With the beginning of our Asia trek a little more than a week away, we thought we would write down some goals that we have for the next year – his, hers, ours. These are 8 goals that we hope to actively try to achieve every single day we’re on the road.
His Goals
1. Keep Learning
One of my main goals in life is to learn something new everyday. From things that are useful and make my life better to others that I’m just curious about, I’ve been pretty good at meeting my daily target. This time, however, I want to push it to the next level and truly immerse myself in the local cultures, cuisine and activities, obtaining skills and knowledge specific to each of the new places I will be visiting.
2. Balance Work and Travel
As an entrepreneur, your professional and personal lives get mixed up all the time. While you have the flexibility to work on your own terms, you are also constantly on duty to solve any kind of problems that come up or to look for new opportunities. Doing that while traveling will be challenging and demanding. To be able to accomplish it, I will have to manage my time more efficiently than ever so I can do both things well – expanding business and enjoying every part of this great adventure.
3. Make New Friends
Friends make you laugh, encourage and support you, give you guidance when you need it the most. During this year of traveling, I will make an effort to meet as many people as I can, by reaching out to them, initiating conversations and not waiting for them to come to me. By the end of this trip I want to have a solid and diverse network of friends all around the world.
Her Goals
4. Slow Down
My life in the past several years has been a busy blur. I am constantly rushing through my current task to the next one, trying to squeeze in one more thing. Even in my previous travels, I admit I have been one of those crazed visitors rushing from landmark to landmark, instead of letting it all sink in. To be fair, I did have tight time constraints back then. This time, there is no excuse. The best part of long-term traveling is having the luxury of slowing down, taking my time, being flexible. I don’t have to be anywhere at any particular time. There’s no rush.
5. Live in the Moment
I’m so used to constantly “having a plan” for this week, for the next few months, for the next five years. I’m always thinking about what I need to do next that sometimes I forget to enjoy what I’m doing right now. This is an opportunity for me to let go, to surrender to chance. Roll with the punches, go with the flow, make plans on the fly, and enjoy the present. I will be trying my best to fight the urge to plan every part of the trip, and not stress about what can’t be controlled. The unpredictability and imperfection of traveling often lead to the best unexpected joys.
6. Don’t Hold Back
In the past, I have turned away from opportunities that have presented themselves and regretted it later. This year, I want to take every opportunity that presents itself and have no regrets. Forget about my comfort zone and just go for it. I am the only one that can stop myself, so I’m going to try really hard not to limit myself. Whether it’s not being afraid to actively engage with strangers or having the confidence to try something that I may not be good at, it’s up to me to fight the tendency to unconsciously hold back.
Our Goals
7. Find Simplicity and Clarity
There are all these things that we’ve been taught we should want, that society deems as “success” – reputable job, high salary, big house, lots of things to fill the big house… but to what extent do all of those things really add value to our lives? This year, with only the essentials on our backs and nothing else, it will get rid of the “clutter” and make room for more important and meaningful aspects of life: health, growth, relationships, passion. All we want is to see how the world works and what we don’t even know we don’t know. We want to see what we’re really capable of. We think a simpler life can lead to better clarity, so we’re going to give that a try.
8. Keep Up with the Blog
We have historically been bad with this kind of stuff – evident through the multiple journals started, then discarded after a few weeks. This time other people are following us, so we can’t disappoint (just kidding!). This time we want to write it all down, so we can look back on this once-in-a-lifetime trip and relive all the details that we will inevitably forget. We want to record the highest highs and the lowest lows. It will be great for everyone to hear about our trip, but this is ultimately for us. When we’re 80 years old, we hope we will read and feel nostalgic for one of the best years of our lives.