Change is scary, it is exciting, can be eventful and in the end hopefully fulfilling. Beginning on February 9th our lives are about to change. After much planning TT#1 and I will be departing Chicago to travel throughout New Zealand, Australia and Asia for 6 months with nothing but the packs on our backs (and with the benefits of being in the 21st century, our smartphones and internet!)

To say that we are beyond excited about this adventure is an understatement; this trip has been a lifelong dream for both of us and something we weren’t sure that we’d ever have the courage to do. Sure there have been recent days where I lean on TT#1s shoulders and whimper "OMG, are we crazy?” We realize we are going to miss little things, like a couch to come home to watch Game of Thrones, and big things like birthdays, graduations and births. In the end we remind ourselves that the most valuable thing life has to offer is time. Work hard and money will re-accumulate. We decided we didn’t want to risk waiting until retirement to fulfill our dreams. During those hard planning days we like to imagine Anthony Bourdain giving us a personal pep talk and then think, the time is now to hike the Tongariro Crossing, scuba the Great Barrier Reef and eat all the street food in Thailand and Vietnam that a stomach can handle.

Taking time off to travel was not a decision we took lightly and something we decided on together after a lot of number crunching, emailing with other travelers, research and more. We are moving out of our apartment, selling a large chunk of our belongings, putting the rest in storage, taking a break from the 8-5 lifestyle and going out to live our legends, (Alchemist anyone?). We’re excited to use this time to experience and learn about other cultures, spend time volunteering, refresh creatively and EAT. I’m very excited that I’ll get to pursue my passion as a travel writer during this time and TT#1 is excited to step up his own blogging game. I'm really hoping my readers have a bit of wanderlust in them too because while there will be much food to still write about, Beyond ExpecTASTEtions will definitely be travel heavy for the time being! TT #1 and I will have plenty of posts about interesting foods, locales and experiences over the next 6 months. Perhaps you can even look forward to a series about cooking for two in a campervan!