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The Pre-Departure
After years of saving and months of hard-core planning for a 6-month backpacking tour of Europe, Jenni and Joe Vazquez are about to be on their way.

JENNI: We have dreamed of a trip like this for a long time - as individuals and as a couple - and we are prepared. I think we're prepared. Personally, I cannot imagine what the trip will be like, but we've been planning it and dreaming about it for years. Two years ago, I went to a financial planner and got some guidance and set some goals to save money for this trip. Now - two years later - that money is in the bank and we're on our way! I've been to Europe once before on a "practice run" for 12 days, and I know that this trip won't compare. I can't quite know yet what it will be like to live out of a backpack for 6 months, I don't know whether I will be overcome with frustration at not being able to read or speak the language, and I don't know what it will be like to be around my husband on a constant basis. Our work schedules mean that we see one another late at night, early in the morning, and on Saturdays. This means that we have grown accustomed to making our own decisions about everything, since they don't really have an impact on the other. From now on, we will be making decisions together, and I believe we have a learning curve there.

We both gave notice at our jobs in mid-April, and we leave on good terms. I work as an Internet Project Manager for a great company called Idea Integration in Houston, and I felt a few pangs of regret on my last day on June 22 as I handed over all my projects to others. That left us one week to pack our apartment, move it into storage and our friends' spare bedroom, double-check the packing list for the trip, finish last-minute details and celebrate the journey with family and friends at the Bon Voyage Party.

JOE: It's hard to believe it's true: that the plans and mechanisms we had put into place 2 ½ years ago were about to actualize. The tough part was about two months ago when we had the difficult task of telling our bosses that it was time to leave. Both of our employers have been so great to us. We were both working jobs that fulfilled us and made us proud. They also meant we were paid well and were comfortable for the first time in our adult lives. It had been just talk until now. And there have been times we wondered whether it was worth all the sacrifices we've made living a very simple life while saving a lot of money. Just how easy it would have been to just cash in the money we'd been saving; to buy a house and start having kids. We could have lived in a larger place than our tiny apartment. It would have been nice to have newer, better cars (with automatic locks for Jenni). But we never wavered from our decision. We are truly determined (stubborn) and that, I believe, is the biggest ingredient for making this adventure a reality! Although it was stressful, it was a tremendous release when we finally did tell our employers we were leaving because it meant there was no going back on our decision. It was time to go! Nancy Shafran, my boss at KPRC-TV (the NBC affiliate in Houston) was extremely supportive, although perhaps a bit shocked by what was a sudden announcement by one of her reporters. She was kind enough to leave the door open and told me to give her a call when we return. I have not made any decisions about my employment future, in fact, I have hired an agent, Betsy Mueller, who will be shopping my tape around to the networks and other big markets while we're overseas.

Anyway, since our resignations, it's been such a joy telling our family members, friends and fellow employees about our trip. Just to see their faces light up - to see their dreams coming true through us -- means the world to me. The preparation has also been stressful, though. The last 2 months also happened to be a time of extremely hard work for both of us. Jenni had massive projects that had to be finished at work and I had sweeps stories, which meant traveling some and writing long-form stories. I also had the NAHJ Student Campus project which involved flying in 30 + college journalism students from around the country to Phoenix for a huge workshop and seminar. All through those busy projects we were doing research, buying clothes and material for our trip. We've been trying to keep our eye on the prize while saying goodbye to our old lives. It was work and it was fun. Then it was depressing to think about what might happen if we got hurt. What, no insurance? What if we die? Well, we finally did buy life insurance. We'll keep our fingers we won't get hurt. Perhaps what helped me prepare mentally for the eventuality of injury or death was the realization that I would be at much more risk driving the streets of Houston than I'd ever be riding the trains and walking on the sidewalks in Europe. Houston is much more dangerous!

JENNI: We've done SO MUCH research into the places we are going, the best way to get there, suggestions on how to save money, ideas about traveling comfortably…everything we could think of. Frommers.com and their budget travel magazine were invaluable resources, as were the Rick Steves guides and believe it or not, the Europe for Dummies book. We picked the brains of family and friends who had been where we wanted to go, and asked them practical questions as well - like how they carried a laptop with them easily, how they dealt with the money exchange, what the polite things to do in Hungary were.

JOE: Friends and family members were probably tired of us asking questions, but I'm sure their advice will prove invaluable. Another excellent resource was www.vtourist.com. That's a Web site where thousands of people from around the world post information about their favorite destinations. In many cases, they give practical suggestions about sites, accommodations, and places "off the beaten path" in their hometowns. We've also met a couple of people via e-mail on the vtourist site. That includes Fabienne, our lovely friend in Paris, and Binnur and Ertunc, a couple in Izmir, Turkey who we have not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person, but we've exchanged dozens of letters. Over the last week, the intensity of the preparation has increased a hundred-fold. We must have made 2 dozen to-do lists to make sure we got moved out of our apartment properly. Through the generosity of Troy and Nicole Barthelemy (Nicole's a friend and classmate of Jenni's from Texas Tech University), we were able to move some of our stuff into a room of their home. We also got a U-Haul and put half of our stuff in a storage unit that costs us $30 per month. By Thursday, we began to realize we were now homeless and jobless. That's when it finally started to hit me. I began to feel like I was mourning because somehow I realized we were burying our past lives and starting anew. It's absolutely frightening to realize that our lives will never be the same. Our new lives will be better for the journey. But what will it be like on the other side?