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GRAPPLER Fall 2018

We took pleasure in researching the best deals on train The Master Plan was simple: eliminate all debt and
and airfare. Every time a new travel show aired, we’d watch simplify our lifestyle to the absolute minimum in order
in awe and converse about all the places we could never to save as much as possible while gradually selling
afford to go. My dad, also a martial artist, would always make everything we owned. Then we packed our lives into two
sure to point out the most commonly-practiced martial art large backpacks, took a cliché selfie at the airport visibly
in whichever country we were currently interested. showing our passports, and then we were off to train Jiu-
Jitsu around the world.
As time went on our dreams slowly withered away,
becoming just that: dreams. He never forgot, though. Of course, life is not a movie, and you can’t montage
He’d talk as if we would disappear and begin our voyage through the less-exciting times. For about a year or so
tomorrow. My dad would have been overjoyed to find that we rented out a closet of a room from a half-deteriorated
someday I was living as a vagabond, collecting just enough trailer just begging to slide off the edge of the muddy hill it
cash along the way. was built on. I often had dreams of it collapsing and slipping
into the pond that lay below.
As I began my adult life, though, the dream slipped
further and further away. I had bills to pay and classes to I fondly remember watching Zach serve up the third
take. Still, I would continue to Google Image exotic, far rotisserie chicken of the month after a long day working
away places and the people that lived there monotonously two jobs and coaching Jiu-Jitsu classes. Those summer
every single day. I studied maps of the world, memorizing nights we had no cable, no reception, no Internet and no
the names and locations of different countries, cities, and dollar that didn’t make its way into our savings account.
islands I hoped to venture to someday. I suppose the dream In lieu of any real entertainment, we would watch the sun
was never completely ever lost for me, either. go down, talk about our big escape and point out stars and
constellations we didn’t know the names of.
Years later, I would find myself sitting on the steps of
university in tears just moments after being told I could no When the trailer walls were covered in mold, and
longer afford to take classes. I would have had to quit work dirty rain water leaked in through the roof, and the power
to become a full-time student, living on loans that would would short out when the dryer and microwave were on
take years to pay off just to finish a degree I wasn’t even simultaneously, and things seemed unbearable, Zach
sure I really wanted/needed. would say, “Don’t worry, it’s just like camping.”

That was the day I decided to turn my dreams into my The day finally neared when we would embark on this
reality. I was tired of buying frivolous things; I was angry voyage. We were clear of almost all debt and had $22,000
my life had started this way and I was exhausted from USD sitting in the bank. I understand that’s not much for
constantly feeling trapped. I desperately needed to hit the some, but at the time, it was the most we ever had.
reset button.
I will admit, there are much more responsible things
I left school, formulated a crude plan and drove home to to put that money toward other then jumping on a plane to
share it with Zach, to ask him if he would leave everything anywhere and hoping for the best. I knew the urge to bail
he knew to pursue this crazy adventure with me. To my would be tempting, and that our friends and family may try
surprise, he said yes. The only problem left to solve was to talk us out of leaving. So I took the liberty of purchasing
how to get out of the debt my equally Jiu-Jitsu-obsessed our first set of tickets out of the country months in advance.
husband and I had started our marriage with. It would all be worth it.

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