My lack of culinary skills mentioned last week mean that the daily lunch I serve to Ana is, well, simple. Today we snacked on basic sandwiches and veggies while discussing the list of tasks at hand before we leave for Thailand. As I vocally dream of the curries and delicious Thai flavors I’ve missed these past few months, it’s actually sinking in for her that in just three short weeks, instead of lunch at our kitchen table, she will sit down to a plate of white rice and flavorful veggies …

For those who have followed my story and my journey over the past nearly three years, a new chapter is starting! In October, my niece Ana and I will leave for Asia for six months of travel and homeschooling from the road.

This is a pretty big change for both of us and this plan has been cooking behind the scenes for a few months now. The short of the situation is this: my brother (her father) and I discussed (at great lengths) the pros and cons of her traveling right now, with me. And the pros won out. In fact, they overwhelming won out.

On my bucket list when I planned my route for my round the world trip in position numero uno was the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, the largest arts festival in the world. The Fringe was one of the few non-negotiables because if I was going to traverse the planet, by god I was going to see some good theatre in the process!

And so that’s how I set my route around the world; it’s that simple really. Pick something you’re most passionate about and just do it!

Traveling lacks predictability. For a Type A-er like me that causes heart palpitations at random times, but I also love the constant pressure to think on my feet and come up with instant and creative solutions to problems I never anticipated.

Sometimes this means just verbal and active solutions, but other times it’s a mad scrounge through my backpack to find the needed ingredients to diffuse that bomb in my hostel room.

Wait. Errr. You mean there’s no bomb?

I feared entering China – and not because I didn’t think they’d let me in. My visa was expensive (US $150) but easy to get. No, it was the thought of being without internet access. All I have read about in the news these last few years has centered on the Great Firewall of China and the censors the Chinese government has in place to keep information firmly outside of their borders – they incubate their citizens from certain topics we find commonplace in the world outside of China.

And some of those subjects happen to be precisely the arenas my clients play within. Part of my story is the fact that I work from the road consistently, the whole way around the world – it’s how I pay for it all. So, entering China meant potentially losing access to my client’s sites. What’s a traveling worker to do?

I’m not exactly sure why I was so woefully under-prepared for my seemingly easy visa run to Malaysia last week, but let’s chalk it up to sheer laziness and a touch of travel arrogance.
Thailand gives visitors from the United States (among other nationalities) an easy 30 days on-arrival visa if you enter the country by air. Coming into Thailand, that was simple enough. And rather than apply for a Thai visa from the US, I figured I’d just do a visa run in Southeast Asia once I was settled into …

And so it is that I prep once again to leave the United States. My bags are slumped beside me, a crisply new book (Gun, Germs, and Steel) in my backpack waiting for my endless airport layovers and my anal-retentively neat morning checklist ready to see me on my way with all my power cords, bags, books, toothbrush and water bottles in tow.
Can I just say, I’m seriously psyched.
It’s hard to describe how right this feels. You’d think that leaving is old-hat now, I’ve done my fair-share of goodbyes over …

Long term travel sounds so glamorous – you tell someone you travel most months out of the year and no matter what you follow it up with they’re picturing brooding ancient temples, blindingly white sunny beaches paired with clear blue waters and an endless cocktail party with friends from all over the world.
And those idealized travel images? I’m not going to lie, they’re true. Wading in the pure white sands of the Whitsunday Islands transitions in my memories into a sunset bike ride through Angkor Wat and then the beers …