Bay Area women drop everything to travel the world

TAMPA - Have you ever daydreamed about getting away from it all? Quitting your job and traveling the world?

Two Bay Area women didn't just dream it, they did it.

Lisa Chavis worked as a pharmacist and Cheryl MacDonald was a senior director at a pharmacy benefits company when they made the decision to leave their jobs and embark on a worldwide adventure. Chavis says it was a decision they thought long and hard about.

"What would you do if you could do anything? If you didn't have any boundaries holding you back?" Chavis said of the questions they asked each other, and themselves. "If there was no mortgage, no pets, no family members you had to worry about, if you could just go, where would you go? What would you do? We put it down on paper and that's how it started."

To fund their new life, they sold everything, including houses, cars, jet skis. Chavis says that turned out to be more emotional than she expected.

"Having a garage sale where every single thing goes was a little traumatic," she said. "You're watching your life go into other peoples' trunks and disappear."

Their initial goal was to visit 12 European countries in 13 weeks, chronicled in their book, What Boundaries? Live Your Dream!

But 13 weeks turned into three years and four continents, with opportunities MacDonald says they never expected.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would experience the things that I have in the past several years," MacDonald said.

From riding elephants in Thailand to helping conserve them in South Africa, the women weren't just tourists. They volunteered along the way, doing predator research in South Africa, which MacDonald says has spoiled them for any safari they could ever take.

"We were on these trucks, sitting so close to animals, getting charged by elephants, walking in on cheetahs, walking in on hyenas," she said. "Just an amazing experience."

They taught children English to children in Thailand and Africa and and instructed them how to use a computer. Chavis says they "wwoofed" their way through Hawaii, working on three different plantations.

"Woofing is Worldwide Workers on Organic Farms, W-W-O-O-F, and in return for a place to stay and food, you work a couple of hours a day on an organic farm," Chavis explained.

There were some hairy moments along the way. Both women got food poisoning in Ireland, Chavis survived a bout of tick fever, and they had a close call while doing reef conservation in Mexico.

"The boat capsized and we had to swim to shore ... quite unexpectedly ... and very scarily," Chavis recalled.

But both agree the toughest part of the journey was Chavis' backpack, which was nearly as big as her and fully packed. Next time, they say they'll both travel even lighter.

There will definitely be a next time; the two are already planning a USA tour to promote their book while working on a new one on "voluntourism."

"I want to keep going," Chavis said. "I want to keep traveling. I want to keep seeing what's out there and giving back when I can."

To find out more about Lisa and Cheryl's adventures, visit their website at whatboundaries.com

Here are links to some of the organizations Lisa and Cheryl volunteered with:

Global Vision International
http://www.gviusa.com/

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms
http://www.wwoof.org/

Habitat for Humanity
http://www.habitat.org/

Pacific Whale Foundation
http://www.pacificwhale.org/