Leaving It All Behind: A Life Lesson Of Traveling Abroad

For most of us settled into our routines of work, family, weekend, repeat, the notion of packing it all in to travel the world can seem like a pipedream at best (and downright insanity, otherwise). But for one young family who found the gumption to sell their apartment and most of their belongings to hit the road for a year, there’s never been a moment of regret.

Catching her breath back in the U.S. after returning from a year’s adventure in Europe and Central America, Leigh Shulman, 36, has a world of memories from travels with her husband, Noah, and their four-year-old daughter, Lila. And Shulman’s story is nothing short of inspiration for the rest of us just waiting for that kick of courage to get up and go.

“My initial thought was ‘No Way,’ said Shulman, recalling her reaction to her husband’s suggestion that the family consider leaving their New York home to travel abroad for a year. The couple had been living in Brooklyn for several years, and had recently given birth to a daughter, Lila.

“I was a stay at home mom, doing some tutoring and freelance writing, and Noah was working for Washington Mutual,” recalls Shulman, “And we realized we weren’t really happy where we were, and with what we were doing.” “It was too busy, there wasn’t enough space, it was just too much of everything,” Shulman said about city life, “It got to the point where we just wanted to get away, we were done.”

Still, when Noah, 36, came to her in 2005 with the idea to travel for a year, Shulman said, she wasn’t convinced it was the right thing to do. “Traveling was always something we were both interested in,” said Shulman, who was born in South Africa, “But I just thought it was impossible to do it with a child, because that’s what people think.”

“Then I realized I was only saying ‘No,’ because no one we knew was doing it,” she said.

The couple found more inspiration to travel from another worldly couple living on the same floor of their Brooklyn apartment building. And eventually the Shulmans began laying the groundwork to pack in their New York lives to see more of the world.

When she told her parents what she was doing, Shulman said, “they were very nice about it, but I think they were very worried. As for the couple’s friends, “Most thought it was an amazing thing to do and were really supportive,” said Shulman

When it came to making their break with their lives in New York, Shulman said they approached the process in small steps. “First we put our apartment on the market, sold it, and subletted an apartment down the road for three months so Lila could finish out the school year,” she said, “Then we started going through all our stuff and selling the things that didn’t have sentimental value to us.”

With the money they made on the sale of their apartment and furniture -- as well as with the help of investments -- the Shulmans were able to finance their trip. “We took money and put it aside and said, ‘Okay, this is what we’re going to use, and when it’s done we’ll stop traveling,” said Shulman.

“It was funny to be gong in such opposite directions as our friends,” she said, “Everyone was putting down more roots, and we were pulling up every root we had.”

The couple’s first trip after leaving New York was a road trip in the US, said Shulman. “It was really like giving up a little a time, not leaving everything all at once,” she said.