I got married to my husband, Oleg on July 5th, 2014 in the Dominican Republic. The wedding was everything we hoped it would be and more. We spent a week in the Dominican Republic with our closest friends and family. Then, we were going to be traveling to Japan and Bali for our honeymoon. Oleg brought up a very interesting idea on our flight to Japan. At first, I thought he was just delirious from the long, 14-hour journey to Japan. His surprising proposition was living abroad for a year. He was very vague about details but made the thought of it seem exciting! My initial thought was this would never happen and the idea sounded absurd. I laughed it off and we decided to discuss it further at a later time. We went on to have a fabulous honeymoon in Japan and Bali.
Discussion about moving abroad for a year did come up later and after months of dialogue we decided that it was the right choice for us at the time. This decision has probably been the hardest and scariest to make! However, we are excited for a new adventure to share together. A major factor in our decision was that it would allow us to have a unique experience together before we have children and start a family. Also, Oleg works in software and his job allows him to work anywhere in the world. We do share a love for travel and enjoy exploring new places every chance we get.
Oleg and I had to come up with a plan for our year abroad. So many questions to consider, “Where are we going?”, “Where are we staying?”, and “How long will we be in each place?”. We decided to start our year-long adventure in Europe. Due to visa laws, you can only stay in Europe (Schengen Zone) for 90 days and can’t return to Europe for another 90 days. So, we could only be in Europe for three months out of a six month period of time. This prompted us to look at places to live all of over the world. Some of the places we are considering besides Europe include: Southeast Asia, South Africa, and Australia. This is our tentative plan and we will be finalizing details as our journey unfolds.
We were very busy in the months leading up to our travels abroad. We didn’t realize all of the things that needed to be done before you leave the country for a year. Please see the following list of items that we needed to complete before the big move:
Power of attorney so our parents can sign important documents for us while we are awaySafety deposit box for valuablesFind a management company that would rent our house for a year. We decided to go with Howard Hannah and they successfully rented our house for the yearMove all of our stuff out of our house so the renter could move inPack 4 big suitcases, 2 carry-on bags, and 2 book bagsFind a credit card (Chase Sapphire) and debit card (Charles Schwab)with no international feesTravel vaccinesWe also made sure to bring a variety of medications with us on our travels (e.g. antibiotics, vitamins/probiotics, anti-diarrheal, cold & flu, motion sickness pills)Change mailing addressFreeze our Verizon phone plansWe also decided to get a pre-paid SIM card during our travels so we could have a local phone number and data
We also spent a lot of precious time with our family and friends before we left, which was our top priority. We decided that our first destination would be Berlin, Germany and left at the beginning of March 2015. We couldn’t wait to get this crazy ride started!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!”
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