Hello!

My name is Janice- I am a wife of 28 years, a mother of 4, and a  school teacher of 30 years living in De Moines Iowa. I have taught social studies for the majority of my teaching career and over the years, teaching students about different countries put a tug on my spirit to want to travel and visit some of these places in person. My husband is a plumber and with four children, traveling has never been an option.

We recently became empty nesters and I realized I didn’t want to wait for some distant day of retirement to travel. Australia has always been the top of my list to visit and I at first had planned a two-week trip, because was inspired by other stories I read to dream big. So we are planning a sabbatical year in Australia. I plan on doing a few online tutoring clients to help with expenses but I would love for my husband to not have to worry about our financial situation and just enjoy the first time we have had off as a couple in many many years.

We have found a house to rent and through a friend, we’ve also got a car. Our visas were recently approved so we are in the final planning stages. We are planning on arriving in Sydney on July 1st.  I would love to be able to tell my husband that everything has been covered so if you feel lead would you consider helping us reach this dream of a year in Australia?

This is our current cost break down:

Flights: $6000

Housing: $18,000

General Living Expenses: $8,000

Insurance: $4,000

In-Country Travel: $5,000

Cushion: $10,000

If you have any suggestions of things to do or places to visit we would love to hear them! I will be sharing updates throughout the year. Thank you in advance for helping out a dream to come true!

– Janice