Around the World in Three Years

Warren and Betsy Talbot dreamed of traveling the world. Someday. Then a young friend suffered a brain aneurysm and a 30-some year old family member had a heart attack. And the Talbots decided to live their dream now.

The couple had already embarked on a journey of simplifying their life by moving from the East Coast to Seattle and moving from a large home to a townhouse. Now, they got serious and set a date to leave on a 3-year world trip. They sold a car and paid off their credit cards. They started selling their things to friends and on Craigslist. In April 2010, they sold their townhouse and rented a couple of rooms from a friend. Friday, October 1, 2010, they departed for South America on the journey most of us will only dream about.

The Talbots have budgeted to spend $100 a day during their three-year trip. They know they will need more in some places (Europe) and less in others (Asia). They have used social media to find great deals on travel and to connect with the wisdom of other travelers. And they incorporated a month-long volunteer vacation on a nature preserve in Peru into their journey. "We'll spend $590 each for food and lodging, which is well under our $100/day budget, and the savings will allow us to go to Machu Picchu afterward," Betsy said when I interviewed her last September.

Betsy admitted to some fear as they embarked on their journey. They don't have a "plan" for their return. They may not even return to Seattle. Warren blogs: "Our desire now is to explore new areas, leave ourselves completely open to new experiences and be open to the possibilities." You have to love that.

The Talbots are in Europe currently and are a couple of months from celebrating a year on the road. A recent blog post comments and links on seven of their favorite posts so far. Don't miss it! Follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/betsytalbot), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/MarriedwithLuggage), and read as they blog their adventures at http://www.marriedwithluggage.com.




(I originally wrote a version of this article as the Seattle Budgets Examiner but retained rights to my material.)