Dream Trip

Buy some lottery tickets, or get a good financial advisor.

You will have trouble traveling in Europe for a year. The Schengen Law limits your stay to 90 days then you have to leave all Schengen countries for 90 days before you are allowed back in. If you stay over the 90 days you could have to pay a big fine and be band from all of the countries for years. Of course, you could spend 90 days in the Schengen countries (there are 25) then go some place else for 90 days like (UK and Ireland) and then go back.

What about taking a leave of absence from your job - six weeks or so - sometime in the coming year. Then, save and plan so that you can travel to Europe once or twice a year for a couple of weeks at a time. Personally, I'd scatter my travel throughout my work life and save to retire early so you'll have unlimited time to travel while you're still young enough to enjoy!

Jill, it can be done. If you're a reader, get this book: The lost girls: three friends, four continents,one unconventional detour around the world. The authors are Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner. These women, three friends going on 30 quit their jobs and traveled for a year. Of course, there's the book and movie "Eat, Pray, Love"....In two years you can plan your trip, get a support group and also plan your re-entry, which, quite aside from finding a job, can be quite difficult and take several months, just to become comfortable again with fitting back in or so I've heard. There's a woman who decided to do a solo bike trip across Europe, Asia, New Zealand and parts of this country. She also wrote a book about it. It may be hard, but what an adventure! At least, research it, maybe start blogging about it and read some travel blogs, perhaps even find a travel buddy.... Good Luck and dream big!

Jill, my suggestion would be to do a "trial run" first, for perhaps 2-3 months (if you can get that much holiday time, or perhaps take a "leave of absence"). That way you'd be free to explore Europe (or other areas) with no worries about exceeding the Schengen Visa limits. ¶ While the thought of travelling for a year sounds appealing, I've found that a couple of months is about my limit, as I tend to reach a point of "travel fatigue". While some people DO travel for a year at a time, I suspect it's not for everyone. ¶ It's difficult to be really specific without knowing a bit more about your situation (ie: what type of job you have, and therefore how likely is it to return to that line of work?). While your house is paid for, you'll need to allow for taxes, so be sure to include that in your travel budget (as well as utilities as you'll need to ensure that at least electricity and gas is maintained during the winter). Good luck!

Thank you everyone! I should have specified I didn't mean a year of continous travel but in several month chunks, returning home to Seattle in between. A leave of absence at work isn't an option unfortunately. I have 20 years in healthcare (not a nurse) and just changed jobs[INVALID]have been here 5 months now. I turn 50 in January and I think I am having my midlife crisis. ha ha However, I do think it's a dream worth pursuing. I don't want to be 67 (if I make it that age) trying to schlep around on a long trip. Anyway, thanks again. Happy Travels!

It has been done. Try looking up http://www.ayearineurope.com/ There are podcasts available on iTunes of their trip as well. This is not only your dream, Jill, it's mine too.

Thanks Brad!

Oh Jill, this is my dream too! Go for it. I'm not too much older than you and have been working with a great financial planner to help plan early retirement so that I, too, can travel before the body starts to complain too much. My longest trip to Europe was 3 months (it was also my first) then we did a 2 month trip. All trips since have been 2 weeks. I personally would like between 1-2 month trips - then I'm ready to come home for awhile. I'm anxious to hear what you end up doing and how it works for you. In three years I should be able to retire and start doing what you're doing. Best of travels to you.

I would suggest that before you undertake to travel for a whole year, off and on, do a dry-run trip for 8-11 weeks to see if you can handle traveling solo, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Make out an itinerary, which you will, at least, stick to 75-85%, based on using a variety of books, the Internet, etc., traveling in England, Ireland, Holland, France, Germany, Austria, CZ, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Belgium, or even Switzerland, staying in B&Bs, hostels, Pensionen, university dorms, 2-3 star hostels, or the "Y" ...tracking the sites either by city tour or solo by public transportation and doing a ton of walking, going from city to city by train, day or night, buying either point to point tickets or using the Pass for multi-hour trips, or even taking the ferry; are you one who is prone to rent a car, which obviously has its advantages but also disadvantages. Depending on the amount you want to spend, both being frugal as well as spending for enjoyment, you learn a lot in traveling, not just about the sites or by way of museums and their exposure, you learn about yourself too in a good number of ways.

I think you should take it in stages. A year on the road gets really rough. My longest trip as a tourist was about four and a half months and I should have quite after two. We travel about six months of the year now, but do it in several one-month whacks...our absolute limit is five or six weeks away, during the last bit of which our eyes start to get glassy. One way to attack it is to learn a language, and learn it cold. Pick an easy one like French or Spanish, then go somewhere that language is spoken for a month or a little more. Hit a major city (not the capital) for a few days, then go as far out into the sticks as you can go (where nobody speaks english) and live there for a couple of weeks, then hit the capital for a week and come home. Next trip, work on that same country, mostly traveling around and getting to know it, with an excursion into a neighboring country for about a third of the time. The next trip, visit several additional countries within the general geographic area. After that, try another continent or something. Somwhere along the way, you'll have reached retirement and learned still another language (maybe a couple more) and read a lot of history........If you try to make a grand tour the first time out of the barn, you're going to get rattle-brained from too many languages/cultures to the point that you won't be used to one before you're in the middle of another. That ain't no fun......Optionally you could pick a theme 'walled cities and ports of europe' or 'anywhere Alexander the Great might have been' or 'the evolution of quilt-making', hell if I know, but you've got to have something to tie the mess together or you'll become a zombie in short order.

Jill, you are at a great time in life to begin serious travels. You may have 30-40 years of travel ahead. Please keep your job and try to get a leave for a month or two. You can see and experience a lot of Europe in that time. Then, you can go home and plan your next trip........ I started with my European adventures in 1969 with one month and a Eurail Pass and a copy of Europe on 5$ a Day (Frommer)...... I traveled far and wide for that month, sampling and experiencing many places. I fell in love with Paris. I'm still traveling.

Thank you everyone for such insightful, helpful advice. I have traveled pretty extensively in the past so I THINK I know how and what I'd be up against. I would do it in 2 month chunks (max). I think I need to get a financial planner and do it right though...great advice from all, thanks again!

Hi Jill, How much vacation time does your job allow? Try taking that and go and see what you always wanted to. I am a now retired school teacher, but my 6 weeks off left alot of time to travel over the years. Can you take a "sabatical" off from you job? never hurts to ask. My nephew moved to Florida this summer and now says " it was't what he thought it would be". What are you looking for? If living somewhere different, then maybe you should start looking for a job there and then relocate and try your new place out. I have found most of my family are ready to head home from vacation for different reasons after about 14 days away. It never hurts to have dreams..... like "Eat, Pray, etc...."

You have had sound common sense advice from a number of responders. However, travel as much as you can now, you never know when ill-health or something unforeseen will hinder your travel in future. Just dont jeopardise your own future