As I walked through the gates of my job for the final time, I looked up towards the sky and let the warmth of the sun hit my face. A flood of emotions washed over me as I recalled the events that had led me to this moment. The sadness I felt as I was surrounded by loved ones as we said our last goodbyes to my aunt who had lost her battle to cancer. The smell of smoke as I walked through what remained of a home that had been in my wife’s family for generations, now sifting through the ash for any memories that could be preserved. The heart break I felt as I looked into my dog’s sad eyes, her eyelids becoming heavy and then finally closing for the last time.

All of these memories and emotions flooded my mind as I got into my car and drove home. But as I started to drive, a smile crept across my face. I remembered the moment when Laurie and I finally decided to stop letting life just happen to us; we wanted to go out and live it. The excitement and nervousness I felt when we decided to leave our jobs, sell our house and most of our belongings and travel the world. And now it was all becoming real. We would be grabbing our backpacks and setting off to see the world for 6 months.