Ok so the day has nearly arrived! I can't believe it is actually happening. I have had people around me make comments such as "I'll believe it when I see it" but I prefer to follow Wayne Dyer's flip on that old cliche and say I'll "see it when I believe it"! And I'm seeing it, baby!
It was only just before Christmas that I was still in 2 minds. I was trying to talk myself out of it. An easy way to do that was to have a job opportunity come up that I couldn't refuse. So I kept applying for jobs and going for interviews. I don't think my heart was ever really into it because I went into, and left, each interview not really caring whether I got the job or not. I think I was secretly wishing I didn't so I was left with "no choice".
The lightbulb moment came when I forced myself to sit down and really think about the options and think about the bigger picture.
Not to start the adventure means:
- working 9-5 in a very demanding job (which would probably end up being closer to 7-7. One law firm principal in one of my interviews said if I don't start work before the allocated 8:30 I WILL be taking work home with me) ; or
- studying full time or part time again (I'm not sure my batteries are recharged from the last time yet. I think these batteries need to be trickle-feed from some sort of solar...);
- putting Emily into a new school;
- finding a house. We would most probably have to find some sort of share arrangement due to the crazy high rental prices on the Sunshine Coast.
Don't get me wrong, I love the lifestyle on the Sunshine Coast but how much of a lifestyle would we actually have? I felt like I would become this phantom mother again. The whole point of quitting work was to spend more time with Emily.
If we went on our adventure:
- I would be with Emily 24/7 (does this go in the pros or cons section!?!)
- Emily would get a one on one education. Her Prep teacher said she required a lot of one on one time last year and thought she would excel if she had a lot of one on one time.
- we would get to see the country and meet so many people!
I figured once Emily reached an age where she's too cool to spend time with mum (13? 15?) there would be at least another 25-30 years (probably more with the retirement age inevitably going to keep rising) for me to work. Would I get this opportunity again? Probably not. And definitely not with Emily at the age she is. I still have so many memories from our 3 month top end trip when I was 6/7 years old.
Once I logically thought about the pros and cons of both decisions it was pretty clear that we needed to go on our adventure! So I cancelled my next interview and ramped up the search for a caravan.
There's a lot of planning that needs to go into a trip but luckily I have been chipping away at it for months. There's the down-sizing, modifying the car to become a tow vehicle, and enrolling Emily into homeschool.
On a side note I just want to say something about homeschooling. Probably 90% of people I mentioned homeschool to had their own negative views about it and most of those negative views were around the "lack of social opportunity". My reply to these comments are now along the lines of "why does everyone think homeschooled kids are chained to their desks and locked inside by themselves all day?" How can this be possible when you are going to a different place every week and meeting different people on a daily basis. At least she will be socialising in the real world and not just predominantly in the school-yard setting where you are not encouraged to be unique.
Of course another thing that needed to be explored was whether I could afford it or not. I am doing it as a single parent. I will do a separate post outlining our budget (I'm not sure how quickly this will change!!).
