It's Official.

Six months ago, I announced on my blog that I was quitting my job, selling everything, and traveling the world with The Dizzle.

Five months ago, I was crying over which pairs of underwear I got to keep and which had to go. But mostly, I was just experiencing these foreign emotions of having to take 26 years worth of things and widdle them all down to fit inside one suitcase. At the time, it seemed like such a huge deal to me.
Now? I couldn't tell you 99% of the things I got rid of.
Funny how that works.

I wrote last October 19 about my very last day of employment.
Working in an office, 40 hours a week, having the computer screen glare at me all day long, well, let's just say I don't miss that. Not one bit.
Maybe the paychecks. Buuuuut that's about it.

We finally left the good ol' U-S-of-A back on November 18, 2012. And only 3 days in, I had my first bout of homesickness, tears and all. I remember questioning if we did the right thing. I wondered if I'd always feel so homesick and out of the loop.
Fortunately, it does get better. Much better.
Skype and WiFi have been my saving graces.

San Diego. 2012.

So where are we now?

We are on our 117th day of travel.
I'm currently laying in our hotel bed in Hanoi, with The Dizzle sound asleep next to me.
We only have 5 days left here until we head out to explore Phuket, Thailand.
(and if you ask me, can't come soon enough.)
After Phuket, we'll be going to Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
After Bangkok, we fly to Amsterdam on April 15th.
After Amsterdam, we are going to spend a quick 6 days in London.

And then (and know that I am telling you this with very mixed emotions),
we go back to America.

{Sad, excited, nervous, sad again, doesn't begin to explain my daily waves of feelings.}

We will be in San Francisco on May 17th - - Exactly 6 months since we left the country.

We went back and forth for a long time on when this time should/would come.

Are we ready?
Is this too soon?
Will we regret it?
Should we try to extend this as long as possible?
What about our finances?

And in the end, this is what made sense to us.

We started with $26,000 in the bank.
If our calculations and budgeting go accordingly, by the time we get back to America, plus pay our first month's rent, we'll have only $6000 to our names.
Not a whole lot, especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Fortunately, we've gotten quite good at stretching a dollar and we are very much looking forward to making many home cooked meals that we've missed so much.

We felt that this was a good time for us to head back, mentally and financially, take a little breather, then reassess.

Cinque Terre, Italy

However.

This isn't the end of our travel days.

This isn't the beginning of being "tied down," never to leave again.

This is just another page in this chapter of life we're in.

To be honest with you, I didn't realize traveling would be so exhausting.
I didn't realize just how much I'd miss having my own place to call "home."
Having a kitchen to cook in. Or should I say, having a kitchen for V Dizzle to cook in.
I mean, as long as we're being honest here...

So, yeah, I think we're ready for that. For just a little while at least.
Though, I don't doubt for a second that there will be many days after returning where we'll look at each other and wish we could still be out, exploring someplace new.

Which is why, I am vowing right here and now, that we will return back to the world of travel, wallets and souls refreshed. Will it entail uprooting and selling everything again? Probably not.
But, it will take some more saving up, planning and patience.

In the meantime, we still have two more months left of these amazing travels and I intend to soak it all in, wide-eyed, because I'm sure the moment I blink, we'll be on a plane back to America.
Annnddd here comes another wave of sadness.
Oh boy, this is going to be quite the emotional roller coaster, eh?
But then again, this is me we're talking about.
Queen of the emotions.

xoxo