Wake up call!

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We didn’t realize that the clock was ticking inside us until one day we had the wake-up call!!!

We have been working for 4 years, saving every penny and doing our best to have a comfortable and pleasant life. We were happy, everything seemed to be in the right place, but one day we realized that all that wasn’t good enough. The truth was that we wanted more, be more, see more, travel more.

It was time to leave the comfort zone and run after our dreams!

The wake-up call happened in August 2013. We finished our honeymoon trip, got back to our lovely home, to our jobs and routine. Guess what? We were depressed! After some weeks we had the “talk” and decided to leave Brazil again.

We were inspired by a Canadian couple that we met in Istanbul. We were staying in the same building, and they shared with us precious stories about their journey. They were in their 50’s, decided to sell everything in Canada to travel the world. (Thanks guys for the beers and chat!)

This wasn’t the first time we travel non-stop, we already lived in Ireland for two amazing years, more details maybe in a future post. But this time it would be different. We were not in our twenties anymore, we had a house, two cats, a car, and a life that we were willing to leave behind. On the other hand, we had more experience, more money, and more dreams. The result of the equation was: sell everything that we would not need, save as much money as possible, plan for a long-term journey, and find a way to earn money on the road.

So we had a plan, it didn’t sound simple, but it wasn’t impossible. To organize our thoughts and stay focus, we made three guidelines to follow:

– How to save money?

– Where we want to go, and how can we get there?

– How to earn money while traveling?

The key to success was to search for all the information we needed, and we found so many travel blogs with inspiring stories and tips. Here are some of them, people who inspired and helped us achieve the nomadic lifestyle dream:

www.hecktictravels.com

www.theprofessionalhobo.com

www.nomadicmatt.com

www.legalnomads.com

www.uncorneredmarket.com

www.adventurouskate.com

www.wanderingearl.com

www.alexinwanderland.com

– www.hippie-inheels.com

www.alittleadrift.com

After all the digging and reading, we set a date: April 2014. In December 2013, we started counting down! I have to be honest with you, I was more than happy, I was thrilled. I would be able to do the things I like the most:

– Be with Rob 24/7 basis

– Travel the world

– Write again

I’ve never felt so lively. Every day I had butterflies in my stomach, a mixed feeling of happiness, fear, and anxiety. To leave the comfort zone is not easy, you have to give up lots of things and become a minimalist. I had to figure out a way to leave my possessions and focus on our project. Rob always told me, “We are giving up something big for something bigger,^ and that’s how I managed to leave everything behind and started a new style of life.

PS. Ditching the high heels was SOOOOO hard.

18 thoughts on “Wake up call!”

  1. Hello.

    I’m so happy for you. I always dream to meet many countrys. Now I will meet in this blog. Congratulations. I love this idea.

    Reply
    • Thanks for passing by… It´s our pleasure to mention your blog, it does inspired us. About the heels, I´m missing them but for the moment is good to learn how to be and feel sexy in flat shoes…lol

      Reply
  2. Hi Nat!

    Congratulations on your decision to become nomads for a year (or hopefully longer…)
    This is really a great post. Just stumbled upon it through Twitter (thanks for following us by the way!) In short and simple words, and yet so sincere, you’ve explained your “Wake up call” so well! 🙂

    We’re looking forward to reading your upcoming posts and wish you both happy travels!! Who knows, we might meet each other someday, somewhere around the world 😉

    All the best,
    Mei & Kerstin

    Reply
    • Thanks for the kind words Mei & Kerstin!

      I’m so happy that you liked our post and share the same passion for travelling! I think we got bitten by the same bug!

      We loved your Blog too, and hope someday we could meet and share a bit more of our adventures.

      Keeping travelling, living and loving!!!

      All the best,
      Kisses from Nat & Rob

      Reply
  3. Great article Natalie and Rob!

    I really like that you talked about how different the decision is to travel nomadically when you’re not in your twenties anymore. There are definitely some terrific benefits as well as some serious drawbacks, but overall it’s fantastic. Interesting that you guys are from Brazil. It’s been one of my favorite places to go among so many wonderful locations around the world.

    Thanks for sharing and please keep the posts coming!
    -Dale

    Reply
    • Thanks Dale!

      As you say there are pros and cons about travelling in “our age” lololol…But we are having the time of our lives!! On our 30´s we tend to be more conscious and we learn that the fun is not when you arrive in a new place, but all the journey till there!!

      Hope you enjoy our posts, we are trying hard to inspire people with our story and useful tips!

      All the best!
      Nat & Rob

      Reply
  4. The wake up calls come for as all at some point. I took my first trip to Thailand for a month in august, came back and settled back down in England and by Christmas time I had decided I was going to save up and make it a permanent lifestyle.

    Settling down just isn’t for me right now. I love being on my toes and having the freedom to come and go as a choose and have the entire world as my home.

    Reply
  5. Congrats Sarah!!!

    It’s so good to meet people that fall in love with travel!
    The feeling of having the world as our back garden is amazing!
    Enjoy your travels and keep exploring the world!
    All the best 😀

    Nat

    Reply
    • Hi Stephanie!!
      So happy to know that you liked the post and blog! Welcome to Love and Road!
      Congrats for going on a travel journey too, wish you all the best, luck, happiness and tons of adventure!
      🙂
      Nat

      Reply
  6. Love your confidence and what you did…will stay tuned for stories from around the world. We (myself and wife) are travel lovers too… we are starting small and hoping to make it big some day. People like you are our inspiration

    Reply
    • Thanks!! 🙂
      Wish you all the best, adventures and happiness…
      Don´t worry about being small or big, size doesn´t matter. What you need is to follow your passion, run after your dreams… In the end everything works fine!!
      Cheers,
      Nat

      Reply

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