Colleen’s Adventures

One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now. – Paolo Coelho

No more procrastinating. No more gonna, gonna, gonna. Time to travel, see the world and (hopefully) find my new home base.

Recently I realized I needed to stop talking about living abroad and start doing it. After all, I ain’t gettin’ no younger! If I’m going to pull this off, I’ve got a lot to accomplish in the next 7 1/2 months. So, welcome to my adventure!

About 6 weeks ago I booked a Transatlantic cruise (New York to Rome – leaving April 15, 2023) and was planning spend a couple weeks in Italy and Turkey before flying back to the states. This would (more than) exhaust my entire travel budget, so it would be my one and only big trip next year. That thought was depressing. I kept thinking – I’m spending all this money to get to Europe and I only get 3 weeks?? How can I spend more time abroad? How can I afford it?

Put Up or Shut Up

I have wanted to live abroad for as long as I can remember. But no matter how many different ways I looked at the numbers and squeezed the budget, the answer was the same – you can’t afford to keep your place in the states AND travel. A couple weeks ago (after many conversations with siblings and countless cogitations) it all became very clear. Previously, my go-to answer has always been “gonna” (I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that, someday I’m gonna, etc.). That day the voice inside my head hit me like a ton of bricks – GONNA?! Really?! YOU’RE 66 YEARS OLD!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?! If you want to live abroad, what is stopping you; what are you waiting for? Do you you really want to live abroad or do you just like the romantic notion? Are you just going to talk about it or are you going to make it happen? Time to put up or shut up.

Come Along for the Ride

Hence, this blog. Over the next few months I’ll be researching countries and getting all the pieces in place to enable me to live abroad. I’ll be getting my passport updated, learning about visa requirements in different countries (I’ll be spending most of my time in non-Schengen countries), figuring about how I’ll access money, making BNB reservations, learning about VPN’s and cell phone plans in Europe, etc., etc. It will definitely be a learning experience, so follow along as I plot and plan. If you have any suggestions or know of helpful websites, please leave a comment.