Travels with Trevor Barr –The Overture

For eight hours in a two week period I sat at The Moose on Bridge Street documenting the world travels of Trevor Barr and his family. Some of us travel to seek new information, while others want to explore their souls. Trevor and his wife took this journey because they wanted to save their marriage. You will have to follow me for weekly installments to see what the Barr family experienced, and if their final mission was a success.

If you want to walk away from everything and travel the world, you will have to get religious about this. The first thing you have to do is figure out what you want to get rid of. I am sure you would be amazed how much useless crap you own, and in Trevor’s case he and his family sold everything, lock, stock and barrel. He said it wasn’t emotionally difficult to sell all of their possessions. The family tried not to dwell on it, and remembered why they were doing it. He added that it didn’t take long to do, and if you are about to create a piece of art, well you need a blank canvas.

If you are dreaming about writing all day, eating croissants, and living a Hollywood film life while you travel, forget it. Some people say structure is a big deal, but in Trevor’s case they didn’t really plan each day. After all, a good traveler has no fixed plans. But, making sure you have internet access however is important. Without the world wide web– you’re screwed.

One thing this whole trip taught them is that you don’t need anything as much as you think you do. If you are selling everything, why would you travel with a bunch of things? You can more or less get anything in any country in the world at this point. If you can’t get it, chances are it’s really not that essential to your survival. Traveling light makes things a lot easier. It was time for them to let go of things, time to create a new story, and this is the beginning of the Barr’s family dream.

First stop was Paris, France where he first proposed to his wife Jen. As Audrey Hepburn once said:

“Paris is always a good idea!”