I first met Amy and Mike, who blog at Worldschool Adventures, back in June in Vancouver where we were all attending the TBEX conference for travel bloggers. I had just spent many years on the road and was thrilled to be in one place for a change; they were giddy with excitement about their upcoming adventures traveling the world with their children.
Over the next few months, I noticed the depression in Amy’s voice get more severe as she waited for their house to sell so they could hit the road. I felt badly and wished there was something – anything – I could do.
And then one day Amy sent me a message: Surprisingly, I’m OK with being here now.
That’s what it’s all about – being OK with being here. Whereever here is. I’ll let Amy tell the story about how she reached that place.
My husband and I began formulating the plan while we were on our honeymoon in Southeast Asia. We would come home, have children, wait until we felt they were old enough for travel, and then go back to Asia but this time with kids in tow.
Fast-forward seven years and two children later and the plan that started as our moment of inspiration had morphed into our plan of action. At six and four we felt our boys were old enough to travel. In the past six years we built three houses and sold two of them, building up our equity house by house. Now in our third house, a beautiful rancher that I designed and my husband built, the timing was right for us to sell our house and go on a two year slow-travel adventure throughout Asia.
It was, we felt, the perfect plan.
We thought the house would sell fast. We were sure that within a few months our lives in Canada would be neatly packed away and we would be living our dream of long-term family travel. Apparently the universe had other plans.
I was incredibly optimistic in the first four months our house was for sale. I looked at the sold sign on my vision board everyday and envisioned our lives in Asia. The amazing food, the cheap cost of living, waking up to the sound of the ocean, being together as a family with all the time in the world to explore each new locale…. That was what I wanted more than anything.
The only thing standing in the way of our dreams was selling the house. Once that hurdle was crossed we would be free. But the house remained unsold and my optimism took a nosedive.
I started to get depressed with our situation. Would we never leave? I could not bear the thought of spending another winter here. As the months ticked by I could feel my disdain for the house and our situation growing stronger and stronger.
Our house anchored us to a life we no longer wanted. I believed that all it would take for me to be happy was for our house to sell. In my mind, once we were traveling our lives would be perfect. I daydreamed about what the future held for us and hoped that soon we could “start” our lives.
But then, as winter began its slow and steady assault on the northern hemisphere, my perceptions began to change. After a particularly hard day of parenting I wrapped myself in the therapy of a hot bath and decided I needed to accept the fact that our house had not sold. Instead of wishing away our time here I needed to embrace it and enjoy it. I was spending all my time and energy dwelling on the future, anticipating the day our adventure would finally start.
I finally realized our adventure was happening right now!
The shift was slow at first and it started with the simple intention to be happy exactly where I was. I created a mental list of all the things I had to be grateful for and the list was long! I promised myself to find joy in the little things, and be grateful for what I had.
I began purposefully and intentionally practicing living in the moment.
Instead of going for a walk and being absorbed in my thoughts of the future, I began going for walks with my eyes wide open. I started seeing beauty in the little things, even in the browns and greys of an overcast winter.
Instead of seeing our house as an anchor I intentionally began looking at its beauty. I gave thanks every day that we had a beautiful place to rest our heads and that our children were spending their first years close to our extended family.
Instead of biding our time and going through the motions of daily life we started making our own adventures at home. We started taking advantage of our natural surroundings and getting out there to enjoy it.
These past few months have been hard in many ways and my husband and I have asked ourselves many searching questions. What makes us happy? What kind of life do we want to live? What kind of childhood do we want our children to have? How do we want to spend our time? Having this “pause” in our plans has given us time to take stock and find our priorities.
It has now been ten months since our house came on the market and this time has been a roller coaster ride emotionally, but I would not trade the lessons learned for anything. I know there is a reason things did not turn out the way we had planned. The universe knew we needed a lesson in presence and patience.
It is my hope that if I can find presence here in our small town in British Columbia, then I can find it anywhere in the world. We won’t be in China wishing we were in Thailand, we won’t be in the mountains longing for the beach. We will be giving thanks for every single moment, drinking the beauty out of every sight we see and experience we live. We’ll invite presence with every breath.
Our house will sell when the time is right and until then we will live fully, enjoying this great adventure called life.
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Tags: choices, family travel, goal setting, lifestyle design, live your dream, parenthood, planning, Preparation, priorities, travel
January 18, 2012 4:25 pm
Great post. So glad you have found your presence.
The mantra of the 1960′s – Be here now.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t arrived. All we have is this very moment in time and it soon will be gone. Enjoy the relaxing moment with a cup of coffee, a conversation with a neighbor, a new pair of socks, your children sliding down a slide.
Dream your dreams for sure, but sha la la la la la Live For Today, as 60′s rockers the Grassroots sang so joyfully.
Even the moment when I started reading this post and writing this comment has passed. But I surely have enjoyed my time!
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Nancy Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
@Nina F,
Be here now. That’s such a great visual! I think it’s human nature to live in the past or future – takes conscious decisions to live now!
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 8:03 pm
@Nina F, Love the lyrics Nina! All we have is this moment, there is nothing else!
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Laurence Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 2:29 am
Wow, great comment Nina.
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January 18, 2012 6:03 pm
This is so inspiring, even for those of us with no particular travel plans!
It can be applied to anything in life and is particularly poignant for families with young children, when times can often be challenging and the temptation to simply wish them away is ever present.
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Nancy Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
@Eryn,
It totally can be applied to everything in life. We’re always reaching for the better job or bigger car or… We need to look around us and say, “This is perfect.”
