I originally started this blog as a platform to highlight my photography. While it will primarily remain a visual blog, I am dedicating the next 9 months to chronicling our family’s travels abroad, our “year off.” The decision to upend our lives came through unequal parts luck, strategy and good timing.
My husband lost his job in back in June, and while shocking at the time, it was ultimately the catalyst that set us in motion. No longer trapped in a unfulfilling 9-5 job and having recently sold our house in Seattle it was our golden ticket to travel.
After receiving the news, we initially considered taking our van on the road across the US. In July, we embarked on a 3 week van trip to Haida Gwaii, BC and then spent the remainder of the summer backpacking through our beautiful home state of Washington. After a taste of this new found freedom, it became increasing clear that we needed to think bigger. With encouragement from friends on a similar journey, we decided to take the plunge. We pulled our kids (age 9 and 6) out of school, packed up our home, found a temporary foster care for our dog, and bought our tickets to Kathmandu. None of this was easy but we were determined to see it through.
We have a skeleton of a travel plan for the next 9 months that will surely evolve over time. Our choice of destinations include places where we have friends and family as well as places we’ve always wanted to see. There will certainly be bumps and scrapes along the way but I’ll do my best to keep it interesting and keep it real. I hope you will follow us and perhaps be inspired to take your own “year off.”
The above images were taken from our first outing to Swayambhu, better known as The Monkey Temple. It is a short walk from my Father-in-law’s house and is always a visual delight of color and life.
Dawn Stief Photography 