Well friends, flights are all officially booked. It’s been a lot of ups and downs between figuring out of logistics.
First I had to figure out how to get Brisket on a flight to Europe that was under 8 hours. Fun fact you can fly to Amsterdam for 7 1/2 hours from New York which allows your pet as an emotional support animal to stay out of his crate and sleep under the seat in front of you.
We had originally booked our flights for Jordan and then realize that this 35 our treck on an airline that didn’t like dogs was going to be a really bad idea. So after doing some more homework I found out about the Amsterdam thing from some animal travel pros.
It looks pretty simple and straightforward paperwork wise, Brisket needs:
Amicrochip
Proof of rabies vaccine
Paperwork for Europe called annex something or other
Once we get to Amsterdam will spend four days there during which time we will get brisket settled with a European puppy passport (omg so cute!) and pick him up a travel crate for our quick flight from Amsterdam to Cypress on the 19th of August.
The tricky part for me that has been having me feel really displaced is the fact that I have to be out of my apartment on July 11 but I’m not actually leaving until August 6 when we head to Vegas for the Tony Robbins business mastery event followed by my flight to Amsterdam via NY right after that event on the 12th.
The idea of having nowhere to really land for a whole month has been making me almost want to throw up. Every day. This idea of couch surfing or floating around just feel so unsettling. So I’ve decided I’m heading home for a week to spend some time with my family and celebrate my brother’s 40th birthday (happy birthday bro!).
From there I’ll head out to Denver Colorado to spend time with my bestie B Train for dog shenanigans. We will also be recording a few Krissy Krash podcast interviews. B is working on hooking me up with a pro football player and a few other fit pros to interview. And I’m working on a few roller derby interviews as well.
Seattle and Denver are all well and good but this was where I kept getting stuck… What do I do with the rest of the time? Should I rent a car and drive 12 hours to the Grand Canyon? I hate driving so this just sounded like a terrible idea. Though I’d really like to see the Grand Canyon eventually.
I was sitting in bed debating all of this last night and I just felt completely displaced. All of a sudden while laying in my own bed in my own home I felt completely alone and homesick.
How can I be homesick when I’m all just sitting in my own home???
Just goes to show you how much of the human experience is created in our head.
I went to bed last night in a really funny place, feeling a little bit scared and nervous and homesick for the home that I was currently falling asleep. It didn’t help this Brisket decided to sleep down stairs for some reason. I mean could I FEEL MORE ALONE in that moment? So I just decided to let my self feel it and to sleep on it. To faith that clarity would come.
I knew just need to ask better questions.
So I went to sleep asking myself where would I absolutely love to be for those two weeks between leaving Denver and leaving the country?
I woke up this morning with the answer.
Here.
I love SoCal summer.
I wait all year for it.
Why was I sentencing myself to have to leave California and not come back?
So I’ve decided that I will come back to Cali for those two weeks and stay at a hotel here in Huntington Beach. I will hang onto my car until then and sell it right before we leave for Las Vegas for Tony Robbins. That way I can spend an additional two weeks enjoying my favorite part of the year here in one of my favorite places on the planet.
I’ve been asking some veteran digital nomads and ex-pats for advice on how to mentally handle this sort of an undertaking.
How do they gracefully travel the world in an adventure that seems so vast and limitless that it borderlines on terrifying?
I got one of the greatest answers ever from one of the guys in a Facebook group that I’m in for digital nomads. He said :
“I’ve been on the road for three years now. And I think that the key is balance. Slow down if you feel like you’re going to fast, and move on if you feel like you’re going to slow. You definitely need much less than you think but don’t sweat it, you’ll figure out what works for you as you go. You will donate what you don’t need and you’ll pick up what you thought you could live without. Try to engage in the community, fellow travelers and locals. Don’t forget to live. And OK to have quiet days too.”
I haven’t even left yet and I feel like my heart and spirit have grown so much from this journey already.
They say when you commit to something big your transformation starts in that moment.
I’m feeling that.
I’m learning about what it feels like to dance on the line of the unknown and the need for security.
Even just figuring out what this month of floating around the US will look like I’ve begun to ask myself do I feel like I’m going to fast or too slow?
Will I want to move on or do I need to stay put for a few?
That’s why I’ve decided to spend my last two weeks in California.
I’m learning how to do what feels good.
I’m learning to listen to my intuition and my gut.
If something feels wrong I’m not going in that direction, this is a deep rabbit hole that I’m jumping into.
Here we go feet first.
A Krash Course in World Travel 