Two on Four Wheels

I came across a horribly sad story tonight. This young couple, Peter Root and Mary Thompson, both only 34 years old, from Guernsey in the Channel islands, were killed in a road accident in Thailand.

They apparently saved their money up for six years to be able to do a round-the-world bicycling trip, riding hard and camping in the wild. This was supposed to be something amazing, life changing, and incredible. And they'd been living their dream.

Until they were hit by a car on February 13, 2013 and killed. Just like that. 

According to this article on Yahoo, the couple was hit by a truck when the driver reached down to pick up a cap from the vehicle's floor.

I breaks my heart for everyone involved. For Peter and Mary. For the rest of their dreams never coming true. For a journey unfinished. For their families who are hurting, an ocean apart from their loved one's bodies. 

It also brings about introspection for my journey. 

Am I ready for anything? For tragedy? I need to be smart, be aware, and be safe. For me, it also reaffirms our adventure. It's a harsh reminder that life is short and that I, quite frankly, could die tomorrow. Which is all the more reason to live today.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain is one of my favorite writers. And one of my favorite quotes from Mr. Twain just perfectly explains my life wants and needs. In just three words he tells of the adventure I can't wait to have next year.

with love,

What is a Vagabond?

My friend Faith McKay introduced me to the term Vagabond. The word vagabond is used to describe someone who wanders from place to place; a wanderer. It's a word used to describe those who live a traveling or nomadic lifestyle. Which means that it also describes me and the life I can't wait to be living.

With love,

Spinning Heads and Uncertainties

My first post was The Big Reveal. The admission that Ryan, Johanna, and I have made the conscious choice to abandon society’s idea of normalcy. That we want to travel and see the world before we’re too old to do it without a walker. And the way our lives are now, we’re not sure this will happen without making changes. Big changes.

There are a million things floating around in my head… mainly questions:

• How will we make money?
• How can we even afford this at all? None of us currently own a bus or an RV.
• Will I hate traveling around and living out of a bus or RV?
•  What if we all can’t stop fighting? (though normally we never do)
• What will my parents say? (I can tell you right now, one of my parents will FREAK)
• How will my dog handle this? Will the trip be enhanced or hindered by him?
• How can we help people and make the world a better place through our travels?

Right now there are more uncertainties than anything but I’m hoping with time, even though we’re a year away, my nerves will start to subside. After all, all good things are wild and free.

With love,

Wanderlust: The Beginning

Wanderlust, Pirates, and Vikings! Oh My!

Wanderlust, Pirates, and Vikings! Oh My! came about as a build up of frustrations with life and the desire to live free. The three of us are best friends and have been since 2002 when Johanna and I met in band. Then shortly after, Ryan and I met through mutual friends and voila!

We've all worked hard. We still work hard. We've all paid our own way through school to earn our degrees. We've always done what was expected of us by family, society, and our employers.

But it's time. We're fed up. We want to live our lives how WE see fit. We want to see the world while we still can. We want to meet new people. Try new food. Explore uncharted pieces of land and sea.

We'd love to see what there is in other countries out there. But the truth is, first we want to explore home. We want to see what types of beautiful things there are in the United States. We got to talking late one night and decided on THE PLAN.

The Plan

In 2014, Johanna, Ryan, and myself will be quitting our jobs. We will get rid of most of our belongings. We will purchase either a VW Bus or a small RV. And we will travel. For an entire year. We will videotape and photograph our journey and share with you the neat places we're visiting, travel tips, camping tips, and cool places off the beaten track.

But How? You are crazy!

Ryan, Johanna, and I are creative people. I love photography and writing, Johanna is an incredible artist, and Ryan is is fantastic with graphic design, hockey anything, and music. We truly believe that somehow between the three of us, we can make this work. We don't have a plan yet. But we're spending 2013 planning.

Can I help?

Thank you so much for asking. We will undoubtedly take any help we can get! Whether it be travel tips, monetary donations, etc, we'd love to hear from you. If you do decide to contribute any money towards our plan, we promise to send you a postcard from the road. 

Please contact Jolene at jolene dot haley at gmail.com.

With love,