One year ago today, my husband and I packed up our lives into a carry-on bag and boarded a flight to Europe on a one-way ticket.
As I’m writing this, it may appear that I’m more or less right back where I started – drinking coffee at our house in Tampa, Florida.
But I’ve been across the world and back, and although it may sound the same it feels far from it.
It’s hard to sum up a full year’s worth of adventures, experiences and traveling into a single blog post (one that’s tolerable to read, anyway).
We are beyond grateful for the opportunities this past year has brought us – it’s been the adventure of a lifetime. But in the spirit of transparency and at the risk of oversharing, I’m pulling back the curtain on our first year as full-time travelers.
The Internet – Instagram in particular – can paint a rosy picture of other people’s lives. The highlight reel is all that you see.
My goal is to give you, my friends, a real picture of the up’s and down’s, of life on the road and what it’s like to spend a full year away from home.
Did you ever play that game as a kid where you go around the dinner table, and each person shares the high and low points of their week? Example – High: I won my tennis match. Low: I got a B on my English paper.
Keeping in theme, here’s the story of our first year as full-time travelers… A side that you probably haven’t heard yet.
One Year of Travel: The Highs, Lows & What’s Next
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April 2018
HIGH
We purge our belongings at a rate that would make even Marie Kondo proud. We fill an entire Salvation Army truck with our hand-me-down, fraternity-house-chic furniture.
We move out of our house in Tampa, then immediately hop on a plane to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for the wedding of our good friends.
LOW
I bittersweetly give notice at my medical device job. While it was a conversation I’d played over in my head a million times, when that moment came I felt like I was going to throw up.
After months of debate and planning, the train had left the station and there was no turning back.
Sunset over San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
May 2018
LOW
I wrap up my last day at work, then spend the next three days sleeping until noon, questioning my life choices and laying on the couch watching Outlander.
A group of college girls signs a one-year lease and move into our beloved house. I spend my newfound free time sleuthing for evidence of a dog I hear has moved in with them, violating their lease of our newly renovated house.
HIGH
Our friends throw us a Bon Voyage party. Shit’s getting real. We board a flight to London, then the next thing we know we’ve landed in Croatia.
It’s more beautiful than we could have imagined, and all of the stress that comes with voluntarily uprooting your entire life lifts with the jet lag.
June 2018
HIGH
We spend the month in the coastal city of Šibenik, Croatia. We adjust to life abroad, life without our day jobs and life at a leisurely pace that we’d never before experienced.
We spend our days swimming in the Adriatic, hiking in Krka National Park and doing, well – nothing. Our newfound freedom sinks in.
LOW
We take a weekend trip to the island of Zirje, Croatia to find that all businesses and restaurants are closed for the off-season.
Our Airbnb advertised as “entire place” shares the living space with a chain-smoking German man who wore only a Speedo, visor and a tank top for the duration of our visit.
After watching him clip his toenails at the dinner table next to us, we attempt to leave the island to find the next ferry isn’t for two days. Despite the bad weather that rolls in we stick it out, play cards and eat potato chips and scrambled eggs for dinner.
READ MORE: A Beginner’s Guide to Island Hopping in Croatia
July 2018
HIGH
We visit the Middle East for the first time and tick some major things off the bucket list.
We hike through the Lost City of Petra, float in the Dead Sea, visit King Tut’s tomb in Luxor, and watch the sun rise over the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.
It was pure magic.
READ MORE: Travel guides for Egypt and Jordan
LOW
I Google “best place for medical tourism in Europe”. The answer – Hungary, and fortunately for all parties involved we were already on our way to Budapest. We make a visit to a private hospital for a minor, but necessary procedure.
I’ll spare you the medical details, but I could have eaten breakfast off of the floor and the lobby had a view of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Medical tourism is a real thing, y’all.
READ MORE: A Beginner’s Guide to Budapest, Hungary
August 2018
HIGH
We fall in love with Amsterdam, and what starts out as a 10-day stint quickly turns into a month.
We immerse ourselves in the city, catch up with friends, and attempt to live like locals. If I were to move to Europe for an extended period, I’d set up shop here.
READ MORE: The 10 Essential Things to Do in Amsterdam
LOW
After three months away, homesickness creeps in as we’re packing up our bags (again) for Spain. We receive news of the tragic passing of a family member, and we miss a few big events for family and friends.
The unanticipated side-effects of long-term travel sink in, and despite the amazing experiences and adventures, we can’t deny that we are really, really far away from home.
September 2018
LOW
A high-school football knee injury rears its ugly head on day two of the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage route across Spain. Travis grits through the remaining 486 miles wearing two knee braces.
I pop a blister the size of a golf ball and calculate how many pedicures lie ahead of me until I can wear sandals in public again.
HIGH
We complete the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in a questionably aggressive 31 days. We push ourselves physically and emotionally to limits we weren’t quite aware that we had.
We walk away (no pun intended) with friends from all over the world, and we vow to hike the Camino again before we turn 40.
READ MORE: 10 Myths about the Camino de Santiago, Debunked
October 2018
LOW
Fearing deportation, a scarlet letter on our passport or at minimum a stern scolding by a customs agent, we flee the Schengen Zone of Europe on the final day of our tourist visa.
Much to our surprise, neither upon exit in Portugal or arrival in the UK did anyone so much as blink an eye… Nor as I had hoped, give us a gold star for following the rules.
All the counting days on our calendars, scouring the Web for punishments for overstaying and researching conditions in Portuguese women’s prisons was for not.
We were in the clear (phew!) but we did feel a little silly.
