Board Meeting

It's official. I have been granted my leave of request. There wasn't really much doubt that it would be accepted, but now it feels real and I feel at liberty to publicly announce that I will be traveling the world next year (after I call my parents in the morning). I attended the board meeting (3 separate times during the day) and on the last visit walked in just in time to hear, "All in favor say 'Aye.'"

Why a leave of absence?
I don't want to teach anywhere else than Bethel, AK. I have laid out a one year travel agenda with the plan to return to teaching the fall of 2014, God willing. That's the course before me. Most people who know me, know that I don't really plan all the little details, but have a more general idea of what I want. And right now I want to harvest grapes in Italy, olives in Greece, snorkel in Fiji, shear sheep in New Zealand, cattle rustle in Australia, and goat farm in Hawaii. That's the general idea on the schedule.

Now, I am completely willing to admit that I am hoping to meeting some very interesting people on this trip. And I am ready to confess that I hope quite a few of them will be brawny men. And I would tell you in more detail after a glass of wine that I wouldn't be opposed to finding that one man out there for me on these travels. I am ready, open, and willing for that to happen. HOWEVER, the agenda for this trip is primarily about enjoying myself, learning more about sustainable farming, and staying warm for an entire year. That is the prime directive.

I did a little googling tonight about the best seasons for each of these destinations. As previously mentioned, Fiji around Christmas sounds pretty good, and it's about the middle point distance wise in my trip. As I started to read more articles about olives and grapes in Greece and Italy, I learned that I may really be looking for Perpetual Fall. Olives in Greece are harvested in the October/November season, and grapes in Italy in September. So my whole itinerary might be flipped. I might be traveling to Europe first then Oceania.

Also, I started to look at budget airline ticket prices. My new favorite site in Momondo.com which searches budget airlines globally. An initial search for flights that would take me from Chicago>Rome>Athens>Fiji>New Zealand>Australia>Hawaii>Chicago totaled $3575. That is approximately half the price of any RTW ticket at which I was priced. That makes the budget for this trip so much cushier. For all my long term stays, I have a goal of finding hosts that provide both accommodations and meals. The only time I see myself paying for those items are a few weeks traveling through Europe by rail, and a few weeks through Australia by bus (most likely). Traveling the world really can be affordable.

I would like to throw in one more God willing. I need to work on saying that more often when I talk about my lofty goals of the future.