Saying No in order to say Yes

And other challenges

I had not expected how often or how forcefully our two simple rules were going to be challenged.  We have only two after all.  No plan and No plane.  We agreed these in order to turn a trip into an adventure.  I was not prepared, however, for how many times I would have to say no in order for our journey to happen as we had set it out. 

Every day we are challenged to adjust the trip to accommodate some other equally fabulous event.  It is easy to host a mock birthday to make up for missing Vittorio’s actual birthday in October.  It is far harder to stand fast when for instance I was asked to speak at an event at he Royal Geographic Society or to attend a family wedding in New Orleans.

“But couldn’t you just fly back for the day?”

We could, and that seems to be the essence of what we are challenging with our two simple rules.  The endless choices we have in our modern lives and ease of  moving across vast swathes of land make it easy to constantly change paths, seemingly do it all yet never commit to any one thing fully.

With every “no” we have to say we have become happier with the yes it is allowing us to live.

Not all the challenges are quite so existential! We are preparing for six months away. What can we bring with us?  What can we pack?  Our pile of essentials is growing, giving us an idea of just how little non-essentials we will be able to include.  

We have agreed to each take a small suitcase and a backpack.  The idea is that if ever we have to navigate a difficult rail transfer or walk through a crowd we can each, in theory, carry our own bags easily.  Or at the very least, for me to be able to grab one suitcase in each hand for a mad dash.

We plan on wearing our clothes until we are sick of them and then find new ones along the way.  This has meant that I have not even been tempted to go shopping for new clothes, which has to be a good thing!  The really difficult dilemma will be which maps and books we are able to take and which we have to leave behind.  

We will rely heavily on all that is available on the internet but I have already tried going a weekend without roaming data and can already see that we will have to be very disciplined!