August 2016 – Jen Goes Rogue

Turkey: That Bird Has Flown

When we first started planning our trip the #1 place in the whole world I wanted to visit was Istanbul. Why? Have you seen pictures of Istanbul?! It’s like holding up a multicolored jewel up to the light. It sparkles and dances with brilliant radiance. It shimmers in the sunshine. Tilt it to the left and it’s colors have changed from green to gold. Tilt it to the right and the gold is now blue and purple. The depths of beauty derived from looking in keep you wanting to more deeply explore.

Cultural intersections are my favorite places in the world. The seashores of religious, racial, and national identities, washing together, creating a swirling mecca of food and fun. Biodiversity is important in our environment, it keeps things in check. Cultural diversity is important in our human experience, it shows us we’re not homogenous and yet we’re all still just people. New Orleans is one of my favorite examples of this. French Creole fused with Canadian, American Indian, and Vietnamese influences make for some of the most fun experiences and best tasting food in America. Turkey has these characteristics in spades.

If you’re a news junky, like myself, you’re well aware that Turkey is going through a little bit of a tummy ache right now, so to speak. They’re feeling crampy and downtrodden and flushing their system. At writing, 50,000 people have been fired throughout Turkey for coup sympathizing. They’re stripping judges, university leaders, teachers, and police of their livelihoods. 265 people died in the coup itself. The once vibrant democracy is feeling more and more like a dictatorship every day and there’s no foreseeable end in sight.

For our safety we will skip Turkey, even though we wouldn’t have arrived until March or April of 2017. By then, I fear the situation will be much worse and the Syrian refugee crisis will have taken an even greater toll on the country. The refugee crisis will continue to afflict Europe as well, and we’ll have to closely monitor the situation on the ground to see if it’s safe to travel throughout the destinations we’ve predetermined. Regardless, we’re out of the country for 330 days, lest we face a big fine, so we’ll figure it out somehow.

One day, I’d love to visit Istanbul and stare into the shimmering jewel that is that beautiful land. For now, we’ll watch and pray from a distance.

By Jen Hawse on Preparing for the Trip

Adulting is Hard: Vaccines and Insurance

It’s not all fun and games, this travel planning business. Before we figure out all the hotels and places to stay we need to get some dollars and sense in order around some difficult adult decisions. After losing my job I’ve been tasked as the primary individual in figuring out a few key parts to our adventure:

Which vaccines to get? How do you interpret a “recommended” from a “required” vaccine to know which you really need?
Where to get said vaccines?
Which travel insurance to get?
How does the Affordable Care Act work for travellers like ourselves? Do we need insurance in the US when we won’t even be here?
What about my car insurance? Keep or remove?

The further I go down this rabbit hole the more I realize there are no right answers to any of these questions. It’s not that there isn’t advice. Let’s start with vaccinations. There’s plenty advice, it’s that we don’t know what our best option really is. Spend over $1,000 on vaccines in the states prior to leaving? Spend about $40 in Bangkok when we get to an area that actually has the diseases, thus saving money but perhaps creating a medical disaster? Risk getting some, but not all, vaccinations (some are required, many just recommended)? Vaccinations can have serious side effects (limb paralysis that lasts for months is something I’ve heard of more than once), but the risks seem to be far fewer than the actual diseases that they can prevent. All of this on top of a twisted healthcare system in the US that 1. won’t pay for my vaccines via my insurance and 2. sends me to a “travel clinic” that is going to sell me a bill of goods that I can’t trust. I’m flustered by it all, to say the least.

Navigating the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is no better. The rule we’ve found is that if you’re out of the country 330 out of 365 days you’re exempt from health insurance. Our plan was to be out of the country for ~275 days, or over 9 months. Unfortunately, from the looks of it, we’d be paying a $1,200 penalty for opting out of insurance we won’t use or paying for insurance we can’t use. Due to the fact that I made a decent salary this year I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

What would make this easier is if we could just use the international health insurance that we plan to get to cover our ACA needs. However, since the international insurance can’t meet all of the ACA requirements we can’t use it. So, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. We are, by the way, getting the insurance, but it would be so much easier if we could just come back on our terms instead of Obamacare’s terms.

Lastly, my car. My precious car. I love her dearly, she’s been a trooper since 2008 and really treats me well. That said, it’s $362 for 6 months of insurance coverage for me not to drive it, or $724 per year. Since the ACA has determined I need to be out of the country for 11 months, this is basically the length of time I need to insure the care for without a presumed driver. Why keep it on the road? To make sure it doesn’t rot away. I’m not convinced that will happen. Now, the cost benefit analysis comes in of figuring out how much it will be in damages if I do nothing versus if someone drives it periodically. Again, how I don’t have a right answer here is that no one knows for sure what that cost would be. Could be a few hundred or a few thousand or nothing at all. It’s a gamble both ways.

We’re navigating these waters, like new sailors on a river we’ve never traversed before. We’re not even out to sea yet and it’s rocky. The purpose of this trip is to head toward paradise. I just hope we don’t sink before we get there.

By Jen Hawse on Preparing for the Trip, Travel Philosophy

Travel Wide, but Not to Hide

People travel for innumerable reasons: to get away for a while, to gain a sense of purpose, to find themselves, to get away from themselves… Each path has it’s own reasoning behind it and each is entirely legitimate.

Going down the tracks

In less than a month, Jason and I will begin an epic journey that will last us nearly one year’s time. There’s a common narrative that travelers are escaping. Escaping the past, yourself, or your circumstance. Truth is, I’m living through one of the most peaceful and happy times of my life. My friends are beyond words amazing to me and I’m finally confident that they love me as much as I love them (depression can make you question everything; so glad I’m past that right now).

Love you people

My family and I are very close. I spend much of my free time with them, laughing and loving them. I’m at my mom’s house nearly every weekend. It’s been this way since I learned my dad was sick and hasn’t changed in the year since he’s passed.

Momsie and me in San Fran

Baltimore and I really get along. My little apartment in Hampden is cozy and walkable to everything. Friendly, quirky, and homey; this area feels right to me. While I know it’s not a place to raise kids, it’s a great place to call home for now.

Love the o's

During our initial trip considerations and planning I had a job that I did well at and enjoyed. Local food has been my passion for 5 years now and I was working a dream job. At Relay, I learned so much about myself through the good and hard times, working with colleagues that impressed me on a daily basis, and creating partnerships that lasted for years. Now, I’m jobless, and all that is over. It’s the one thing that is an ultimate “duh”, now’s a good time to go.

All this is to say: I’m not running from anything or “leaving” anyone behind. My life is really great. This decision was not made lightly and I know that I’m taking an enormous risk on multiple levels (more of that in upcoming posts!). I’m not planning an easy life and know for a fact that despite whatever work threw at me before, this is going to be tougher to “go on vacation” than work a 9 – 7. At least jobs have a level of predictability to them and you can take time off. You also have a boss and expectations, so you can’t just make your own schedule (although, I did quite a bit of that at Relay!). Being away from my home for 11 months means there is no “time off” and there’s no place to call home on the road. It’s not my intention to complain or in any way diminish how privileged I am to take this trip. I am incredibly privileged and eternally grateful to not have to wage slave for a period of my adult life. You’ve got no idea. Just want to be clear that I love you all and I’m not leaving you, I’m just taking a little time for me. Jason gets to come too 😉

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