When plans don't go to plan.....it's OK!

"When your life doesn't go as planned, change your perspective but do not stop dreaming"

-Kate Maurice

I am a planner. I love a spreadsheet. I love a list. It gives me a sense of security and a level of confidence. The 1st thing I started doing when we made the decision to head of & travel Australia was start planning how we would finance it all...pretty important part of the plan!

On paper my plan looked great. Rent out the house, move into our van at my inlaws, reduce our expenses and save every spare $ we had. I based all of this on Daniel and my minimum weekly wage meaning that we should very easily hit our target before we leave.........But Nope!

A whole list of things have happened so far all affecting our savings plan...

-Realised quickly that our car was not going to do the job safely so bought a new car

-Our caravan fridge broke down costing over $600 to fix

-Our battery in our 2nd hand van hit the end of its life so we chose to do a modest lithium upgrade

-Daniel left his job of 20 years which I fully supported but each time a new, well paying job came along...the work would dry up again.

-The most recent scenario is Daniel being 1 week into a great job but then breaking his collar bone meaning instant complete loss of income, doctors bills and a whole lot of pain

-Plus a whole heap of other little things all adding up to $$$ spent that we didn't really want to spend!

So, as I write this we have hit 1/2 of our savings goal but only 4 months until we leave meaning there is not much hope of hitting the goal. What do I think about this? initially I felt worried and frustrated but after a few deep breaths I realised that we still have more than enough to start our trip and Daniel and I are both happy to stop and work along the way to top up funds as needed. As soon as I realised that not reaching our goal actually had no impact on us starting our trip, I relaxed and moved my focus to planning destinations, must do experiences and preparing myself to homeschool Evie & Elka.

Once we head off who knows what will happen. There are a million potential scenarios that could alter how our trip turns out and the more adaptable and flexible we are with altering our plans the more we will enjoy our trip. I am sure of that!