I haven’t made it a secret around here that our last few years have been tough. If you want the full gory list of challenges we’ve faced, you can refer to this post here. But in short it’s been Tough with a capital T.
Last year, Husband and I got to reflecting and asking ourselves, “is this it…?”
We had a big beautiful house.
We had good jobs.
We had beautiful beautiful children.
And we were grateful for all of that.
BUT we were working so, SO hard to keep it all.
And it felt like it wasn’t what we wanted to be doing anymore.
We had become abundantly clear on the fact that life is short.
So, so short.
And we only get one chance at this life!
Our spirits felt called towards an ADVENTURE.
So we said to ourselves
“Stuff it, life is TOO SHORT to be stuck working so hard!”
And we started planning 2018 – The year of adventure
downsize and make room in our lives
Last year we decided to sell our beautiful home that we’d spent the last 4 years renovating. It was a decision that we’d been thinking about for a while, but after we lost Dad it spurred us into action because we just didn’t have room in our lives to maintain our property, help Mum with hers, work full-time AND live a little. We settled on it in mid-December and moved in with my Mum into my family home.
It hasn’t always been a smooth ride. Living in someone else’s house will always have its challenges (especially when there are vastly different feelings around mess and stuff), but, it is working and for those of you who’ve been asking us “so how long will you live with your Mum for”, there is no end date in sight. It helps us both out to live together and makes mutual sense.
Making room in our lives for adventure was definitely a vital step!
plan some epic travel
This is the part I’m so excited to tell you about!!!
The really really good stuff that lights our souls on fire.
We are going off on a 2-month adventure, starting in July.
EEEEEEEK I’m SO EXCITED!!!
We have not been back to visit my husband’s family in England as a family of 4, ever. Both girls have visited England, but because it’s such a big financial investment, we’ve never all gone back together. So, we wanted to make sure we got over to visit Neil’s family.
And I’ve wanted to travel Europe for the longest time. It was supposed to happy the year that I went to live in England 17 years ago. But, then I met Neil, plans changed and wedding bells rung. We were supposed to go immediately back to England after our wedding. But, we got settled in NZ. Cue 2 children, several houses and a menagerie of animals, and clearly that didn’t happen.
GO on some Epic Travel
So where are we visiting?
At the end of July we go to Fiji for 7 nights for Abbie’s 8th birthday. This is our 4th time to Fiji. It’s like our second home. We’ve all been taking turns celebrating our birthdays in Fiji and Abbie is the last one to have her turn. She’s super excited!
This part is yet to be fully confirmed, but we are going to try to go to Tokyo for 3 days, for an event, on the way to Europe.
We will spend 2 weeks in England with Neil’s family. All 15 of his immediate family are going away together for 7 nights to stay in a couple of side-by-side cottages. It’s going to be awesome to spend quality time together – 4 generations all together.
After our time in England we will visit France, spending most of our time in Paris. The girls are super excited about going to Disneyland. I’m super excited about all things Paris – particularly seeing the Eiffel Tower and such like.
We will spend a few days in Brussels and then a few days in Amsterdam
We will be visiting both Berlin and Hamburg. We have been hosting German students for the last 18 months, and it will be wonderful to visit them in their home towns.
I have a cousin and his family in Copenhagen who I’m planning to visit. Although I haven’t told him yet – so if they are reading this, surprise!!!
We will go back to England to explore London for a few days
I’ve booked into a 15 day launch conference in Bali. There are some hugely exciting things happening in my business this year, and this is one of them. The girls will spend time with a Nanny doing their school work for the 15 days I’m at this.
After the 15 day conference, we are looking to stay on in Bali for another 2-3 weeks. I’m thinking we should hire an Airbnb and I will focus on videoing and launching all my course material that is in my head.
Not to mention we’d like to be able to actually explore Bali for a bit!
By the time we get to Step 4, the girls school term will be over. At this stage, we only plan to homeschool them for a term, before returning to NZ and back to life as normal.
But, who knows… will we get a taste of the adventure?
Will we become full-time digital nomads?
Or, will we come home and return to life as it was?
Who really knows…
I guess we’ll just have to see what the year brings, won’t we?
Frequently Asked Questions…
What about the girls’ school?
We are planning to take them out of school and home school them for an entire school term. Technically I haven’t applied and been approved as a homeschooler yet, but I’ve never been one to let a challenge like that stop me. I have letters of support for my application from both of the girls teachers. I have come up with an education plan for our journey which will teach the girls all about
- Timezones
- Currencies
- Languages
- Countries/cities/towns
- Historical landmarks
- Historical events
We will be giving them their very own camera/video device to document their journeys using, sticking everything they collect into a paper scrapbook, and writing about their adventures on their new blogs. Their main project will be to journal every day, to document our travels and put together a video presentation about our trip that they will present to their classes.
If you’d like to follow along their adventures (in their words), you can do so here:
Don’t expect much on there until we kick off on our trip, then the adventures will no doubt come thick and fast…
How do we feel about it?
Although it feels scary at times as I realise all that we’ve “given away” to achieve this item on our bucket list, (namely we no longer own any property, which is a risk in this market) I know in my heart and soul, these are the type of adventures I will never regret doing.
The education and experiences we will all be getting will be memories of a lifetime.
Have you been to any of the places on our list?
If so, tell me your recommendations – I’d love to know your must-see suggestions.
Brilliant Kat Soper!! We need to do lunch.
Go, Kat! You are right: Live now and do these things before life takes over again!
I come from the Netherlands and may I suggest; the Efteling, Madurodam and the Openlucht Museum in Enkhuizen for your girls. Hire bikes and become a member of “Vrienden op de fiets” and you will be able to stay in family homes for little money, with breakfast included. I did this and it was great, as it is a flat country.
Have a great time and safe travels.
ps I LOVE NZ and have been there many times!
xx
I have a 14 year old son who wants to see Europe and Russia. I told him to save his money these 4 years of high school. Then, if he wants to backpack across Europe, he should do that, BEFORE college! It’s more difficult after you have school and job responsibilities. I’m happy for you that you can all travel!