On the road to our world trip: How we are preparing for our dream adventure

Do you also sometimes dream of a life without a fixed routine, without an alarm clock and full of adventure? We have been doing that more and more often lately. After many conversations, dreams and planning, it became clear to us: we are going for a year’s world trip! In this blog, I will take you through our preparations, from our mindset and finances to practical matters such as Noah’s (our 9-year-old son’s) school and our home in Belgium. This is just the beginning, but hopefully you can get some inspiration from this for your own adventures as well!

The daily grind gnawed at me, and honestly? I felt I wanted more out of life. A freer life in which I wake up every day with a smile, feel the sun on my face, have nature around me and every day can be an adventure. And all this, of course, together with my family. But of course this was no small step, so I decided: if I really wanted it, I would go for it.

It all started with Soulworx’s Business & Soul trajectory, which I took in late 2022. My plan was not at all to drastically change my life; I mainly wanted to further develop my photography business using the roadmap from the program. But along the way I was taken deeper and deeper into my “why,” my soul longing and my mission in life.

At first I found it exciting, with all those beliefs telling me that my dreams were unattainable. But as I continued to work on my mindset and turned over limiting thoughts step by step, new possibilities opened up. And thanks to the Cosmic Life courses I took on manifesting and attracting my dreams, everything began to fall into place!

My husband was a bit reluctant at first – he had to get used to the idea of completely turning our lives upside down. In the end, we found a compromise: we leave for one year. He takes a career break, Noah gets homeschooling, and I rearrange my work so I can continue to work location-independently. I am so grateful that we can take this adventure as a family.

We are the proud owners of a very nice townhouse in Vilvoorde, for which we obviously have a mortgage. We started a while ago by renting out an unused room through Airbnb, which makes a nice extra.

During our trip, we even want to rent out the entire house so that we have extra income and the mortgage remains affordable. This does require some preparation: making everything “Airbnb-proof,” arranging permits, cleaning up and minimizing. In this way, we want to make the house completely ready for guests. (Tip: consider renting out a room or house through Airbnb yourself, it can just bring in extra income! Become a host via this link and get 28€ to get started! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to help you out :)

Our Noah just turned 9 and is already eager to start our adventure. He is thinking along about what we will do and what he would like to see, and I am super happy that he likes the prospects so much. We want to offer him the “school of life,” and he will undoubtedly learn lessons beyond school. Since he is now in Freinet education, this trip is a perfect fit for his learning.

Officially, he “misses” the fifth grade in Belgium, but we’re fine with that: we’ll definitely commit to homeschooling ourselves, and in the sixth grade everything is repeated anyway, and worst case he can repeat a year. He won’t be tested for a diploma until the end of sixth grade, so we have time to bring him back up to grade level if necessary. It’s an adventure he won’t forget and neither will we!

Our itinerary is starting to get more & more concrete. Since we want to travel budget-friendly, we’re focusing mostly on countries in Southeast Asia & while we’re in the area, we’d love to pick up Australia as well. Think of destinations like Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. That way we can travel longer on our limited budget. We are also looking at the climate: of course, we don’t want to end up in the middle of a typhoon! Moreover, we plan a logical route to avoid unnecessary flying back and forth, which saves time and money. (Check Skyscanner for cheap flights and travel deals).

Our family and friends know by now that when we have an idea, we usually actually execute it. From 2012 to 2019, we lived in Curaçao, so they are used to something! When we discussed this adventure, of course we got a lot of reactions and opinions, but in the end, we are going our own way. It’s our life, and we want to make the most of it. Life is too short to worry about what others think, right? 😊

An honest look behind the scenes: we start our trip with a modest savings account of about €13,500. That’s not huge, so we’re working hard to find ways to generate additional income along the way. I already work as a photographer and am also working as a virtual assistant (VA). I also want to start blogging (on this site of course :-)), sell my travel photos, offer digital products and sell online courses.

My husband is taking paternity leave and care credit and plans to do some side chores where possible. We hope, of course, that our house rents well through Airbnb, which would also be a nice addition. A good tip I got from Sara at Redzezel: “Change ‘but’ to ‘and’…. That way you suddenly get a lot more opportunities.” And I’m already noticing that! We are brainstorming a lot about how to creatively generate additional income. Got any tips? Be sure to let us know!

My business, Pure Life Photography, in which I specialize in maternity and newborn photography, and Pure Living Photography, in which I work as an Airbnb photographer, are both important to me. But I also want them to continue while I am traveling.

Therefore, I am looking at how to expand my business. Referrals to other photographers, hiring someone … From online photo sales to offering courses – anything to continue sharing my passion without having to be physically present.

Time will tell how this will turn out :-).

A lot has already happened, but there are still some steps to go. Think about insurance, effective planning and, of course, our mental preparation for a year full of unknown adventures. Each step brings us closer to the moment we actually leave. And I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at our adventure. Maybe it will inspire you to take a leap of faith yourself. Whether you’re planning a trip yourself or just curious: keep following us! Together we count down to the adventure of a lifetime.