by Pete Barba

Many of you have asked “How do you take a year off?” or “How do you travel around the world for a year?” or some version of that question.  And it’s a great question, one that is both complex but also amazingly simple.  For this story I’ll address finances and logistics, and in the future I’ll discuss trip planning.  Probably more importantly though, I’ll conclude my thoughts today with the bigger question of “How do you reach your dream?”

As mentioned in a previous story, it starts with a dream and priorities.  For us, that dream started 10-15 years ago and we made it a priority.  You can’t do and have everything; that’s a life truth.  Each day we make choices, and the sum of those thousands of choices dictates the path our life will follow and whether or not our dreams will come to life.  We tend to view our successes and failures as tied to big events or decisions, but more often then not they are tied to how we live our daily lives and the thousands of smaller choices that we make. 

Finances – How do you afford a year off from work, with ongoing expenses and no income?

The short answer is you save.  We have been saving for this trip for a decade.  If we had been smarter, we would have saved more earlier on.  About 5 years ago, we met a new financial planner and one of his first questions was “What do you really want in life?”  Both Kate and I said this trip.  With Jeremy’s help we created a budget.  Then we looked at our savings and realized that we had some work to do.  We created an “Around the World” account that got funded by automatically deducting a set amount from my paychecks.  Our motto to saving and investing is “If you don’t see it, you can’t spend it”.  Over 5 years and excellent management by Jeremy, that fund grew quickly and we reached our goal.  

For that to happen we had to make thousands of decisions along the way.  We bought our house on a “short sale” to save on our mortgage.  My previously owned Subaru is 12 years old.  Our clothes and furniture often come from Costco.  Up until this past year, we did most of our own home repairs and yard work.  We don’t eat out often and when we do, it’s rarely expensive meals.  Though our income is generous, we still had to make thousands of decisions along the way to save for this trip rather than splurging in everyday life.  

Maybe you’re thinking that only high-earners can travel.  This is simply not true.  This trip is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be.  From what I’ve read, you can travel for a year for about $30-50K per person.  Depending on your fixed expenses, this may even be cheaper than living at home (I’m looking at you, California).  An adventurous traveler who doesn’t mind simple accommodations and meals can get by with the low end.  So can the traveler who prefers to choose a handful of places rather than the dozens of countries we plan to explore.

Our trip is costing about $180K for the 4 of us (plus another $60K for ongoing fixed expenses).  We aren’t skimping as much as we could, but we do make lots of decisions on where we spend our funds.  We’ll get into that a lot more in a future article.  Let’s just leave it at you can’t do everything, but you can do a lot if you make smart choices.  

The lessons for this part:

• Start saving well in advance; it’s amazing how much money grows over 10 years through investment and regular contributions.
• Make your money disappear automatically from your paycheck before you get to spend it
• Know your priorities and don’t spend on things that aren’t a priority

Doctoring – How do you get off from work for a year?

Let’s first dispel a common myth—no, this is not a paid sabbatical.  I am essentially unemployed and I strongly suspect Marshall Hospital would have preferred I didn’t take this year off.

I started with advanced warning.  Soon after the kids were born, I met with the CEO of the hospital and we discussed my plans.  James was supportive (he loves to travel as well) but I don’t he believed it would happen.  Then a few years later I reminded him, and again I don’t think he believed it.  Then, when James retired and Siri took over as CEO, I informed her of the plans and asked for her blessing.  I was very honest and transparent.  I would work hard for Marshall and support our patients to the best of my ability, but this trip was happening and I hoped they would have a job for me after it was over.  

For my whole career I worked my butt off and served the community to the best of my ability.  My dedication and hard work culminated in a leadership position to get us through COVID.  Even then, I didn’t expect my colleagues to hold a place for me, and I was willing to find a new job when I returned if that was what it took to make this trip happen.  After all, cemeteries are filled with irreplaceable individuals.  

As I mentioned in previous articles, actually leaving my patients was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.  I give my heart and soul to my patients, and they give me their trust and love in return.  Thankfully, Tracy Harris, an amazing nurse practitioner whom I have been blessed to work with for 15 years has continued to serve our patients while I’ve been gone.  In addition, we brought on David, a very intelligent nurse practitioner about 9 months before I left to get to know my patients and help cover my absence.  Finally, but equally important, I work with an amazing team of doctors, nurse practitioners, medical assistants and other staff (who are far more intelligent and kind than I am) who are helping serve our patients.  I am forever in their debt.  

The lessons for this part:

• Make your plans known well in advance
• Work hard and pay your dues
• Plan for your absence
• Understand that no one is irreplaceable
• Be willing to look for a new job if that’s what it takes.

School – What about the kids’ education?

