A paneled van and world class cooking

Becca and I just got in from cutting globe artichokes from their stalks from the front garden. Not that either of us knew what we were doing, we only did as Anne had instructed us to do. Which was to cut the ones that weren't too small or hadn't already "gone to God". Those fresh cut artichokes will be a part of our dinner meal tonight. It will undoubtedly be paired with local wine, red or white, and then complimented with some sort of quince dessert. Not only is all of this food locally grown or picked straight from the paddock, it will be prepared by one of Tasi's best chefs.  When we got into Hobart a tall man with white hair with an American accent brought us to Anne's house, in a panneled van. I thought nothing of it but now I wonder why I was okay with it. On the ride back from the airport Bill regaled us with some of his knowledge on Tasmania. Wallabis are considered pests, a world renound ship race happens in Hobart, and Anne has worked in every part of the food business, including working alongside some of the best chefs around.   It is hard to believe that she is really  one of the best cooks around until you try her food. We had three different casseroles for dinner the first night. These are not your mom's casseroles though. These have flavors that range from smokey, to bitter and back again in one mouthful. This first dinner we also  met Bonnie a rescued dog who has been turned into a top notch cuddler and tennis ball fannatic. After being stuffed full of dinner we sat next to the fire with wine and Bonnie until Bill and Anne came back from a dinner out at the local pub.  Our home is a small cabin that overlooks a bay with Bruny Island as a back drop. We have tea, coffee, yogurt, homeade oat mixture, bunk beds, TV, refridgerator, electric heater, storage bins, table, and chairs in cozy cabin. When planning this trip two words struck fear into our hearts "bathroom adjacent". Images of sickle moon shapes cut into a rough hewn door that opened into a dismal excuse for a bathroom haunted our dreams. We were so wrong to think that though. We have a lovely bathroom that is a part of her miniature storeroom that has a vanity, heat lamps, and shower.   Anne is 71 years of age and has more energy and spring in her step than most 20 year olds. She is humble, welcoming, and patient. She seems to attract people of equal calliber and we have already found ourselves in a new home here in Woodbridge.

Sell It All And Travel

     Today I made a list of things I am willing to sell. I gave that list to my friend who is more craigslist and eBay savvy than I. He is going to look up the cost of each of the items and get back to me. Although he will be going through item by item I really want to know the lump sum of money I can receive. Because I am anxious to add this to my budget.
     The more I think about this trip the more I realize the thing that is standing in my way most is a lack of funding. Which is why I came up with the idea of "selling it all and travel". At first the idea was scary because I am getting rid of some of my most prized possessions. And to be as honest as I can be there are certain things I won't sell, my guitar, a neon Brooklyn Brewing Co. sign, and my wristwatches to name a few. "Sell it all and travel" as my blog's domain says is not as easy as I thought it would be. Maybe "sell some and travel a little" would be a more apt title.
      I by no means will be "selling it all" in a literal sense. On paper I think I'd like to sell all my physical possessions, but when I start to really think of the implications I am more than hesitant. Instead I will be giving up opportunities (career, apartment, dog, graduate school) for something different (culture, relationships, views on life). My graduation plans being much different than most people makes me stand up taller.
      "What will you get out of the experience besides a pocket full of shells?" Is something a therapist said to me in reference to my wanting to go into the Peace Corps. He was correct then, and he would be correct if he said the same thing about my graduation plan now. I will not come back from this experience with any sort of marketable skills, or more money, or any more success, or a house, or a wife, or a family, or a car. So then, what will I have?

A Plan Emerges

      After sitting down and talking with my girlfriend, Becca, the other day we've come to a decision (sort of). We are going to shoot for New Zealand. If we have enough money we'll go there, and if not we will go to Europe. In either case the plan is the same. We are going to try and do some volunteer work to provide affordable housing for ourselves.
      We have two sort of unspoken goals that we are trying to accomplish while on our travels. One of them being that we want to travel while we are there. We recognize that this is probably the only time in our lives that we will be able to travel like this so we want to take advantage of it. The way we plan to do that? Go to an area that is pretty unlikely we will ever be able to travel to again, the other side of the world. We would like to sort of island hop and see how many different cultures we can experience.
       Our second unspoken goal is that we want to immerse ourselves into a culture. We aren't really happy with just being tourists which is why we shied away from Europe. We see Europe as a place where it is easy to be a tourist, and we don't want to get sucked into that mentality. Instead we want to learn another culture and make our lives that much richer.
        In both of these goals a volunteer program like workaway can be really useful. Because it can provide affordable living and a sort of home base to come and go as we please. We really want to find an opportunity that will take us as a couple, provide room, board, and a small stipend.
      I'll let you in on a bit of a secret, I really want to find a job while we are over there. Living abroad for a small period of time would provide us with a different way to live and look at life. One that is not American and will help us better determine what sort of way we want to live our lives, providing us with more options than how we were raised at home.
      This is such a different experience than most graduating seniors develop for themselves and I am honestly quite excited just because it is different. I fear that I may look back on this blog post and find that I am a bit naive in my excitement but that's fine for now, how else would I learn from the experience?
      I have figured out a little bit of my budget and am anticipating some graduation money as well. Next step is to look at the visa information. More updates on my early retirement to come!

Retirement Fund

      I am retiring at 22. I am selling all of the extras in my life and taking some time off. Sony Playstation 3, Vizio HD TV, Sharp stereo system, Toshiba Satellite notebook, HP Deskjet printer, goodbye technology. 2 pairs of skis, Keurig single cup coffee maker, mini fridge, and an office chair. From selling all of this I'll have a few bucks in my pocket and so my retirement fund has started.
      This is sort of a short term and immediate retirement fund. Maybe it's not the ordinary sort where you work all your life to play golf in Florida. Although, it gets me to the same place as sun soaked golf courses gets our grandparents. This small amount of money will buy me a one way ticket somewhere. Once out of America I get to start doing what I really want to do, which is the point of retiring isn't it?