Planning for our 2 years of travelling... Part 3

So, last time I gave an update was in March, when we still had 6 months to go until take-off. Fast forward to now and… it’s June. That means we’re officially at the 3-month mark 😱. HOW is that even possible?!

It’s feeling very real now. The house is emptying, the savings pot is growing (slowly), and we’re edging closer to this huge, life-changing adventure.

Stunning Montenegro

The 3 BIG Things Out of Our Control 🧩

We had three major things that needed to line up for this plan to actually work… and we’re nearly there.

✅ 1. Sabbatical Approved

This was the big one, and honestly, it was the easiest of them all. We were shocked (and relieved) that it went through with barely any questions. I covered more about how we made this happen in Part 1 of our Planning for Two Years of Travel blog post—so if you're wondering how to ask for extended leave, it’s all in there!

✅ 2. Selling Our Van 💔🚐

This one was tough. Our beloved VW T6 camper, Filmore, has been such a huge part of our life. We originally bought her as an investment for Jax’s future—not something we ever intended to sell. But with the trip coming up, we made the (very emotional) decision to part with her.

I was so worried no one would love her as much as we did (if you’ve ever owned a van, you know), but we found the loveliest local lady and everything went smoothly. I still get messages saying people have spotted her around town, which makes my heart feel a little better. Jax was gutted, of course, he was in tears watching her being driven off—but we reminded him this is all part of something bigger. One day, maybe we’ll get another.

❗️3. Renting Out Our House 🏠🤞

And now… the scariest part. Our home is officially up on the rental market, and this is the one thing still hanging in the balance. We need tenants in by mid-August because this income will be funding most of our travels. Once the tenants have a moving in date we will be moving into our freinds house a few days prior for a few weeks until we leave - doing this means less stress when we leave as we don't want to be leaving the country on the 2nd and having people trying to move in at the same time.

Everything is crossed right now. It’s the last big hurdle and completely out of our hands—but we’re hopeful it’ll all fall into place just like the first two did 🤞🤞.

Making Money & Selling All the Things 💰📦

We’ve been selling everything. Like, seriously—if it’s not nailed down, it’s either on Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, or heading to a boot sale this summer. So far, we’ve made somewhere between £3,500–£4,000, and every penny is going into our travel pot.

On top of that, Oli and I are doing all the overtime we can. Some weeks that’s been 40+ hours on top of our normal working week 😅. We’re tired, but it’s worth it—and it’s all either being saved or spent on the electronics and essentials we’ll need once we’re away.

The house is being cleared, the rooms are being emptied, the DAYS of gardening has been completed (thankfully), and the listing photos are done. It feels like we can finally breathe and start focusing more on this blog and our socials 💻📱.

We said in our last update we were aiming for £20K in savings before we left, we are still on track for this despite spending 2 weeks in the Balkans and throwing our epic leaving party so we are very happy with this. Only time will tell what we will leave with but I am kind of hoping we exceed our "target".

Celebrating in Style 🎉💍🌍

Since we never actually had a proper wedding celebration and we wanted a chance to say goodbye, we decided to combine both into one epic party—and honestly, it was everything we hoped for.

We had a band, a DJ, food truck, face painting, a bouncy castle, a silent disco—the works. Everyone that mattered was there and the vibe was just... magical. We didn’t want to leave it until the last minute, so doing it now means we can really enjoy the summer and get organised without a last-minute scramble 🥂💃.

Christmas in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰🎄☀️

In the last update, I shared that we’d booked our flights to Sri Lanka for December. Well, now we’ve gone a step further and booked a whole month in Weligama starting 11th December!

It’s a lovely little Airbnb near the beach, and we got a great deal. We’ve purposely planned a slow month of island life over Christmas so we can ease into our full time travel life. After that, we’ll spend about 6 weeks travelling around Sri Lanka—though nothing is booked. We’re keeping it as flexible and free until we get there and I think that is how we will be travelling goin forward - no plans, just seeing where we end up.

But in March, we do have plans to join a Turtle Conservation Project with The Mighty Roar 🐢💙—and we absolutely can’t wait.

That’s All for Now! 🧳🌎

Things are moving fast now, and we’ll have even more updates as September gets closer. The next few months are going to be full-on, but it’s finally all coming together—and we can’t wait to bring you along for the ride.