Hello, friends. We are Taras and Amanda Bouzakine, the TAGABONDS. We have ditched our Boston day jobs in exchange for a six-month adventure around the United States, departing in May 2012. We are super excited and just a little bit nervous. After all, it's not every day that an engineer and an accountant leave their secure, professional jobs and use their savings for a road trip. Eeep!
Travel has always been a large part of our relationship. It wasn't until we were married that we even lived in the same state as one another (yes, you read that correctly). We earned many frequent flier miles during our courtship, that's for sure. Once we were both settled in Boston, our desire to travel only grew. Travel fuels us. Meeting new people, experiencing places through local culture and food - it's all really amazing. It became tradition for us to take trips for birthdays and anniversaries, rather than buying each other gifts. We have gained priceless memories in our four years of married life and look forward to many more in this fifth year.
During our trip we will use this blog to show pictures and tell stories that capture the personality of each city, town, and landmark we explore. We hope to reconnect with family and friends along the way. We want to meet new friends. We plan to learn more about and become better versions of ourselves, to become better photographers, and to really enjoy life. We are truly blessed to be going on this adventure, and we're thrilled for you to experience it all with us.
-Taras & Amanda
PS - How are we able to do this? Having limited debt, no cars (read: no payments), and good jobs certainly helped. We have been fortunate to save our pennies. For a while we thought we'd use these pennies for a down payment on a house. Traditionally speaking, home ownership is the appropriate step sandwiched between marriage and kids, right? The thing is, buying a home never felt right - at least not yet. Traveling for an extended period of time is something we've talked about since early in our marriage. As more time went on, and the more we prayed about it, the clearer it became that traveling is the right next step for us. When we return, we will again save our pennies and get on with the traditional American dream... you know, the house and two kids.
PPS - Why the US but not Europe, or somewhere else? Back in the early days when we were only dreaming about an extended trip, we thought for sure it would be to Europe. The US is an amazing country and we decided it would be a shame to miss out on all that America has to offer. Not to mention, the ease of stepping out our back door to begin the adventure was very appealing.
