Goals of the Beyond Vacation Kick-Off Trip
This new lifestyle Andy and I are creating for ourselves isn’t all about having one big vacation. One of the reasons we called it Beyond Vacation is because we don’t want a life we have to escape from. We’re aiming at slow travel and really getting to know the cultures we visit. Our upcoming trip is definitely not as slow as it could be, but we have several things we’re trying to achieve. Here’s a look at our goals for the Beyond Vacation kick-off trip.
We need to travel
Between my intensive German course and all the preparation and saving we did to start this new lifestyle, Andy and I haven’t taken a trip in ages. We need to travel, to see the sights, to try new foods, to have a change of scenery. The past 7 or 8 months have caused us major withdrawal symptoms, made worse by the long cold winter we’re just barely getting out of.
I will post our itinerary soon, but we will be spending 7 weeks traveling through Europe, mostly a week at a time with a few shorter stays here and there. We want to do lots of sightseeing and experience the local side of places. We’re hoping this is long enough to make up for the months of not traveling but not so long that we get burned out.
Testing out work on the road
Andy won’t be working on a contract while we’re traveling, but it’s something he would definitely consider in the future when we spend a few months in one place. We’ll both be keeping up with our various travel blogs and newsletters on this trip, plus several days at a blogging conference. I have a project I’m in the early stages of developing. Andy plans on revamping some of our websites.
This means that, while we certainly want to focus on travel experiences, we will have to balance that with writing, photo editing, and lots of other things that go along with blogging. It will be good practice on time management.
Finding balance
This goes along with the point above. We need to find a good balance between work and play while we travel. We also need to find a good balance between being at home in Freiburg and being on the road. In the future we’re hoping to spend 3 months in the winter escaping to someplace warm, and if Andy gets a contract he can work on remotely, we might decide to go somewhere else for a few months. But for now we’re going to see how we do with a little less than 2 months on the road to test our our plan.
Helping you
As we travel, I want to show you how you can visit the places we’re traveling to. Besides sharing my stories with you, I will also share some of the more practical details about the destinations and logistics. I’ll show you how to see the touristy stuff as well as how to go beyond the attractions and explore the local side. I’m also going to be tracking our spending and showing you what it costs to travel in Europe.
Andy and I will also be publishing our monthly Beyond Vacation newsletter. This will show you how our new lifestyle is going, what’s working and what isn’t, tips on how you can do something similar with your life, and lots of photos. We really want to show you that living life a little differently is possible and within your reach.
More pictures of us
Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but there aren’t a lot of pictures of me and Andy around here. We both love to take pictures, so we’re always behind the camera. The few times we’ve actually remembered to have someone else take a picture of us, we’ve been pretty disappointed in how it came out. But we really should have more than a few good pictures of the two of us, and even more pictures of just one or the other of us. So we will make more of an effort to get pictures that have us in them so you can see us as we travel, not just the places.
Some silly goals
A we’ve been researching our trip, we keep finding castles along the way. Enough that I have a column on my tracking spreadsheet to count how many castles we see and where. Aside from tracking our spending, I’m sure I’ll find a few other random things to keep track of, like how many times we have to do laundry or number of hours spent on trains. Sometimes those are interesting statistics, or it might just be entertaining to me, we’ll see.
I’ll report back after the trip and let you know how we do with our goals. Beyond Vacation is a much bigger lifestyle change, but the kick-off trip is our trial run to see how some of the pieces work. Hopefully things will go as planned, but I’m sure we’ll hit a few bumps along the way. I’ll share the ups and the downs with you and show how we’re adjusting to our new life plan. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
You might also enjoy:
- How Much We Spent Traveling in Europe for Two Months
- How I Make Money Online and Travel Up to 4 Months a Year
- On Living a Non-Traditional Life
- 5 Reasons Why Being a Digital Nomad is Not For Me
April 25, 2013 @ 2:42 PM
Love statistics as well!
Looking forward to the laundry nunmbers:D
I often say I’ll do laundy on a trip, but then I often pack more and don’t do laundry:p
April 26, 2013 @ 2:53 PM
Ha, thanks Sofie! We really restrict ourselves to how much we pack, so if the trip is longer than a week we will probably have to do laundry. For this trip, we’ll be on the road for 7 weeks, so we’ll do laundry quite a few times I imagine.
April 25, 2013 @ 3:48 PM
I’m excited to see your itinerary!!! We never take pics of us when we’re traveling, we definitely need to do that more.
April 26, 2013 @ 2:56 PM
Thanks Andi! We definitely need to get more pictures of us. I like these 3, and we probably have a few more, but not nearly enough.
April 25, 2013 @ 3:58 PM
I’m quite fond of quirky statistics too for reasons that escape me.
Knowing whether you have to do the laundry when you’re travelling, where to do it and the ins and outs of it in a foreign city or country qualifies as important information to me.
Castles are interesting too. We have some in Australia as well. Kryal Castle near Ballarat comes to mind. So please keep up the Castle stories. Oh, and if you ever decide to do any more Beer stories which for a travel blog I think are a must from time to time, you have my full unconditional support :).
I think slow travel is the only way to really soak up the atmosphere and culture of a place. You’ll find your own rhythm and equilibrium as you travel but spending at least a week in a place and then working it out from there seems like a great idea to me – one that I’ve already foreshadowed for when I finally get the time and money to go to New Zealand.
I look forward to the first newsletter from your new blog!
