We have vowed to embrace flexibility and learn to pivot as needed. That has already served us well. Our original plan was to sell all of our worldly possessions and travel around the world for nine months. We were then going to buy a catamaran and spend the next several years splitting our time between sailing (mostly in the winters), visiting family and friends, and more world travels. Turns out 2026 is not a great year for selling a big house in the suburbs. Time for a new plan.

We are keeping the house for now and breaking our travel into smaller chunks. Like everything in life, this has its pros and cons. We are focusing on the pros, like the shorter time in between visits with family and friends, especially our adorable grandson. Taking shorter trips also solves certain logistical problems (doctor visits, mail, etc.) and allows us to plan our trips to avoid the most crowded (and expensive) seasons in each locale.

Our plan called for starting in Australia and New Zealand this fall, and that hasn’t changed. We are scheduled to leave for Australia at the end of August. We will travel around Australia for two months, then head to New Zealand for about five weeks before heading home in time for Christmas. We also have a Nile cruise booked in April and we plan to buy a catamaran in time to spend winter 2027/2028 on it. We will figure the rest out as we go along.