HIGH
We relish our final month abroad in Lisbon and London. We reunite with old family friends and visit their home in Liverpool before flying home on Halloween, wondering what the hell just happened.
November 2018
HIGH
November brings five months worth of visits with friends, three weddings and a baby shower.
But the true icing on the cake was meeting my new nephew, Jackson, for the first time. Like the Grinch who stole Christmas, I think my heart grew three sizes that day.
LOW
While we moved out of our house in Tampa eight months prior, for the first time we felt homeless. We were home but we weren’t, and we spend the month hopping around Airbnb’s and our (very gracious and hospitable) friends’ guest rooms.
We acknowledge that this isn’t sustainable long-term, so we make plans to set up a home base again after our next stint away.
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December 2018
HIGH
Because at this point it’s normal to pack up everything you own and move to a place you’ve never been, we road trip West to Vail, Colorado. We exchange Epic Passes in lieu of gifts, and we ski on Christmas Day.
LOW
It hits us that for the first time in our lives, we are both away from our families for the holidays… Then immediately invite them out for next year.
Winter 2019
HIGH
We fall in love with winter, mountain life and the complete change of scenery from our home in Florida.
After a 15-year hiatus from skiing, I graduate from the bunny hill to my first black diamond runs by the end of the season.
LOW
After skiing said black diamond run, I slip on an ice patch and tumble down the mountain… With one ski still on.
I spend the next three weeks sitting by the fire nursing my leg injury with a bag of frozen cauliflower rice.
Silver lining- I wrote a few blog posts during my forced hibernation – check them out here.
April 2019
HIGH
After living out of a suitcase for a year, we reestablish a home base back at our place in Tampa… This time not in the house, but in one of the apartments in the backyard!
What was previously a rental unit starts to feel like home again.
LOW
We furnish the apartment from scratch. Our bed gets lost in transit, and we sleep on an air mattress for three weeks.
May 2019
HIGH
We celebrate our five-year wedding anniversary in Longboat Key, Florida, returning to the same spot where we got engaged. With our apartment now furnished, we host our first Airbnb guests and plan to rent it out while we’re away on future travels.
LOW
Not anticipating the last minute Airbnb booking, we clean up after the guests ourselves for the first and last time. Lesson learned – just pay for a cleaning service.
Celebrating five years of marriage in Longboat Key, Florida
So what’s next?
Here we are, one year since we first left, and the million dollar question stands: Are we still traveling?
The short answer: Yes, and we always will be.
They say that some people are genetically predisposed with wanderlust, tracing back to the days when people lived nomadically. Travel is in our blood, and we plan to travel as much as we can for as long as we can throughout our lifetime.
Our goal remains the same as when we set out one year ago – to travel slowly and truly experience a destination, versus breezing through places just to check it off of our list.
In the short term, we will be in the States for the summer as we visit family and friends, catch our breath and regroup for a bit. We plan to maintain a home base going forward, having our cake and eating it too as we rent it out while we’re traveling.
A sunny Wednesday afternoon in St. Pete Beach, Florida
We’re also still pursuing various side hustles to perpetuate our remote lifestyle. I’m keeping my hand in the professional world, and I’m back working part time for my previous employer when we are home.
I’m keeping my focus on my new favorite activity – blogging! While Year One of blogging consisted mainly of throwing things at the wall to see what stuck, I’m thinking bigger picture now.
I’m focusing on the long-term growth of my site, building a brand and attempting to turn this little passion project into an actual business. Speaking of, I’m off to Italy next week for a blogging workshop!
Long story short, there’s no handbook for this. After a full year on the road, what we have learned is long-term travel truly is a marathon, not a sprint.
It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn… Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”
– Anthony Bourdain
I think it’s true that the more places you go, the more you add to your list… Places you’re now dying to visit that were never on your radar before (Mozambique, I’m looking at you).
Catching sunset in Anna Maria Island, Florida
Who knows what the future holds, but for now the Longest Weekend continues.
We’ll never stop learning, exploring, or saying yes to adventures. Like in travel, life is full of ups and downs, but it’s the average of the two that makes it all worthwhile.
So stick around, there’s still a lot more to come and stay tuned for our next big adventure this fall… This time we’re headed South!
Cheers,
Meredith
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Embarking on a year-long journey is a kaleidoscope of experiences – from the exhilarating highs of discovery to the challenging lows of navigating unfamiliar terrain. As fellow travelers, we empathize with the triumphs and tribulations of such an adventure. Your journey is a testament to the resilience and spirit of exploration. As you reflect on the past year, may you find wisdom in the lessons learned and excitement in what lies ahead on your continued path of discovery. Your story is explain to me what is high and what is low. Thanks for this.
In reflecting on the highs and lows of your one-year travel adventure, are there specific moments or experiences that stand out as unexpected highlights or challenges? Telkom University
A year of travel wow! We’re just finishing off 8 months, and yes so many highs and lows. So interesting to read your experience of it!
8 months, that’s incredible! So glad you could relate, and thanks for reading!
Meredith
Thank you for highlighting the lows. People need to understand that travel isn’t a luxury, but you need to look at the bigger picture.
Absolutely, it’s a privilege to travel but it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Thanks for reading and for your input!
Meredith
Ahh I love that you told the lows as well as the highs. People often think the travel life is glamorous all the time. Also, so jealous you’ve been to Jordan!
What a fun journey. I also lived in Flordia for a long time and quit my job for a year. I also want to live in Vail or somewhere with skiing for a bit. Your story about the German guy cracked me up!!