We never planned on being a homeschool family, but then COVID hit.  Like everyone else, in March 2020 our school shut down.  Thankfully Kate has a background in education and she was able to take over teaching our kids, working first with their teacher and then on her own.  Our school stayed shut down for 18 months, during which time Kate honed her teaching style.  For the school year 21-22, our kids could have returned to traditional school, but our private school changed their style and we didn’t feel comfortable sending them back.  Instead of starting them in a new school and then pulling them out one year later for this trip, Kate continued teaching them at home for fifth grade.  By now, she’s an awesome teacher.

Now we are in sixth grade and I have added “teacher” to my resume.  Kate teaches Language Arts, History, and Spanish, while I teach Math and Science.  We have a homeschool curriculum that we follow and online resources that we utilize daily.  We also improvise a lot.  For example, right now we are doing positive and negative numbers in math.  Using our deck of playing cards, we practice our basic math functions to kill time while waiting for planes to take off or meals to be served.  “Red ace (negative 12) divided by black 3 (positive 3) = ???”  

We have reconciled ourselves to the idea that if they fall slightly behind in traditional schooling this year, that’s ok because of the extra knowledge that they are gaining from this trip.  They are learning art history at the Louvre and The Egyptian Museum.  History is taught at the Acropolis in Athens and Tiwanaku in Bolivia.  Science is seeing the volume changes in a sealed and empty water bottle at different altitudes and discussing the ideal gas law.  Math is learning to convert Celsius into Fahrenheit and krona into dollars.  Writing skills are practiced with this blog.

Finally, there’s all the other learning that isn’t as noticeable in traditional school but is probably far more important in life:  appreciation for cultural differences and norms, responsibility for yourself and your (limited) possessions, self confidence in an uncomfortable situation, and situational awareness.  They are learning how to be a team player, respect different religions, and manage money.  Through travel they are overcoming physical discomfort, learning to focus in chaotic situations, acknowledging their emotions, surviving on lack of sleep, and tolerating their sibling and embarrassing parents.  Valuable skills indeed!

The lessons for this part:

• Stay flexible and be creative
• Stretch yourself; you can do anything you are willing to work for
• Learning is all around you, stay curious
• Kids are resilient and we can learn from them

Miscellaneous Logistics – What did you do about _______?

• We rented out our house to a friend we trust.  This helps offset the mortgage and keeps the house safe. 
• We have health insurance through COBRA, plus an emergency evacuation/transport insurance plan.
• Our mail is being forwarded to someone we trust.
• Our cats are with Grandma and Grandpa.
• We sold one of our cars; the other is being driven monthly by a friend to keep it working.
• We stay in touch with family and friends via texting, WhatsApp, emails, social media, and the occasional video call.  Do what works for you to stay grounded and connected.
• We have global SIM cards for cellular data and Google-Fi for voice and texting.
• Have a burning question we didn’t answer?  Leave a comment or reach out!

The big picture – How do you make a dream come true?

When I distill down how we made this trip happen, I think it comes down to a few key points that apply to any big dream.

Know your dream – This sounds obvious, but you (and your spouse) need to know what your dream is and stick with it for years.  Sit down with your loved one and make a 3, 5, 10 year plan.  Big dreams take time and money; they don’t happen overnight.  You need to plan, prepare, save, etc.  It’s very easy to just pass through life and that is completely ok.  But if you yearn for something more, it’s not just going to happen on its own.  You need to focus on it.

Make sacrifices – Make your money go automatically into savings and retirement.  Pack your lunch.  Don’t buy new and fancy cars.  Work hard so you can play harder.  Goals are met with thousands of small (and big) decisions.

Have a coach – Our financial planner helped us identify our dreams and formulate investment plans.  Most of all though he helped us focus on our goal and we pay him to hold us accountable.  Find someone who will be your Jeremy.

Don’t let setbacks stop you – We’ve had a number of setbacks for this dream but they didn’t stop us.  COVID, market crashes, inflation, personal illness, etc.  While setbacks may modify, delay or otherwise disrupt your dream, they shouldn’t stop it.  Be willing to pivot but don’t stop moving to your goal.

Anticipate challenges – We knew this year, while a huge blessing, would also be challenging for our relationships.  The kids miss their friends fiercely, but we knew this and were able to arrange for their (and our) friends to visit us during the year.  

Practice conflict resolution – Kate and I have been married for over 21 years, but a year of marriage counseling before we left was the best thing we could have done for our communication.  Don’t wait until things are bad to work on your relationships.

Believe you can’t fail – There’s nothing you can’t do.  Know that.  Many people who are less well off, less educated, less intelligent, less talented than you have done great things and lived their dreams.  If they can do it, you can too.

Thanks for reading to the end.  Next up: Argentina!  Don’t forget to check out our past stories and subscribe for future articles as well.  Find us on Facebook and Instagram for bonus content!  Please note that any links or business names provided are for information only, we did not receive any compensation for our opinions or recommendations. As always, if you are planning a trip to any location we visit we are happy to provide more details and opinions, so feel free to contact us.