What will my life be like on the ride?

I can’t believe that three months have gone by since we made the decision to go traveling. Last Friday was my last day at work and during the next week, we will be packing the last bits, cleaning the house before the tenants arrive, and preparing the car which will be locked and left unused in the garage for a year. The dream is now real and each day, I am becoming more and more intrigue about how my live will be like from next week. For example, how will I feel:

• When we are actually setting off. Next Friday, we will lock the house and we won’t be coming back until September 2015. How will we feel in a year’s time? Will we be ready to come back? How will we cope with routine? How much will this experience change us as an individual?

• Not having the Monday to Friday routine: We enjoy our free time because of work. We need our evenings to rest after a long day in the office; we need our weekends to spend time with people other than colleagues, we can’t wait to go on holidays to relax and to change scenery. But, from next Friday, we won’t have that distinction between work and spare time; we won’t have weekends, and we won’t have the need to go on holidays to escape from work. By having so much free time, will we stop appreciating it?

• Living in a motorhome:  We are leaving a four bedroom house to live in a 6 sq x 2 sq metres space, with no partitions between the bedroom, the kitchen and the resting area. There will be no privacy and no other places to go if Gary or I wish to spend time on our own.

• Not being surrounded by many people: Back home, we have more chances to relate to different people. We spend most of our day with colleagues, and we can easily meet friends if we fancy a drink after work. However, from next week, Gary and I are going to be together 24/7. At some point we may feel the need to interact with other people to have different discussions, and to listen to other opinions and ideas.

• Living out of the same stuff: While we are perfectly happy with the amount of ‘stuff’ we are taking, I do wonder whether I will miss a couple of more t-shirts and perhaps that nice dress that I thought I wasn’t going to wear it. However, I am determined to stick to budget, so I will firmly resist going on a shopping spree until I come back home next year.

• Decision making: We will be finally free. We will be able to travel here or there, or we could travel somewhere else if we so choose. This freedom means having to constantly decide how we are going to spend our life the next day; where to go, what to do, and where to eat.

Don’t take me wrong. Going travelling is the best decision I have ever made and I am aware of how fortunate we are to have an opportunity like this. I guess I am coming up with these questions because I am incredibly excited about what the year ahead will bring us.

Have been a long term traveller? How did you feel before you set off?