Eric Stahl

Taking time off...

We finally did it. We pulled the plug on work and have been traveling for the last few months. It's been a life long dream for both of us, so here we are.

Several years ago we would daydream about the idea but were too busy planning our wedding, working and saving a few dollars here and there. We then got preoccupied with moving within San Francisco so we worked on that for a few years. When we got that behind us we eventually found a way to make it happen. It took us several months to do the analysis of our savings, figure out the cost of travel, investigate health insurance options and to get the rest of our personal business in order but one way or another we found a solution to each obsticle. I hated leaving BEA after 7+ years but it was now or never.

I wound down my work on June 30th and took off for Turkey a few days later. We spent a month traveling around Istanbul, down the Aegean Coast, across the Mediterranean Coast and deep inland to Cappadocia. In August we came back to spend some time in San Francisco and do some camping in the Nevada desert. In September we hung out in Lake Tahoe for a few weeks. On October 3rd we flew to Thailand, where I am sitting now. We are currently in a little town in the North called Pai. Our plan is to travel around Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam for the next three months, which will put us back in San Francisco around the New Year. Hopefully I can catch up this blog on our past travels and keep it current as we go.

Taking this time off is a true privilege that we try to appreciate every day. That said, I think it is far more possible than people think... it just takes some focused planning and a leap of faith. A friend who took time off to travel gave me some great advice when I was still thinking about a self initiated sabbatical. He told me to ignore all of the nay-sayers who would give us a million reasons why we shouldn't do it. He was right... there were plenty of them.

I truely believe that travel changes people for the better. If you are thinking about it and can make the finances work, go for it. You won't regret it.

Finally, we just got news of a dear friend who is suddenly battling a very serious cancer diagnosis. It was a sobering reminder to be thankful for good health and to enjoy life to the fullest, so off we go...

posted by Eric Stahl @ 10:17 PM