The realist adjusts the sails

A few weeks ago, I finished the last of my online TEFL course. I've got all my certificates for  the core content, and grammar, plus specialist modules in teaching young learners, business English, large classes and one to one lessons.

I haven't been this excited about a qualification since I claimed my degree exactly 3 years ago. This is truly the catalyst that will put all my dreams of living abroad into action.

With only the weekend classes of the course left, we will soon be able to start applying for jobs and planning our wish list of places to see whilst we are travelling.

What's more, the idea is catching on! All around us our family and friends are talking about 'making the most of the time we have together' and the coming events we are going miss.

Each time this brings a tear to me eye and a pang of guilt to my heart, but as soon as I'm back in my office on a Monday morning I remember why this change is so important.

Our families and friends will still be here when we get back and if anything we are seeing more of everyone and making a bigger effort because pretty soon, we will be gone.

So hears to changing the sails, and being the change I want to be. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little bigger every day!

Somewhere, beyond the sea...

I feel a little bit at war with myself. I mean, who decides in their first year of marriage to sell everything they own, leave their job and head off to anywhere that will have me to make a new life as an English teacher.

Shouldn't I be moving up the career ladder, buying a house and having a baby (though I’m not sure its possible to do all at once)? All around me, friends are building up their careers, their homes and their families and I am doing the exact opposite.

The reality is, this is the first time in my life that I've even been able to contemplate an idea that’s been growing in me for a long time. First their was uni, then making a home, and an engagement. 3 patient years later, I've for once got no deadlines I’m restricted by, and the moment feels right to try something new.

That said, I find I have to keep reminding myself that it’s the right thing to do. House prices ARE ridiculous and children CAN wait!

What’s most difficult for me, is the knowledge that the move is temporary. My husband and I know that the UK is where we want to be eventually, although ending up happily in Italy or Spain would also be agreeable! At the end of the teaching jobs and the travelling, we will be homeless, without any belongings apart from the ones on our backs and a few boxes at my mums. We will need to start all over again!

I guess you never can know if the decisions we make are right or wrong, we can’t know what the course of our lives would have been and watched it in tandem like in Sliding Doors. What I can be sure of though is that like in Sliding Doors, I am confident the world will get me where I need to be for the right things to happen.

We're going to travel the world, live somewhere different, and do something different. We'll be updating you with the amazing journey and the reasons we are doing it along the way.

So off we go, into the unknown. Weigh the anchor and hold on tight!