Riding Off to New Adventures: Announcing the Get Busy Living Tour

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. ~ Helen Keller.

Riding Off to New Adventures: Announcing the Get Busy Living Tour

After over a year of planning and saving, I am excited to announce that on January 2, I will be embarking on what my husband Bobby has affectionately titled the Get Busy Living Tour, a seven month solo trip around the world starting in Vietnam. I know, I can hardly believe it either!

How this Came About:

Travel is an intense passion of mine. My soul aches to explore this big beautiful world in an effort to better understand it and those who live in it. We try to take an international trip every other year and travel domestically on the off years. I plan all of our trips and enjoy the research and planning aspect almost as much as the trips themselves. After a beautiful trip to Peru in March 2017, Bobby and I were debriefing our travels over dinner. After we've taken a trip, we always take time to reflect on what inspired us and what from that experience we would like to somehow incorporate into our lives. I shared that while in Peru I was so inspired by all the brave solo female travelers; there were just so many that we met who were traversing the world for months on end on their own. Instantly, Bobby said, “You’re doing it. I just pictured you there being in your element and that’s it. You’ve got to do it.” I proceeded to tell him how ridiculous this idea was as I have a great job, we have student loans, a mortgage and other bills to pay. Also, who leaves their husband (and two lovable Boston Terriers) for seven months to travel solo? All the women we met were in their early 20’s, single or if they were older they were divorced or had recently ended a long-term relationship. No one we met was traveling for months on end while their supportive significant other was holding things down back home. Months would pass with Bobby encouraging me and acting as if the trip was a done deal. One day, I finally stopped and asked myself, “Why not me, why can’t I do this ? And more importantly why can't we as a couple do this?” With that, we began saving, planning and working to make the Get Busy Living Tour a reality. Bobby is an amazingly selfless man and I know I am beyond fortunate to have married such an encouraging and giving person.

Commonly Asked Questions:

We’ve gotten a lot of questions from people as we’ve begun to announce The Get Busy Living Tour. We appreciate the incredible outpouring of love and support so many have given us. While we don’t expect everyone to understand this decision we’ve made, we do hope you will send your positive energy and thoughts our way as we embark on this journey. Here are some commonly asked questions we’ve received so far:

Why would you want to travel on your own, especially as a woman?

I had the opportunity to travel solo a bit in Thailand during my undergrad semester study abroad experience. Traveling solo has offered me some of the most empowering and enriching life experiences. When you travel solo you are challenged in different ways than when traveling with a companion. While there are definitely additional precautions to take while traveling solo as a woman, they are the same/similar precautions women have to unfortunately take in our daily lives regardless of where we are. This is just the reality of the world we live in, but I refuse to let this stop me from seeing the world the way I want to see it.

Is your marriage okay?

Yes, things are as strong as ever. Thank you for your concern. We get that this isn’t a super traditional marriage arrangement for most folks. However, this isn’t your marriage and we aren’t you. We know ourselves and what our marriage is and isn’t capable of. We support and encourage each other to chase our dreams and recognize it will be hard to be apart for so long, but we know it is only temporary. Bobby will meet up with me at a couple of different times throughout this seven month journey and we look forward to our travels together at those times.

Won’t you be lonely?

Absolutely. I am not romanticizing this seven month journey and recognize there will be times when I am incredibly lonely, homesick, scared and sad. That’s okay and that is expected to be part of the journey. I honestly look forward to wrestling with these challenges and learning about myself when these moments arise.

What will you do about your work when you get home?

Great question! I have no idea and will plan to figure that out when the time comes. Part of this experience is about relinquishing control and being okay with dancing in the unknown a bit. Who knows how this opportunity will change and challenge me? Trying to figure out now what my career move will be when I get back would defeat the purpose of this journey to some extent.

I love the picture in this post of 9 year old Anna on the day I learned to drive the moped my dad had bought to check on his crops in the field. The moped was quickly apprehended by my three older siblings and me, all eager to ride it as fast and as recklessly as possible around our farm, treating it like a dirt bike. I was quite scrawny for my age, but as the youngest of four I was never going to be left out or told I couldn’t do something because of my size, age or because I was a girl. To me this picture is a reminder of the feisty, persistent, free-spirited and brave girl who was always eager to try new, exhilarating and sometimes scary experiences even when inevitable crashes, scrapes, and road rash awaited. These traits have always been a part of who I am, but as I’ve grown into adulthood they have many times become less representative and have not transferred into all areas of my life. I look forward to unburying these entrenched aspects of myself and reconnecting with this fearless girl on the Get Busy Living Tour.

Thanks for reading and for your positive energy and support. I hope you will continue to follow along as I kick-off my journey around the world.

Get Busy Living!

Anna

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