Gulp!--We Commit to Moving Overseas

So here's the deal.  My husband got laid off/let go/shit-canned (pick your euphemism, I change my mind on the matter daily) six weeks ago.  After going through the full stages of denial, bargaining, anger, Starbucks addiction, compulsive exercise, we have both come to a few conclusions:

1. It's not OK to hate your job that much.
2. It's not OK to let said job suck the life out of you.
3. We're young-ish.
4. We're healthy-mostly.
5. We're mobile-esque.
6. We're ready-sorta for a BIG life change.

See, when we met, we always said that Somebody gets to have that non-traditional life that we'd like to lead.  Somebody lives on a boat and sails the world.  Somebody can pack all their possessions into a rucksack and hop on the next train to anywhere.  Somebody gets to meet unusual people, eat funky food and have exceptional travel experiences (good and bad).  Up until now, that Somebody with a capital 'S' has been an ethereal creature of our imaginations....

"Somebody gets to do it," we said.  "Why not me?"

Why not?  Well, little things like being able to pay for it, finding the time and managing to do these amazing feats with a family in tow get in the way of us becoming Somebody.

So let's tackle those issues.  We're able to pay for it if we dip into our retirement fund.  Certainly in this economy (read: 2011 pre-election quasi-depression) there's no better idea than to rob your future to pay for a pipe dream present!  Uh, oops, well, let's just skip that one for now.

How do we carve out the time from our careers?  The question is, "How can we do something exceptional involving travel and not lose our job?"  Well, seeing as I "retired" 5 years ago to stay home with our kids and Bryan's job just "lost" him, we're good to go.  We sold our house last March and are renting a house on a month-to-month basis.  I home school, so leaving teachers isn't an issue.

The last concern is about toting the family all over the world/God's Green Acre/Hell's Half Acre (Hell always gets the shaft in those images, doesn't it?).  Ah, that one we'll conquer just by doing it.  Humans can accomplish amazing things when they put their minds to the task.  Particularly (and this is important, go grab a highlighter and run it across these lines on your computer monitor) WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HARD IT WILL BE!

So we're going to take the plunge.  Plug our noses and jump in the deep end. 

A year (or so) of world travel for a family of four--Mom, Dad, 6-year-old and 5-year-old.

Somebody gets to do it, why not me?