April 26, 2013 @ 3:00 PM
Thanks Matthew! I’ll do my best to keep track of a bunch of quirky things, it is entertaining! You’re right, I think some info on doing laundry will help because not a lot of people consider doing laundry while on vacation, but for a longer trip or if you’re packing light, it is necessary. I never thought of Australia as a place that would have castles, so I’ll have to look into that if/when I ever get back there. I’m sure I’ll have more beer stories for you! Glad to have you following along! And I’m looking forward to the day you’re able to tell me you’re booking a ticket to New Zealand!
April 26, 2013 @ 3:09 PM
I’ll definitely let you know when I’ve booked the ticket. I’ll need to consult you about where to go in New Zealand, what to do and how to go about it.
At the moment I’m mainly concentrating on my health and getting a car. I have a colonscopy on Monday so I’ll be back in hospital. Hopefully it’s nothing serious but the specialist wants to take a look around nontheless.
Before I go overseas I have a whole lot of weight to lose. So once you hear that I’m losing weight by going to the gym, you’ll know that I’m on track to go to New Zealand sometime soon.
As for castles in Australia I know only of Kryal Castle but I have heard of others existing. If you come back to Australia why don’t you look into all the “big” things we have here like the “big Banana” in Queensland for example. If you contact somebody with Tourism Australia I’m sure they could provide you with a list of these places. There are dozens of them. You could do a whole series of these on your blog and it would get a lot of hits I think.
In the meantime I hope your health is on the improve and that the spring time is a joyful one for you.
April 27, 2013 @ 10:18 AM
Thanks Matthew, I’m doing much better now. Definitely let me know when you start planning your New Zealand trip, I’d be glad to help!
April 26, 2013 @ 9:24 AM
I love your wedding photo. It’s a good thing to snap more photos of you. Some of my most beloved travel photos are these with my friends or the people I met.
April 26, 2013 @ 3:04 PM
Thank you Sonya! I really don’t have enough pictures of people, but I should try to change that. Not only me and Andy, but the great people we meet along the way.
April 26, 2013 @ 4:34 PM
You guys will have a blast. Hope to run across you sometime this summer during your travels around.
April 27, 2013 @ 10:19 AM
Thanks Michael! It would be fun to run into you!
April 26, 2013 @ 4:39 PM
Great ideas and still jealous of your new adventures. Look forward to reading the posts. Love the wedding photo of you two! I still remember the stories I would hear from Andy about your courtship. Now you’re just an “old married couple” heading out on adventure! π
April 27, 2013 @ 10:20 AM
Thanks Jeremy! Yep, I guess we are just an old married couple now! It is kind of strange to look back a couple years ago and think about how far we’ve come. We’re so excited about this trip!
April 26, 2013 @ 6:42 PM
We’ve been so bad about taking pictures of ourselves – we used to have so many before I switched to the DSLR…have fun!
April 27, 2013 @ 10:21 AM
Thanks Andrea! Yeah, we definitely need to try harder to get more pictures on this trip, we’ll see how it goes.
April 27, 2013 @ 1:57 AM
I have the same problem with pictures when I’m traveling. I came back from Alaska last summer with about 2000 photos, and I think about 3 were half-decent ones with me in them. I’ve decided to try and practice setting up a tripod and the timer on my camera, so I won’t have to keep bugging random passer-by for a better shot.
April 27, 2013 @ 10:23 AM
If you have a tripod, that would be a good to try out, plus then you can set it all up to get the picture to look the way you want it to.
April 27, 2013 @ 5:19 AM
Well done on taking the initiative to change your life. Lots of people are not happy but they tend to sit there blindly as if waiting for a miracle. Looking forward to your new posts.
April 27, 2013 @ 10:24 AM
Thanks Natalie! It feels really good to be pushing forward with our goals and changing our life to look the way we want it to.
April 27, 2013 @ 5:37 AM
Great post! I’ve written down my goal for my trip, but never thought about turning it into a post. I might steal this idea. Will definitely link it to you though π
April 27, 2013 @ 10:26 AM
Thanks Stephen! Go for it! I figured putting our goals out there like this would keep us more accountable.
April 27, 2013 @ 11:26 PM
Looking forward to reading your future posts of your newest adventures and quirky statistics on the road. A little jealous too! I lived in Stuttgart for 2 years and traveled throughout Europe during that time. Have fun – bumps along the way and all.
April 28, 2013 @ 11:39 AM
Thanks Lisa! I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog and following our adventures!
April 29, 2013 @ 11:26 AM
You guys sound like you’ve got it well planned out!
April 29, 2013 @ 1:26 PM
Thanks Laurence, we’ll see how it all works!
April 30, 2013 @ 9:01 AM
Those are some good goals. Have fun and enjoy your trip!
May 1, 2013 @ 12:51 PM
Thanks Jennifer!
May 3, 2013 @ 4:22 PM
You bring up a good point about finding balance. Always being on the go can get exhausting, plus staying in one place is great to immerse in the culture.
May 3, 2013 @ 6:03 PM
Finding balance is important in so many aspects of life, and travel is definitely one of them. I’ve done trips too fast, and I love the idea of slowing down to really enjoy where I am. We’ll see how it goes this time! Thanks Mig!
May 9, 2013 @ 8:51 AM
Would love to see more pictures of you guys out there enjoying the world!
May 9, 2013 @ 9:34 PM
Thanks Ellen! We just started our trip today, and we’re trying to remember to take pictures of ourselves.
July 12, 2013 @ 2:31 PM
I love the ‘silly’ goal of the castles. We have seen a fair few on our journey and have loved them all.
July 12, 2013 @ 4:22 PM
Thanks Nicole! We saw quite a few castles on this trip, it was fun.
Backpacking Goals
September 16, 2013 @ 6:43 PM
[…] occurred to me to share them, but I was inspired to do so after reading Aliβs Adventures and her goals for her upcoming trip. (A blog worth […]