Travels Near and Far

Earlier this week, a bunch of the ladies got together to meet up with our friend Sarah, who was back in town for just a few days.

Sarah and Katherine, Fall 2012

You see, Sarah has been living the dream ... or at least the dream of anyone that loves to travel! At the end of 2011, she was in between the end of grad school and the beginning of her next life chapter, and had no immediate life deadlines -- so she decided it was the perfect time to travel abroad! She headed to Thailand, Laos, Bali and Australia with a friend, and has been living abroad since February. She is finishing up a brief vacation in the States, but is about to head back to Aussie-land and other places until next April (home again just in time for our wedding, hooray!).

I think I can speak for all of our friends that we are all a little jealous :) Besides the fact that living in a bikini on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world sounds amazing, it's really hard to imagine a life not HERE, right where we all are in our lives right now. We have jobs, homes, significant others, kids, bills to pay and things to do. We have all been working hard to establish ourselves as adults, start families and find successful careers. My friend has encountered a perfect point in her life to explore the world, but not all people have that chance.

But what if you had the opportunity to head abroad somewhere, sometime later in life? Where would you go? What would you do? How would you sustain your life there? 

Source: trialx.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I love thinking about these types of "what if" situations. Luckily, I have found a partner that shares these dreams for down the road. We would love to make world travel a priority, and possibly even live abroad at some point in our lives, if we can make it happen. We have also talked a lot about our "plan." While we love our lives here now, who knows what opportunities might arise later! We are in agreement that if given the chance, we would both be willing to make the jump and go wherever things bring us. It would be hard leaving friends, family and familiar places behind, but if we could make it work, it could be an amazing opportunity.

Source: mashable.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Of course, things never always go to plan. You never know what might happen between then and now, so we are keeping our eyes focused on the flexibility of it all. We may have a "plan," but it's definitely captured in pencil, able to be rearranged as time goes on.

Tonight we are heading to see Brad's best friend get married. He and his new bride will be starting their own next chapter, and we are soon behind them with our wedding in the spring, and all sorts of things are ahead of us down the road. But while I love to dream of the future, I also love to live in the present, and enjoy and appreciate every day for what it is. Today, I am enjoying the scent of a fall candle, a clean condo and a lazy afternoon ahead before the wedding. Tomorrow, I don't know what I will be enjoying, but I know that there will be things throughout the day that will make me happy. The future? I am so excited. But today? I love it. And I love that Sarah is getting to love every day too -- even if it's halfway around the world :)

Do you have a "plan" for your life? Are you focused on the short or long term, or both? How do you balance it all?