“Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.” — Paulo Coelho

There are so many things to think about before you leave home for a year. One of the first things I needed to consider was what I would do with my house. As way to reduce my expenses at home, I decided to sell my condo, even though I had to give up a fantastic view of Nashville. Not only would I not have to worry about maintaining it while I was gone, I could apply any money I would spend on the mortgage, utilities, cable, insurance, etc. as the foundation for my travel budget

Then what would I do with all my stuff? Luckier than many, I owned a duplex that would have one vacancy just before I left. So I decided to move most of my things there and rent it furnished. This allowed me to keep a lot of my belongings without paying storage fees and hopefully produce additional revenue for my trip. My condo closed on May 10th and I was fully settled into the new lodgings just a few weeks later.

Now, I couldn’t leave everything in the duplex such as financial records, valuables and any clothes I wasn’t taking with me. So I’m very grateful to my daughter and son-in-law who allowed me space in their attic and closets to store those items. A friend was kind enough to foster my house plants for the year. I also made 5 trips to a local non-profit thift shop, winnowing my belongings to just what was needed to furnish and decorate the duplex.

Then I needed to decide what to do with my cars. I didn’t want to leave them sit for a year and impose on someone to drive them every month. Conveniently, one of my friends was moving to Colorado and needed a four wheel drive car. So I am selling my Subaru Outback to her. Another friend offered to ‘foster’ my 2008 Solara for me, excited about the opportunity to drive a convertible.

Next up – vaccinations! Growing up a Christian Scientist, I didn’t have any vaccinations when I was young but when I joined the Navy they shot me up in both arms. Ouch! And although I have traveled a lot I still didn’t have all the vaccinations I needed for this trip. First, a yellow fever shot required for travel to Uganda and a recommended polio booster. Then a regimen of Typhoid pills. One every other day, two hours after you’ve eaten and at least one hour before your next meal. Seems simple but it wasn’t, but I managed to get the four pills taken within the recommended time frame. My time in Africa and India requires malaria prophylactics and I was given two choices. One that my insurance might cover but had side effects such as intestinal issues, sensitivity to sun and others. The alternative could cost up to $5 pill but had no side effects – other than a pinch to my pocketbook as I needed them for 100 days plus. Luckily, the cost ended up to be much less, since I love the sun and when you’re on the go rumbling stomachs are not your friend.

Finding travel insurance for a year was another adventure. Easy to find policies for every tour but they added up and I won’t always be on a tour. Also easy to find an annual travel policy as long as I wasn’t gone for a year. Confusing but true. I found a six month policy so I would be half covered but had to be back in the US to renew it. One company was kind enough to offer me coverage for $24,000 – definitely the Cadillac of policies, I hope I don’t regret not buying it. I finally found a policy through Travel Guard that covers medical expenses, including evacuations with minor coverage for trip interruption and baggage loss. Wish me luck and good health.

Next up – packing. Take off in 17 days.