Realizing the Goal

I spent most of the afternoon today thinking.  Thinking of the things that I use and the things that I do not.  I realized that I have spent most of my life collecting.  Not collecting in the way the one collects stamps (well sort of, I did collect old video games) but in the way that one collects pointless things like a new lamp, coat, tv, trinkets, even though the old ones weren't broken.  Why is it that we as westerners have grown so fond of "stuff"?  I've been a prisoner of this for so long, that at this point it is so scary and daunting of a task to reduce that it is causing me anxiety.

So, how do I break the cycle?  Well, I started with the "let go" app and the small things.  You have to start small, if you don't you'll panic and give up.  When I looked at my bills it was mind blowing!  How can I have so much debt?  How can I have not noticed that every purchase was a link in a chain that binds me to the corporate world.  Each item a link in a chain that binds my unhappiness to this world.  The large items like my car will have to wait, but I was able to unload my motorcycle and old electronics with relative ease.  This is the start, the beginning to the journey that my Wife and I will embark on.  I can tell you now, that once you begin to sell and evaluate the important things, it's freeing.  Every item you give or sell away will be a little link removed from that chain.  Every sale and donation a movement towards happiness.

Take small steps every day and before you know it the chains will break and freedom will be the avenue towards true happiness, true contentment.

The scariest place you will visit on your journey is in your own mind, and the most bizarre person you will meet is the real you.


                -Brad

Day 1

January 1, 2018

Work has officially begun.  The first item on the checklist, TIMELINE!  This has to be the most important step.  You've sat at home kicking the ideas around for years, yet you've slowly accumulated so much debt over the years how could you possibly ever leave?  Making yourself an honest timeline is how.  We sat down and discussed where our first stop would be once we cut ties and sailed off on our new lives.  Vietnam was our choice, and with that simple choice the flood gates of questions came pouring out.  Once you start shuffling through those questions you begin to see a path, a path that shows you the route to your dreams.

The Path
 
    We now have the destination, so we now know how much we will need to be "worry free".  We looked at the availability of housing for one year, at a level of comfort that would allow us to settle in but not settle down.  Our number, $300 usd a month for rent, 300 usd a month for food, and $400 usd a month for activities and cellphone use.

There it was an attainable number for a well off year abroad in Vietnam.  Now you might be wondering if somehow we just chose to give up on traveling and decided to move to Vietnam.  This is not the case.  What we did was choose the place we wanted to see first and then gave ourselves a maximum time to budget at location to view all of the surrounding locations.  Look at it like a forward operating base.

Now we have a destination and a budget of $12000.00 usd a year.  To get there we have laid out a plan to remove debt for 12 months.  Get down to the bare minimum to were at least $1000 a month goes directly to the travel fund.  Then the following 12 months will be the funding phase.  With a set time line, even though at this point only vague, the far off dream of traveling long term isn't just a pipe dream any more.

Today was our first day of Vagabonding.