365 Days of Full-Time Travel; How It All Started

In 2012, we were in Madrid for our first time, on our first BIG holiday together, sitting on our tiny balcony overlooking Plaza Mayor, right in the middle of all the chaos. If you have ever been to Madrid, it is likely you have walked through this famous plaza. The energy, the buzz, the vendors yelling, it is something to experience. We had rented a little condo that was right in this plaza. This is where the dream of a different lifestyle was born.

A seed was planted that evening as we sipped Spanish wine and watched the show from our balcony with so much enjoyment and wonder. Looking back, I can now see that this was the moment we fell in love with this dream. At the time it was just that, a dream, a ‘what if’, a ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ idea. I mean my husband Ian was (and still is) a nerd. Like, a big smart nerd, and he technically should be able to do something with that computer that would give us enough money to travel or at least get a laptop and work from this tiny condo, right? At least every week, sometimes more – sometimes less, we talked about Madrid, a different lifestyle, and surprisingly it was Ian who would always bring it up…for 10 years.

He fell in love with that city more then I’ve ever seen anyone fall in love with a place.

And this is coming from a girl that literally cries every single time she leaves anywhere because she loves everything so much.

We never had any idea how to make it happen. We talked a lot about scenarios, ideas and concepts but nothing seemed possible. We didn’t put anything into action for so many years. The only thing we did was continue to travel as much as possible and continue to dream.

Fast forward to day 365 of travelling full time.

Now… I always have something to say, I always have an opinion, and even though I have been sitting with this moment for a week leading up to it, I am speechless. I am also one to feel things at a very deep level. Remember, I cry every time I have to leave somewhere I love. I am filled with so much gratitude and amazement that finding the words that are worthy enough to be used to express this feeling and experience seems impossible. I can use all the buzz words that everyone throws around these days but that doesn’t feel deep enough. Maybe these feelings are just that, and they are only meant to be felt. I believe, especially now, that there are such sacred moments in each person's life that, not only can’t be explained to others, but also don’t need to be. Those moments when you look back on your journey, from where you were to where you are now, how you got here, how you survived, how you didn’t think you would and how you didn’t know if you could make it. Looking back on the people who held you and supported you when you needed it most. Remembering who you used to be, seeing how your relationships have changed and seeing how many relationships fell away. Seeing everything from the other side and knowing that all the loss, grief, pain, fear and loneliness was absolutely worth it. That feeling that is so much deeper and complex then the amazement, gratitude, and pride that you feel. That is the feeling that cannot be expressed, and it doesn’t need to be, its mine, its only for me.

So, I will choose the mother of all buzz words to describe this 365-day moment – Gratitude!

Getting to experience this journey with my best friend and husband is like living in a movie. Also, luckily for me, these are the same person. Sometimes we argue about who the main character is but other then that we agree on most things. (It’s obviously me, but he has his moments). I have had people ask me if we are getting on each others’ nerves yet, and the answer is, no more then before. To be honest, full-time travel isn’t perfect, there are challenges and hard days and things don’t go right all the time. There are a whole new set of emotions you have to deal with and they arise out of the blue. You have to navigate these new people you are becoming, communicate, express your self and be honest with yourself. You have to learn what is working and what isn’t working, let the other person know what you need and what you want and how you feel. You have to give each other space to grow and take time away from each other. We have realized that all the things we prioritized in our relationship before we left are just as important now. Nothing has changed for us, just our environment.

The truth is, life was wonderful and difficult before we left.

And it still is. It just looks different.

You will always have good and bad days. But we would just rather have them with a different view sometimes. We are partners in everything we do, we always have been and it sure does make this full-time travel lifestyle much easier. I couldn’t imagine doing this with someone who wasn’t on the same page, or if we didn’t communicate with each other or if we didn’t respect each others space, process, needs and wants. This lifestyle will definitely put your relationship to the test repeatedly, but no one has been thrown out the window or left behind yet. For us, this experience has brought us closer, improved our communication and strengthened our foundation. Also, the biggest blessing is that we both think we are comedians and we each believe we are the funniest person alive. So, when things don’t go right, or there are rats in your ceiling, or you are lonely because everyone you know is 9000km away, we have someone to laugh with (or at).

I’m trying to decide what my favourite moment is from the last year of travel and there are so many incredible sights, experiences and moments. From the very first glass of wine on our balcony looking at the wonderful view in Kotor to sitting in the pool at our private villa looking out over the rolling Tuscan hills. Listening to the opera singer after our Italian cooking class and eating dumplings on that secret street in Madrid. Sitting by my self on Cleopatra Beach in Alanya, or our Michelin Star night that brought the whole table to tears. These are all core memories for me, just to name a few. But I think that my absolute favourite moment of the last 365 days is this one right now. Finally, sitting down and starting to write something. My first blog post.

I have always wanted to write; I never knew what it would look like. I never had time to write, or made time to write, or knew what to write. I spent the last while moving through all the things that come up when you try to do something new. I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m scared, its so vulnerable, what if I suck at it, what if no one likes it, what if everyone hates me… I moved through all the nasty things we say to ourselves and let ourselves believe. To be honest I am still navigating some of these old beliefs but… I am doing it any ways. At 42 I am starting something new, it’s scary, it’s exciting and I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but its going to begin with this blog post.

Future Lisa will know what to do, so I’m going to help future Lisa and start today. I know this to be true because I am future Lisa, and that Lisa back in 2012, sitting on that balcony in Madrid helped me out by starting to dream that dream that brought us here.