Are You Prepared to Travel?

Are You Prepared to Travel?

ANDREA STUNZ

With a move to Brazil in 1975, I began traveling internationally at the age of seven and traveled domestically even before then. While I don't remember much from the pre-Brazil trips, there are pictures to prove we went to Disneyland when I was about four and enjoyed many camping experiences. My parents were great about providing adventures for us even when the budget couldn't take us far.

I recently asked my mom why I never saw the movie, 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' as a child, and she quickly replied, "Because we didn't have the money to go to the movies." After giving it some thought, I concluded that we did have the money, but they scrutinized and prioritized every dime for our family of six. Saving for a real-life adventure was going to win out over watching someone else's adventure on a screen every day of the week.

Fast forward several decades, and my young family of five was interested in going on a trip to Bolivia. We quickly realized that we hadn't been living in such a way that put us in a position to prioritize travel of that magnitude and financial cost. Sure, we camped and took some fun road trips here and there, but going overseas would require a lot more than we

had. We were not prepared.

We watched other people go and do things that we wished we could do. Are you prepared to travel? Are you watching others live out your dreams? If your answer is "yes," I know the feeling!

When the Bolivia trip passed us by, we collectively decided to get busy. We were determined to get ourselves to the place where we could be ready to go when the next right opportunity presented itself. We made choices that set us up to accomplish the goals we had our hearts set on.

Here are a few of the things we did to prepare for our upcoming adventures.

We got together.

We started saving.

We paid down our debt and saved our pennies as we could. Like my parents did with not having a movie budget, we spent less on things that we deemed less meaningful than travel.

We focused on our health — mind, body, and spirit.

We opened our eyes to learn about other cultures. We buckled down and took care of our health. And we aligned our hearts with God's so that we would not overlook or miss out on an opportunity he had for us.

After doing these things, my husband was able to go on a trip to Nepal, and our two oldest children were ready when trips to Kenya popped up. It would be a while before our family would go overseas together — but we were ready when that day came. And we packed it all up and moved to Singapore.

Is travel a priority for you? If so, are you prepared to travel? If you're not prepared, what will you do to keep from missing out on your "Bolivia"?

As a married couple and as a family, we decided that being ready to travel was a priority. We agreed to do what was necessary to not miss out on the next "Bolivia" trip.

We got passports.

It's a pain, there's paperwork, and it's not cheap for a family, but an overseas trip is not going to happen without a passport. But when used, they certainly have a good ROI!

ANDREA STUNZ Andrea Stunz is a welltraveled Texan currently living near Houston, having previously lived in

Brazil, Asia, and the U.K. She finds joy in her

family, grace in her

friends, beauty in a story, purpose in the sunrise, wonder in her travels, and hope in Colossians

1:17. Find Andrea atAndreaStunz.com.