The Beginning

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Trip Start Aug 06, 2008 Trip End Sep 20, 2008 Next
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  Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

      Straight out of high school everyone expects you to know what you want to do with your life. That was not the case for me; I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had tried out University but quickly learned that it was not for me and became lost in the world of the work force. One night while talking with my long time friend Scott we started to hash together the idea of traveling to Europe and backpacking across as many countries as we could over a two year span. Both of us shared a love of travel and backpacking and took yearly trips to the mountains to spend a week in the woods with nothing but the items on our backs. We started to hash together some plans to prepare for our trip. Unfortunately Scott had already started his teaching degree to become a teacher so everything was put on hold for 4 years. Having already tried University I basically just bided my time while waiting for Scott to finish his degree. So I spent 4 years just bouncing jobs, saving money and having fun. Fast forward 4 years and Scott finished his degree so we sat down and the real planning began. We figured that this is a lifelong dream and if we are going to do it we might as well get to it while we are still young and have no dependencies or anything holding us down.

     Due to the crazy exchange rate going from Canada to Europe we decided it might be a good idea to head over to England and get a place to rent for 10-12 months. During this time we would not only adapt ourselves to the new country but also work and start saving up money in order to support the second part of our trip. Because of the exchange rate our bank accounts are cut in half when coming across which makes it tricky to try and save up for going a full two years without working. However if we were working for pounds we would get be getting our full pound value for our efforts and speed up the process of saving up. Doing it this way would provide us the ability to save up enough money to spend the following 12 months backpacking across the rest of the countries without having to worry about working. This would also provide us with the opportunity to travel and site see the surrounding area around England while we had a home base and a steady income.   So with the rough plan in place we waited for some cheap plane tickets snatched them up and began packing.

     Due to baggage regulations we can only bring two checked bags and one carry on. The bags you're checking can only way 50lbs as well so we basically had to cram our entire life and what we need for 2 years into two bags. This task seemed daunting at first but we were able to do it. We had to leave a lot of stuff behind and I mean a lot but our plans are to travel and sights see so we really don't need that much. We basically packed one week (7 days) worth of clothes and our backpacks and camping gear for later and that was it. We also brought a laptop so that we could dump pictures and stay in touch with friends and family back home.
 
     During the final months in Canada while we were hashing out the plans and getting ready to move out we were joined by Scott's girlfriend Aimee who like me had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. When presented with the opportunity to join us in Europe and see the world she jumped head over heels for the idea. While she wasn't going to join us on the second half where we planned to backpack from Northern Europe to Southern Europe she really wanted to join us in England while we lived there working. So with an extra member added and most of our plans hashed out we headed to the airport to begin the adventure of a lifetime. Four years in the making, Two years of travelling, and nothing but high hopes and excitement we said our good byes to friends and family and jumped on a plane destined for London. The adventure begins...

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