All around the world

London, England

What is it about long term goals that makes them so much easier to take for granted? Four years ago my husband Ish came home from work excited about an option he could take at work. If he took a 20% pay cut for each of the next four years, he could get it all back in the fifth year without working a single day.

Four years on; one year off to do whatever he wanted.

Pair that with a spouse (that’s me) who can do her job from anywhere in the world  and it was like handing a leprechaun a pot of gold.

Our minds raced with excitement. We knew exactly what we wanted: time to travel. We’d take the kids out of school, hit the road and introduce them to the world outside their comfortable neighbourhood surroundings. We’d hit the countries we’d always dreamed about  but had seemed too far for a holiday (Australia) and double back to others where we’d promised to show the kids one day (South Africa). It was so easy then to dream big and to do nothing.

But now the four years are almost up.

In July 2011 we’re supposed to leave. The time for planning in earnest has begun and suddenly the world seems a lot bigger and  places we took for granted as must visits (Bangkok, Dubai) have seen tough times politically and economically of late that have us questioning and rethinking and planning again.

Dubai: To go or not to go?

We’re no longer planning a trip with “two kids” – we’re planning a trip with our two kids  who over the last four years have developed into two very distinct personalities that don’t always want to do what I think they should.

We’ve got a life in Canada that needs to be tidied and transformed to withstand a year without us living it.

And as it turns out 365 days isn’t enough time to go everywhere and do everything so there are some tough decisions ahead.

We’ve got less than 12 months to get it all together.

And we can use all the help we can get.