‘Forget someday,’ says counselor heading for adventure
The end of 2014-15 school year marked a new beginning for Ramona High School’s 389 graduating seniors, and one adventurous counselor, Toccara Best, graduated, in a sense, right along with the students she advised.
“Forget someday! Why not now?” is the philosophy of Best, who will join the many seniors she counsels in beginning a new life adventure when she and her husband, Sam, leave everything behind to travel the world, beginning with a one-way ticket to the Czech Republic.
“So often, you hear people say, ‘Someday I’m going to go to,’ and then someday never comes or life gets in the way,” said Best, Ramona High counselor for eight years. “We really, truly believe you have to grab the day and make things happen. So much so, that we started a travel blog about a year ago called Forget Someday. We share our travels and tips with others hoping to inspire them to FORGET SOMEDAY and do what you can to make your dreams become a reality TODAY!”
There is just something exciting about being somewhere unknown and experiencing new scenery, eclectic food and a different culture, said Best.
“We are particularly drawn to small towns and anything that allows us to be outdoors as much as possible.”
The couple, who grew up in Florida, attribute their love of travel to the family vacations they took as children.
“Our experiences as kids taking family vacations each year got us excited about exploring new places,” said Best. “As we grew older, suddenly the whole world started to open up to us and we realized that with enough planning and saving, we could go just about anywhere.”
To prepare for life as a vagabond traveler, the Bests began saving over a year ago.
“We’ve always been frugal, which is what has allowed us to take such incredible trips,” she said. “When we decided to travel abroad for a year, we simply tightened our belts a bit more. We have no debt, no pets, no children, and we have savings in the bank and feel that this is what we should be doing at this point in our lives.”
The pair chose not to renew the lease on the condominium they have rented for the past eight years, Toccara resigned from her job at Ramona High, they sold their car and most of their large furniture items and bought tickets for a one-way flight. They plan to supplement their income along the way through Sam’s writing (he is a fiction novelist, www.sam-best.com) and a few other endeavors.
Their journey will begin in Prague, followed by two weeks in Austria, and then on to Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary before landing in Croatia for a month. When they leave Croatia, it will be for a two-week cruise along the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers, ending in Amsterdam where the couple will catch a flight to Southeast Asia to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and some islands in the Philippines. New Zealand is next on the list, and “then who knows,” shared Toccara.
“I am so excited about exploring new places and everything that comes along with that,” she said, “and Sam is looking forward to new experiences and new scenery to inspire his writing, but leaving RHS is definitely bittersweet. This was my first ‘real job’ fresh out of college. I’ve met some incredible and inspiring students and built some amazing friendships with colleagues. Though I am honored to be ‘graduating’ from RHS alongside the Class of 2015, I feel saddened to leave behind my future seniors and those students in lower grades.”
The community can follow the couple’s adventures through their blog, www.forgetsomeday.com, as well as other social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
“Just search ‘Forget Someday’ and you will find us.”