Announcing Big Changes to the blog
June 21, 2014. I’ve lived in Montreal for the last 30 years, Lissette (ie. Spanky) the last 22. This city has been great to me; I came here for university studies at 18, got my first job, married, had a son. I had some advancement opportunities at work and ended up promoted to the perfect job, working with some great people. They were like family, supportive when I went through a divorce and understanding to the obligations of being a single dad. Montreal, always buzzing, always full of activities for both adults and kids, was the perfect place to raise a son.
I met Spanky in 2005. A native New Yorker, she had come here for a change in life and career. Montreal was a change of pace from New York and she had to live with her own adjustments: a different language and culture, a different way of working, as well as looong winters that never seem to end. But she hasn’t regretted her decision – despite some ups and downs, Montreal has ended up being great to her as well.
I’ve always dreamed of travelling the world while also being able to continue working. We will become travelling ‘work-mads’ (I don’t like the word ‘nomads’) in mid-July, leaving Montreal for Prague, the first base of what we hope will be many. We’ll be there almost 3 months, discovering the city, the Czech countryside, as well as going for long weekends in neighboring countries. Those 3 months will be followed by Asia, to be followed by more travels either in Europe or on the North American west coast. Time will tell. It will be slow travel, experiencing different cultures, trying out new cuisines as well as alcohol in all its various forms. They’ll no doubt be a lot of misadventures, misunderstandings, and meeting weird people. That happens to us a lot. It’s also part of the reason we enjoy travel.
So what will this mean for readers of this blog? More posts in general, covering not only our destinations but also the different aspects of travelling full time as a working couple. You’ll see more posts focused on expat life (costs and practicalities of life in the different places we visit) as well as more personal posts on how constant travel affects us as a couple. If you come to the site and see either of the two little cartoon caricatures of us (top right corner) kneeled over or lying in a pool of blood it might be a good indication that it’s not going so great. You’ll see more continuum and more depth in our stories; past travels were based on 2-4 week travel, future travel will be continuous. We hope you see more of an evolution as we go from novice expats to more experienced world travelers. Writing about our experiences, documenting our trips and capturing images of the many places we want to visit were the reason we set up this Blog in the first place. We’d like to look back at it with fond memories 20 years from now. They’ll be many changes and permutations over time, both in the way we travel and in the reasons we want to do it. This is the beginning.
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Ugg, winter. The older I get, the least I can take it.
Related: Flashback to 2008…and thoughts on life changes
Related: Our Top “Travel Experiences” over the last 10 years
Related: Celebrating 10 years of “retirement”
Related: Finances: How we can afford to travel full-time
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Thanks to everyone who’s subscribed to this blog and who continue to follow us. We promise you lots of interesting new stories in the year ahead!
Sounds like a fun adventure!
I wish you good luck with your future plans. I can hardly wait to read it all your new adventures.
Thank you Laura!
Stumbled upon this post via twitter because we fell in love with Montreal on a visit last year. We’re also work nomads for the time being. Want to wish you all the best in your next adventures!
Thanks Michelle! Nice post on Montreal you have on your site.
I’m excited for you both. It’s a huge decision, but with your travel savvy and openness to experience new things, it’s the only natural next step. I also wanted to thank you, Frank, for helping me to understand the world of blogging and giving me pointers when I was getting started. My site is still a work in progress, and I’m enjoying the time I get to work on it! I look forward to following your adventures and hearing about your experiences in each location. The best to you both! And if you and Lissette ever happen to come my way, please be sure to give me a head’s up. I’d love to meet you both in person! Safe & happy journey to you both.
Thank you so much Sarah – one day we’ll definitely come and visit you in Hawaii. The Travel Guide you wrote to the islands is the most popular of all the guides on the site and I’m always getting both traffic and people commenting on twitter how good it is. I really appreciate that you took the time to write it. I’m still learning my way around the blogging world but it was a pleasure to help you out.
Thanks again for the lovely comment!
How exciting, Frank. I can’t wait to follow your adventures. As always, please let me know if I can help in any way.
You’re the best Brad. Come to think of it, we could use a private jet so that we don’t have to queue with the rest of the plebs. Send me an email, we can discuss the model and color 🙂 .
Hi Frank and Lissette,
I commend you on this most important life decision. What a fantastic time to be alive — when the world is so available, anyone with a bit of gumption can make a few bucks online, and readers are hungry for information from bloggers.
I wish you safe and happy travels — and of course all the incredible and sweet experiences you can have!
Josie
Thank you so much for the lovely comment Josie. As other bloggers have written before, friends and family have funny reactions to news like this and I’d be lying if I said everyone was happy or excited for us. But we are both 47, not getting any younger, and we have this amazing opportunity. And honestly? We’ve studied, worked long and hard, and given our time for others all our lives. I think we’re justified to do this without caring about other people’s disapproval.
Amen. Nuf said!
Enjoy,
Josie
Good luck to both of you. Stay safe aways!
Hey sis, you are always in my heart 🙂
That’s another resolution Linda; trying to get Lissette to write something on the blog. One day soon!
We wish you all the best and know that it is such a big move to leave a city that you love. We have no doubt that you will embrace everywhere that you go. It is so exciting and following your dreams is such a brave but awesome thing. Take care both of you 🙂
Thank you Paula and Gordon. Really appreciate the nice comment!
Congratulations! Sounds like a really exciting new chapter in life. Best of luck and I look forward to reading all about your big new adventure.
Thank you Sara! I always enjoy your site 😉 .
Excellent and exciting news – all the best to both of you!
Wow, very exciting! Looking forward to following your adventures around the world 🙂
Thank you very much Lizzie!
Wonderful! I wish you all the best!
Thank you Laura!
YAY! This sounds exciting – good on you guys!
But I hope not to ever find your cartoons lying in a pool of blood or anything of the sort..
All the best.. enjoy! 🙂
Thank you very much Zara! Hey, you know I keep going back to your site to watch that video? Love the song…