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I have been dreaming about my life lately. My life on a mini-retirement.

I have been going through some major changes lately--changes of mind. I have realized that I am not happy sitting in front of a computer all day, just working away for some shareholders to cash in their big check. I am tired of watching my youth pass me by, while I sit inside an office and my neighbor pulls down the blinds on my sunny day. I want to feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my face (with proper sunscreen of course). I want to create art and let another foreign language twist its unknown words around my tongue.

Oh the joys of living in a foreign place. But I don't want to "go on holiday"--I want to explore. I want to travel light, and take no prisoners. I want to face those challenges that come with surrounding myself with all things unknown--not just for a couple of weeks--but long enough to eventually feel like I belong.

I have decided, today during a bit of time alone at the bar with a cappuccino with whipped cream, that NOW is the time. No more stress induced wrinkles and conforming to office culture. I have experienced this part of my life and am ready to move on to something marvelous. Something full of joy and excitement. Shopping for fresh fruit and flowers in a French produce market. Speaking Spanish in Argentina and German in Leipzig and Berlin. Travelling the US and Canada in a Airstream travel trailer. Preparing amazing meals with Avocados and organic delicacies in Byron Bay, Australia. I can almost smell the surf from here...

My life as a travelling vagabond Mommy PhD student is about to begin. I feel the crisp pages of a new chapter in my book of life about to open up. Mark my words--this is the start of something big.