From Routine to Adventure

This blog was born following our decision to quit our jobs and fly away on the search for personal freedom. The urban life we had been living in Paris no longer appealed to us as days, weeks and months seemed to fly by with no particular excitement. We felt it was time for us to seize the opportunities of our young existence, reconnect with nature and enjoy the magic of life day after day rather than be governed by society's obligations and expectations.

After drooling on some amazing photos of Patagonia and its deserted landscapes we decided to turn our dream of wilderness and adventure into reality and bought a one-way ticket to South America. Actually no, to be honest first we bought a fully equipped 4x4 on the internet from a French couple who had just completed a South American road trip themselves. They were leaving the car in Santiago de Chile, so we decided to make that the first step of our journey consequently buying two one-way tickets to Santiago. At the time, our project was still just a fantasy but by buying a car in Chile and two non-refundable tickets to South America it was clear that we had just taken that crucial first step into the unknown, clearing away any possibility of pushing back our plans or finding excuses not to leave - as seems to be the tendency when it comes to stepping out of one’s comfort zone.

View of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies from our house

In order to avoid superfluous spending in material purchases and fancy restaurants yet alone save up on expensive rent, we moved from Paris to the little village of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies (where my dad has a house) in the region of Provence. Spreading from the Mediterranean coastline, to the banks of the Rhone river all the way to the Italian border, Provence offers picturesque landscapes of lavender fields, cypress trees and small stone hill-top villages. Mirabel-aux-Baronnies is one of them. It goes without saying that we knew nobody there and the closest city with a Zara store was an hour drive away, which was a radical change from Paris.

We were going to spend the next 4 months there, working as physical therapists (we are both physios) to save up as much as possible before D-day: November 8th 2015.

It has now been three and half months and we are four weeks from our leap of faith. In terms of savings, well, we could be better but they should at least give us a couple of months of freedom. We do hope to find some source of income at some point along the way, otherwise we just might find ourselves back here by the time spring comes around… NOT OUR INTENTION! (although I hear Provence is beautiful in the spring).

The façade of house in the village of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies

The idea of not knowing where we will be staying all along the way is both very exciting and very nerve wrecking at the same time. Despite having travelled all over the world since I was a kid, all my travels have always been planned and always had a return date, whether it was with my parents or by myself. The idea of not planning anything ahead is not really natural to me, because as a typical virgo (perfectionist), I like things to be planned and organised. Yet here we are, four weeks from a departure date and we haven’t even bought a guide book on South America yet! On top of that, the idea of not having a return date is very strange and yet so liberating! We are aiming to go for as long as we can - 3 months, 6 months, a year, two years??? We have no idea, but all I know is that as long as we’ll have food in our camping plates and fuel in our tank we will keep driving.

So yes I have to admit I am slightly nervous of stepping out of my comfort zone and driving into the unknown, but as Paulo Coelho once said “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal”.

BEESANDTOES

- October 13th, 2015 -

Mirabel-aux-Baronnies, FRANCE

FROM ROUTINE TO

ADVENTURE