Peeling Off The Layers

Written by Karen

Yosemite, California

A couple of blog entries ago, I talked about being a force and starting to get healthy one step at a time.  I’ve actually incorporated working out/being more active each day since then.  I ran – well, jogged, and slowly at that – for a mile at level 4 on the treadmill today.  I was ready to stop after minute 3, but kept going for the full fifteen minutes.  It’s funny.  This is something that I now want to do. I want to be as healthy as possible when I leave my current lifestyle in March and start another life chapter. I want to hit the ground running.  I’ve been pacing myself for some time here – just another day, just another week, just another month – and then we’ll be at our goal. And then life begins…our next chapter starts…and then….

Checking Out Our World

Written by Karen

Yosemite, California

As of July 15, 2011, according to the U.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action webpage, there are 195 independent states worldwide.  I pulled the list today off the website, and starting marking the names of the countries that I had never heard of before. I was surprised at the number.  Starting in alphabetical order, they are:

Republic of Benin; Kingdom of Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Union of Comoros; Republic of Djibouti; Commonwealth of Dominica; State of Eritrea; Republic of The Gambia; Holy See; Republic of Kiribati; Kingdom of Lesotho; Republic of Mauritius; Republic of Nauru; Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis; Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste; and, Tuvalu. 

Be A Force

Written by Karen

Yosemite, California

I took another step towards getting me back today.  You can’t see it in my picture (since I’m still incognito posing as a bunch of daisies!), but I have put on about 40 pounds in the past six years.  I haven’t been ok with this – of course – but I just couldn’t shake the excuse that this was just one of the many consequences of working in the Silicon Valley.

Scratching The Surface

Written by Karen

Tokyo, Japan

I’ve been thinking about the idea of moving into different neighborhoods, towns, regions, lifestyles and cultures and “blending in” to understand a different perspective or way of life.  For me, this idea is most closely associated with travel, and it is an aspect of travel that I absolutely love.  

Planning For The Unknown

Written by Karen

Our Packs

Optimism abounds with numbers, budgets, itineraries, rail/plane schedules, ideas, suggestions, things to do, places to see; all considered, some kept, some tossed aside. A Gap Year. Wow, time to go slow, explore, savor life. 

We both now maintain long lists of computer bookmarks to travel events for 2012, newspaper articles, travel blogs, couple travel blog sites and general research of places and activities that interest us. We have created multiple “To-Do” lists.  Somehow, this will all have to come together into some coherent plan.  It’s T-minus 6 months until life as we know it begins to change.  

Hitting the Reset Button

Written by Karen

Potsdam, Germany

I think now, almost compulsively, about the future and wonder, how did I get to this place?  How did we both get to this point in our lives – at the peak of our careers, the height of our earning power and the collection of all that stuff that results from building our lives together – and willingly take this leap of faith into the unknown? To have the fearless courage to hit the reset button and have this concoction of emotions running amok with excitement about the future possibilities way out in front of fear, anxiety and doubt?

Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

5 - Paris Strike - Part Deux 2010

Written by Karen

Eiffel Tower

We arrived in Paris on a Sunday afternoon under warm, blue skies, but the Parisians were a bit cranky.  Maybe because it was hot, or maybe it was all of the talk about the strike.  Strike?  What strike?  Well, it came as a surprise to us that during the months of July and August, everyone is away on holiday and doesn’t want to think about politics.  But, come September, voila...let the games begin. 

Dispatch from Adam - 2010

Oui apologize for the inconvenience...

Yes, there have been a few.  France is quite an interesting place.  If you should stop by a brasserie for a little something to eat anywhere in Paris, they seem to be able to handle that fairly well.  We have not even found the surly waiter.  But waiting?  We have found that.  Get in one line to get your number in line.  Then keep an eye on the monitor that displays what number is coming up; not next, but more like several events beyond next.  Then, after an eternity, you are declared next.  “Everything looks good”, the lady with control of the computer says, but all you have to do now is to find the line at the train station to do what might have been easier accomplished at the train office downtown, especially since you have already waited in a line.  Maybe the presence of lines in a train office are somehow more appropriate, since tracks are lines that should not cross.  People got angry in there, since some lines were obviously crossed.  I think that is why they call them train lines.

3 - Impressions of Amsterdam - 2010

Written by Karen

Dutch Clogs

It takes a few days, once you begin any journey, to work out the kinks and to become acclimated to your new circumstances.  We are on our third full day of our journey, and I think we are close to that stage of becoming acclimated.  This blog entry will be a brief synopsis looking backwards. If you’re interested...I will be updating this blog whenever I can, and I’ll try and keep it interesting!

Amsterdam is a very enjoyable city; it has a compact human-scale feeling to it.  No really high skyscrapers.  Someone told us that the height limit in Amsterdam was four stories. Even with 12 foot ceilings, the skyline is pretty flat, so you never feel like you are in the shadows of a huge building.  Which is really nice if you walk the city.  We spend most of our time perusing neighborhoods, canal streets and exploring the city by foot.  We also visited the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and participated in the Heineken experience tour.

2 - So...why Europe and why now? 2010

Written by Karen

Lac d'Annecy, France

So... we decided to go backpacking through Europe a few months ago.  I scheduled a 3-week vacation in September - one of the shoulder months that we try and plan our travels around.  There are less crowds; usually good weather; and, better travel deals.  We bandied about several different destinations, but instead of the typical 7 – 10 days that usually defined our vacations, we decided that this year we would go for a longer period of time.  Why?  Different and the usual reasons.  But, for me, the biggest reason was that after Adam had his emergency quadruple heart bypass surgery at the young age of 50 last Thanksgiving, due to genetics, the ripe knowledge of life being short could no longer be ignored, but had to be plucked and savored.  If not now, when? 

1 - Countdown to our upcoming European backpacking adventure - 2010

Written by Karen

Our Packs

We start this blog with an upcoming European backpacking adventure:  21 days; a 21-country Eurail Pass; and, daypacks. Yes, daypacks and a goal to carry less than 20 pounds, in total for the 21-day trip.