This map hangs on our kitchen wall. It’s not the most beautifully mounted, but, hey – it was my first try mounting a map on foam board. I’m just glad it’s hanging. 

You may have heard that when setting a goal, it’s important to have something always in sight to remind you. 
See those orange sticky notes? They have dates written on them. This map is a visualization of our travel goals for the next 10 months. Not all the dates are set in stone yet, but we have a ballpark range for the places we want to go. 

You may have just shaken your head and thought, “Well that’s lofty. I thought they were poor.” Or “I hope they aren’t too disappointed when it doesn’t work out. That’s a lot to plan and pay for!” Or “How can they possibly manage all of that? Isn’t S in school?”

It’s okay. 
I understand your questions. I asked them all first. 

If you know us, you know S and I love to travel. We talk about it constantly – where we want to go, what we want to do while we’re there, and when we estimate packing our bags to tour the planet. We’re always reading blogs about obscure cities in China, or drooling over Instagram shots of Bali. We have the itch, and we’ve got it bad. 

If you know us or have read this blog for any length of time, you also know that S and I approach life a little differently. We laugh at societal pressures. We ignore normal life trajectories. This is why we quit our jobs to do things we love instead of scrambling to not live in a basement apartment.

Part of how we take on life is setting goals. Ridiculous goals, especially.  I want a publishing deal in the next year. S wants to earn an income that doesn’t include answering to a boss. We both want to travel the world. 

When he started sticking these notes on the map, I asked what on earth he was doing (get it? IT’S A PUN). 
He told me if we didn’t at least aim for something amazing, we would never achieve it. We should look at these notes, these places and dates, and plan for them. Otherwise, we’ll never get there. 

What are you planning for?