The REAL Reason We Decided to Drop Everything and Live Abroad.

Re-connect. This is the reason why we’re here in the first place. We’ve actually been planning this trip for about a year now.

23 March 2018. Glenelg, South Australia. The day started out as a typical day. We woke up, got ready, caught the tram into the city, went to work, called or message each other throughout the day. “I’m sitting at the bar having a drink,” his message read. “No rush, just come down when you’re ready.” “Okay, five minutes,” I replied. Of course, he knows that my five minutes is actually 15 minutes. I slide into the seat next to him at the bar. “Should we have a drink?” I asked, assuming he’d say yes. “Not today. I want to go home.”

It took 45 minutes to get from my workplace to the front door of our apartment. Once we went in, he asked if I could sit with him on the couch. “Honey, I want to tell you something.” he started. “Today, I was sitting in the bathroom, I go there to think a lot lately, and I had some really dark thoughts. I imagined going to the top of the building and jumping off. I even thought that it would be okay, it would be quick. No one would miss me.”

There were so many things that went through my head that night, the days, weeks, months following. One thing I knew is that he wasn’t happy. So over the next few months, we saw therapists individually, we read books that helped and inspired us, we talked about our struggles daily, and we worked on an exit plan. Part of the exit plan was to take 6 months off to travel and see the world, doing it in a cost-effective yet comfortable way.

Along the way a few other things happened that we didn’t plan for; Josh resigned 6 months earlier than planned, I changed jobs and moved us to Sydney. Fast forward 12 months and today, we officially began that journey.

We are excited to be doing this together and are incredibly mindful of how special this moment is. We are so grateful for what we can do and hope that we will find what we are looking for, out here in this big world.

But first, nasi goreng and Bintang for lunch.