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
@Eryn, The process can be used by anyone, no matter what their plans or life is like. All it takes is stopping to appreciate the moment and being grateful for being exactly where you are.
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January 18, 2012 9:57 pm
Great post Amy!!! I am so sorry for the house not selling when you wanted it to, and your journey overseas not beginning sooner. I know exactly how you feel. Although we had no house to sell, when I gave birth to Kaya leaving LA was so challenging. Family didn’t want us to go, we had limited funds and both Billy and I were desperate to raise Kaya elsewhere. When we did get the cash, Billy got cold feet and so time went bye, months and months went bye. I was incredibly depressed, but what kept me going is what you are doing, staying in the moment and focusing on what one has. Our desires come and go, but family is forever ( in my book lol). Look forward to meeting you and your family, and the Family On bikes crew one day!!
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
@Elizabeth, I can’t wait to meet you too Elizabeth! If you guys stay in Thailand it will happen, it is just a matter of when!!!!
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Elizabeth Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 7:48 am
@Amy @WorldschoolAdventures, We will be here for 2012
That’s for sure!!
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January 19, 2012 2:31 am
This is a wonderful post
So often people live for the future (planning a retirement 30 years hence.. looking forward to the highlights of their trip.. etc..) that the wonder all around goes unnoticed. Thanks for sharing 
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:26 am
@Laurence, I feel sad for the people who are waiting for retirement to pursue their dreams. I know of so many people who have done that, finally retired, and then have either died or discovered health issues that prevent them from living the retired life they had envisioned. That will not be me!
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Nancy Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:38 am
@Amy @WorldschoolAdventures,
That would be my grandfather. He worked long after he could have retired in order to save more for those magic years. Finally the day came, he retired, and they started living in Florida for the winter and Minnesota for the summer. On their second trip south, Grandpa had a stroke and died in Georgia.
I think that was one of the driving forces behind my decision to live life now.
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January 19, 2012 5:43 am
How truely I can understand what you are working through, we are in transit between Australia and Italy with a house there waiting for us and all our dreams on hold till our house sells or we come up with another way to get there. I have also been through the down days and yes I have been living in each moment thinking this could be the last time for a while that I have a Summer Christmas, still haven’t taken down the tree as I love the ornaments I have collected over many years and don’t think I’ll be able to get them safely to Italy. A million things yet each day I know we are that much closer and have had extra time to be here for some major family drama’s. So I know we will both get there, just a little patience and a joy in each moment where ever it is spent!
with love
lisa x
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:15 am
@lisa|renovating italy, Thank you Lisa. It is a lesson on patience isn’t it? I hope your house sells soon and you can start your next Italian adventure!
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January 19, 2012 6:03 am
I love reading this post about being in the moment! I so need to read this because we are not travelling as fast as I had hoped/would like! I really need to focus on what I am grateful for, and to “Be” instead of thinking about what I had thought we would be doing!
How true you are – the house will sell when the universe knows its the right time!
Cheers
Lisa
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:17 am
@Lisa Wood, It is like our brains are hard wired to live in the future and it is a continual process to rewire them. What I found helped me was to take a few moments each day and concentrate on what I am grateful for.
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January 19, 2012 6:32 pm
Great post. Sometimes it’s hard to realize that we are living life every single minute, even if we are not doing exactly what we want. I’m not the most patient person in the world, but I have come to this same conclusion. In fact, I embraced it so much that I’m not even sure if I want to travel long term anymore. I love where I live and we are thinking of just keeping our home base and traveling whenever we want!
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:20 am
@Christy, That is awesome Christy! I dream of that too someday…of returning from our trip and buying a bit of land to grow our own food. I would love to set up a lifestyle of being at a home for six months of the year and then traveling in the winter. That way we could have the best of both worlds and totally avoid cold weather!
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January 19, 2012 9:52 pm
This is very true. It’s one thing to have a plan and work towards it, but it’s another thing to just drop everything in hopes for tomorrow.
It’s a cool thing that you have been able to work through the waiting and enjoy the day. I really like the approach you took here. Be grateful for what you have today.
You’re right – your house will sell when you are ready for it to sell. If it had sold fast, maybe your travels would have been more turbulent because you didn’t have this lesson under your belt. Sometimes we need something to tell us we are just not ready yet.
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:22 am
@Justin, I totally agree with that Justin. I think if our house had sold fast it would have been a much different trip then what it is going to be. We would not have had the time to reflect, prioritize, and get closer to understanding what it is we really want out of life. I really think that having this pause in our plans has been a blessing.
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January 19, 2012 11:51 pm
This post is so honest, so raw. And delivers such a beautiful message of hope and inspiration. Being happy in the moment isn’t always easy, but this is an eloquent reminder that, before you look to being happy in the future, you need to accept where you are and be THERE. I love this. It’s a good reminder for me, especially since I find myself feeling the same way.
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Amy @WorldschoolAdventures Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:24 am
@dtravelsround, Thank you so much for your kind words. You are right, being in the moment is not easy. For me it is something that I have to work at and remind myself to do daily.
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January 28, 2012 4:55 pm
If you price your house low enough someone will buy it. Are trapped by money, one of the major reasons many don’t get to live the life they wish? But your positive lesson from this is priceless.
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Nancy Reply:
January 28th, 2012 at 7:47 pm
@John,
I guess that’s what it comes down to. They had to choose between pricing the house low enough that it would sell and taking the loss or staying put until it sells. Tough decisions.
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