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In 2006 my partner (now husband), Dan, and I left our jobs to do some traveling for about a year.
I had paid off my student loans a couple years prior and began saving money that had been going toward
the loans for traveling. We were renting at the time, so we weren't tied to a house or mortgage.
My family did a lot of car camping when I was young, and Dan and I had also traveled through much
of the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico on shorter trips. But, neither of us had traveled
overseas. This seemed like the time to do it.
Our first trip was a three-month-long, car camping trip to the North Carolina coast, up the eastern coast
into Canada, to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and back home through Michigan and Wisconsin.
We worked on two different farms in Canada -- one on Prince Edward Island and one in Nova Scotia -- for two weeks
each through a program called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). For this trip,
we brought or dog, Jake, with us.
Our second trip was to Chicago for the 2006 Gay Games. We participated with "Team Band,"
which was organized by the Lesbian and Gay Band Association. I played percussion in the band,
and Dan was a member of the color guard. We performed field shows for both the opening and closing
ceremonies and played a concert at Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park.
Our final trip was a five-month trip through 12 countries in Europe, from Kilkenny, Ireland to Bucharest, Romania.
Again, we worked on two different farms -- one in Scotland and one in Wales -- for one week each
through the WWOOF program.
