Balance & Spice

So, I figure, after my rather significant announcement yesterday, anyone who has or will be reading this might be curious how one makes a decision to move across the planet. We didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to move 9,634 miles away (no joke!), but the decision did come from one weekend this past August.

It all started when we went to visit Sylvain. Sylvain, I blame this all on you. Thanks.

Me and Sylvain. I'm a dork. And was sober.

Anthony and I both needed a vacation, so we went to visit our dear friend Sylvain, who has a cottage in rural Canada, an hour north of Sudbury, which is in turn an hour north of Toronto by plane. Needless to say, it was gorgeous.

Gorgeous, right?

We had an amazing time over the four days, living in nature (we went camping and fishing, two firsts for this city gal) eating good food, drinking good wine, and generally getting away from it all. It’s funny what getting away from “it all” does – it gives you space, time to think, and time to ask yourself what it is you’re doing, and what you really want in your life.

Now, Anthony always had some niggling in his mind to return home to Brisbane, Australia. I always had some nagging intention to live outside of New York. Having lived in Manhattan 21 of my 24 years, I knew that I wanted to experience something different.

New York was also getting overwhelming to me. One of the interesting side effects I’ve found of adding so much yoga to my life is that I am much more sensitive to energy, and living in New York is one of the most constant exposures you can receive to whirling, tumbling energy. I was getting exhausted, and feeling too young to be drained all the time.

Now, there were a ton of other reasons that went into the decision that, to protect other’s privacy, I can’t write on the blog. However, they were definitely a major factor in the decision to make such a huge move.

So, we made our choice that weekend. To change everything about our lives together as we knew it.

Instead of taking a three week vacation to Brisbane at the end of the year, we’d use that as the first stage of a move.

Instead of continuing our lives together as we had known it, we would take on what would quite possibly be the biggest challenge our relationship had ever (and hopefully will ever!) know.

Instead of keeping our lives the same, we would jump off the carousel and into the adventure of our lives.

Instead of continuing to write in sappy dramatics, I will stop and show you another pretty picture of Canada.

Canadaaaaahhhhh.

The best part about the decision came a week later, when we sat down and looked at our finances. Since we met, we’ve had a fantasy of taking two months off to travel around Europe, and explore to our hearts content. Considering we’d have a few months of not paying rent on a Manhattan apartment, and that we both have been saving like rabid squirrels for many years, we realized that the time after we quit our jobs in December would be an amazing opportunity to travel the world and live this dream.

So, here is our crazy, insane, magical itinerary for the next six months.

Insane Incredible Itinerary

December 6-31st – Brisbane, Australia (and all around Queensland)

December 31st – January 10th – NYC (I have a few grad classes left to teach at YogaWorks, plus a non-refundable return ticket from the first trip)

January 10th – 15th – West Palm Beach, Florida, to spend time with my grandmother.

January 15th – 25th – Sarasota, Florida, to spend time with my parents

January 26th – Leave for Israel

January 27th – Feb 4th – Israel

Feb 4th – Feb 10th – Greece

Feb 20th – March 5th – Italy

March 5th to March 9th – Barcelona

March 9th – March 23rd – France

March 23rd – March 26th – Amsterdam

March 26th – April 8th – New York City, for my 25th birthday and the Jewish Holidays

April 8th – ?? – Brisbane, Australia

How do I feel about all this? Exhilarated, excited, thrilled, and mostly terrified. I’ve never been to Australia. I’ve never lived outside of the U.S. Heck, I’ve never even lived in Suburbia. Besides a stint in LA for University, I’ve never lived more than 20 minutes from my mom, who I love more than anyone in the world. I talk to my whole family every day. For crying out loud, there’s a 15 hour time difference!

However, to have an adventure means, by definition, to do something you’ve never done before. So, we’ll see. Australia, and the coming months, will most definitely be an adventure, at the very least. I’ll get the chance that so few people have to truly explore the world and see how amazing it is. I thank my lucky stars and the universe every day for this extraordinary opportunity, and I truly can’t wait for the roller-coaster to start.

I hope that you’ll come along for the ride with me.

Namaste, ya’ll.

Question of the Day: What’s the Biggest Decision You’ve Ever Made? How did it go?