homemaker, too. In Jr. High, I purchased my own subscription to then-brand-new Home and Garden Television. When Cheri writes about the arrival of the CB2 catalog and visions of housewarming parties and guest bedrooms, I know instinctively what she means. That tug of the heart toward a cultivated place. A home that cannot simply spring up overnight, but rather grows slowly, evolving from time and attention, investment and use.

Even as we’ve steered away from mortgages in favor of ship cabins and known the decisions were right, I’ve still craved a back yard and soil of our own. An alternate reality. A life with “a place for everything and everything in it’s place” (as my grandma says).

But we’re saying goodbye to place and things. And I don’t know if or how to imagine resuming a physically rooted lifestyle on the other side of this experience.

And Cheri, too, acknowledges the connundrums.

When she reflects on memories and on picnics, alleys, and reading books aloud, savoring the slow pace of days abroad, I think about the plans we have for life on the road.

Especially lately, as we are parting with possessions and preparing for a nomadic year, I’m challenged to release my home-based rituals. It’s no secret among my friends that I’ve experienced a strange disequilibrium in the kitchen, watching the seasons change without preserving food for winter and letting empty mason jars leave my doors in the arms of new stewards.

Dwelling . . . inhabiting . . . settling: each so very good.

Wandering, exploring, waving goodbye: the cadence of story very different.

Our roots cannot be entwined in the things of life, but the connection to family and friends, the relationships longer lasting and more deeply meaningful than any accumulation of possessions or pinpointed place.

So home, as it seems, remains in our hearts.

It’s unforeseen how these mixed desires and decisions will meld into one, cohesive, future life. For now, I’m learning the value of the full heart and outstretched, empty hand: ready to give, and ready to receive.

Travel Plans

Trip Plans: South America Tickets Purchased

July 21, 2011

Time flies; we hope to.

Purchased our tickets for South America this morning.

Seems like just a blink since sending off the initial inquiry about ticket packages.
That was February. This is July.

Many ping-ponging emails later (including helpful hand-holding replies from our incredibly kind agent, several late night discussions, a few quiet months weathering bumps in the road, and a release of hard-earned, well-saved dollars), we punched the purchase button this morning.

Since we’re leaving the continent by ship, we chose not to include South America in our potential Round The World ticket. Too many stipulations regarding required transatlantic flights. And too many north/south miles that we’d rather use on eastern travels.

So, now we know: Farewell to Portland on January 5th, 2012.

Coffee in the concourse?

After all the sacrifice to get to that boarding gate, it’ll be time to splurge.

For now, five and a half more months of earning, saving, praying, and planning.

Travel Plans

Six Months Out: Plans for Leaving Town

July 6, 2011

July 6th, 2011.

Open before us: two guide books, a spiral bound journal and hand drawn calendar covered in scrawled notes, several browser tabs, and one all-important email: the “yes, please, let’s proceed” message to the woman helping us with our LAN South America Airpass booking.

Deep breath.

A prayer.

Click send.

Digital footfalls toward the starting line.

Choosing dates feels like a game of roulette.

“We make our plans, but He directs our steps.”

The clock ticks. If this booking proves true, we’ll be arriving in Peru six months from today.

Travel Plans

Passing Time & Dreaming Dreams

March 28, 2011

Patagonia Time Lapse Video from Adam Colton on Vimeo.

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth
And whether a tree falls to the south or to the north
The tree will lie wherever it falls

He who watches the wind will not sow
And he who observes the clouds will not reap

Just as you do not know the path of the wind
Or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman
So you do not know the work of God who makes everything

Sow your seed in the morning
And do not stop working until the evening
For you do not know which activity will succeed
Whether this one or that one
Or whether both will prosper equally

Light is sweet
And it is pleasant for a person to see the sun

Ecclesiastes 11:3-7

Travel Plans

Setting Sail…Fifteen Months Out from a Transatlantic Voyage

December 30, 2010

Years of scheming, and today we set the first critical date on the calendar. No, not the Depart-From-Home date. The Step-Foot-Onto-A-Ship date.

March 21, 2012.

Transatlantic crossing from Brazil to Spain.

Dark (dirt-cheap / relatively speaking) inside cabin. Wide open ocean.

We still don’t know when we’ll actually leave the state… But one way or another, we’ll be getting ourselves to S. America by the Vernal Equinox.