Our Reality

Michelle: Since packing up our lives and getting out of a stale situation in Victoria and waving goodbye to the Navy life, there have been zero regrets, except perhaps not doing this sooner. We absolutely love that we can have a "normal" marriage where we see each other every day and each night be together. After 3 long years in the Navy, we began our married life- not in the conventional way of slaving away at jobs that you don't like and striving to scrape together some money for a mortgage, with responsibilities piling up and enjoyment decreasing.... instead we began a world adventure, taking off in faith that things would open up- having no job lined up and no real action plan, leaving many details to be decided at a later date and going in hope that we could find enough work to keep us afloat finacially... Certainly not your average beginning to a marriage, but for us, it works well. We have basically been breathing the same air 24/7 since we left, we trained together, we worked together, we prepared together, we lived together, we socialized together - we were/ are in the entire journey together, and the best part is that we are loving it!

It is by no means a relaxing holiday, we have had a day here or there to chill and do nothing, but being on the go constantly is extremely exhausting. To go to new destinations, to see new things, to meet new people, to learn the ways of a land, culture and language on an ever-changing basis, it can be hard work. Not the same way as back breaking work building a railway line or building roads before modern inventions, and not in the same way as sitting in a cubicle in an office doing a mundane job that you hate, that pays badly and causes you to be more stressed than a one legged man doing riverdance. No. But it all takes effort, lots of planning and research, a variety of different beds, schedules, time zones, languages, many hours of standing in lines, waiting at airports, changing trains, catching buses, reading maps and tons and tons of walking. 

It's worth while and one thing that has definitely come out of this is the certainty that we don't want to return to that life where we were apart and alone for long stretches of time - that's not a life, it's an existance. I want a life, I want my husband, I want what is rightfully mine to have. And so, we will fight against the fatigue and see where our journey takes us. We will continue to explore and experience new destinations, we will continue to put our feelers out for new possibilities and continue to have a blast!!