What Boundaries » around the world http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/whatboundaries What boundaries? Join Cheryl and Lisa to discover there are none Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:55:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 The Adventure Begins… http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/whatboundaries/2008/05/06/the-adventure-begins/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/whatboundaries/2008/05/06/the-adventure-begins/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 17:13:50 +0000 whatboundaries http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/whatboundaries/2008/05/06/the-adventure-begins/ A bottle of wine and competitive girl friends don’t always mix well. We should have learned the first time this happened…Cancun, tequila shots, and a swim-up bar ended up with a contest to see who could hold their breath under the water the longest. Lisa judged, Cheryl won, and Julie wanted a rematch. This time the consequences would be much more dramatic.
Coral Reef Research in Mexico
“What if you could do anything you wanted? Go anywhere? See anything? What would you do? What if you had no boundaries at all?” The wine had been opened and so had our thoughts.
The campaign was on and it went something like this…
“I’d go on an African safari.”
“Why just a safari? What about petting a lion? I’d work with Big Game predators in Africa, close beside them, and get to touch them.”
“Well, I’d become a professional wildlife photographer, shooting photographs close up of the Big 5 and would live in the bush, eat leaves, and survive on my own skills.”
And so on…
Up close to a baby Cheetah in Africa
Our mantra that night became the words Helen Keller had used, “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” Each of us was a place where we thought we were ready for more of that adventure adrenaline. So why not?
In the weeks that followed, we began to put those words into a concrete journey. Julie decided to stay behind and give moral support, but Cheryl and Lisa set the course for what their respective friends and family thought surely must be a case of temporary insanity. We quit great jobs, sold houses, cars, a motorcycle, and most things that wouldn’t fit in a large backpack. We booked hostels, picked destinations, bought an around-the-world plane ticket, and signed up for volunteer work with Global Vision International projects scuba diving in the Mexican jungle and exploring the African bush.
We stressed over everything from what color backpack to order to how many pairs of underwear to pack. Exofficio® advertises “17 countries, 6 weeks and 1 pair of underwear”, but neither of us was ready to buy into the thought of bringing along only 1 pair! And Priscilla, the purple stuffed octopus who had previously adorned the dashboard of Cheryl’s Jeep, now had prime passage in the top of whoever’s backpack had extra space.
Priscilla packed and ready to go!
Lisa and Cheryl’s past travel styles were quite different, with one generally preferring 5-Star and the other being quite happy with Dive Bars. A strict budget had been drafted to keep our traveling going as long as possible, so 5-Star was out and hostels were in. This was going to take some getting used to from both of us, but we were excited about the possibilities.
The day finally arrived and ready or not, we were heading out to the great big world to see, feel, absorb, and taste it. Lugging huge, heavy backpacks with more stuff than we would ever need (or could carry) – our around-the-world adventure had begun!

Next…Our first hostel stay EVER in Dublin!

]]> http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/whatboundaries/2008/05/06/the-adventure-begins/feed/ 0