Our decision to travel around the world was the outcome of a sequence of events beginning with the slowdown of my business at the start of 1999. For three months we had no sales, forcing me to cut overhead. I also decided to move to smaller offices.
The day before the move Elke and I were sitting in our favorite coffee shop. Elke was paging through an Italian magazine, looking at pictures of Tuscany and Italy's coastline. "We could go there and stay for a year," I said to her jokingly. It just popped out. But then we looked at each other and realized it was true. This was the perfect time to leave for a long stay abroad, and perhaps the only opportunity in our lifetime.
We started thinking about this perfect situation: Elke was graduating, we didn't have children, I was burnt out on my work and wanting to make a change, and we had the money. I asked Elke again if she really wanted to do this, she said yes, and the decision was made. In a few more minutes we had made a mental list of all the tasks we would need to accomplish before leaving.
Off I went to solve the first small problem: getting my new office lease reduced from one year to six months. It certainly helps to have the best landlord in Chicago. Although I was prepared to cancel the move completely and put my office stuff in storage and close my business immediately, Tom agreed to accommodate me.
It certainly takes a few months to prepare a leave of home and business for the duration of a whole year. Insurance needed to be arranged, our condo had to be sold, reservations had to be made, gear needed to be bought ... The list would definitely bore you. I had to slowly shut down my business, collect all receivables, arrange bill payments. I had to find credit cards that can be reconciled via Internet. We bought the Sony Vaio Picturebook computer to stay connected to friends and family, as well as our accountant and bank accounts in Chicago. A small built-in digital camera will allow us to take live pictures and post them on our website.
Today is the 27th of September. The last month has been extremely busy. The boxes are packed, the last bills are paid, today we are moving out of the office, tomorrow the movers will pick up all our possessions. We are storing our goods at Hollander Inc. in Elk Grove Village. The closing of our condo sale is scheduled for Wednesday morning. After that, the carefree, bill-free life can begin. We are a little tired and over-anxious - it takes nerves to finalize all the transactions. But the excitement builds, the minutes are racing by ... and very soon we will uncork that bottle of champagne while flying to New Zealand.