I’ve finally decided it’s time to ditch my desk and go and see the world!

I’ve always wanted to travel but I’ve always made excuses: I can’t afford it; I can’t leave my job; I’ll miss my friends and family; I can’t because I have a mortgage. The truth is I was probably just too scared.

I’m a planner, probably too much of a planner. I’ve worked in a business where spreadsheets, budgets and strategic management rule the roost. To just up and leave and not worry about the “what if’s”, “where to’s” and “what then’s” is not something that comes naturally to me. That’s not to say that isn’t what I want, just that my adventurous side is accompanied by a side that wants to know where I’m heading and if I can afford it!

One of the things I want to achieve from doing this, aside from the obvious excitement of seeing the world, is to challenge myself, push myself outside my comfort zone and learn to just go with the flow a bit more.

The List” of places I want to visit is endless and its taken a long time to cut it down into a manageable first trip. So here’s the vague plan, which happily I expect to change and develop once we hit the road:

First stop: Italy. Naples, Sorrento, Pompei and Rome all on the list.

Followed by Croatia, to wander around the Plitvice Lakes National Park amongst other things.

Then Istanbul is another definite destination. Having never been and hearing only good things, I can’t wait to see what it has in store.

After Europe, we head to China. Having a best friend who lives in Shanghai, I’ve been before and loved it. I want to explore some more and of course catch up with old friends (and a new addition!).

After that, the plan gets less specific and perhaps more exciting with Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand on “The List”.

Then the plan is to head to Singapore to celebrate my birthday in style catalunyafarm.com.

The last planned destination of our trip, hopefully one of many trips, is Australia. I have a one year working visa to try and finance exploring Australia and any future travels.

I’ve decided to do this now while I’m still young, able and relatively unattached. I know the longer I leave it, the harder I will find it to up and leave.

More to the point, instead of telling myself why I haven’t or can’t, I’ve started to ask myself “why not?”. Why not see the world while I’m young, fit and able? What have I got to lose? A job? Some savings? Are these that important? If I lose these things having the best time of my life, is it not worth it? I think so. And if I hate life on the road? I come back. It’s not the end of the world. One thing I need to teach myself is to live now and worry later. That’s not to say I haven’t thought everything through, done a budget and made a plan though! I’m in no denial that I will worry along the way but I’m also now utterly convinced that this is the right time for me.

Despite loving my job and owning my own flat it’s time to take on a new challenge slovenska-lekaren.com. It’s now or never. Working VISAs for Australia are only available until the age of 30 and as I will be 29 when I arrive, this is really the last chance to do this. This is something I feel I NEED to do; I’d rather try and fail than sit at my desk wishing I’d done it.

Who knows what will happen, maybe it’s the worst mistake I’ll ever make. But it could be the best thing I have ever decided to do. I won’t know until I try. So here goes nothing!