Life is short! Go find your adventure!

We are a family that loves adventure. Before marriage, careers and children, David and I did a lot of travelling and lived life very spontaneously. But once we "grew up" the adventure slowed down a bit. Now that our children are 7 and 9, it is time to show them our big beautiful world and how to step out of our comfortable bubble. For the upcoming school year (September - June), we will be taking the kids out of school and heading to South America. We have not created an itinerary as the political situation of some countries changes quickly, but we hope to visit many countries including Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Chile.

Some of my biggest hopes for our trip are that our children develop an appreciation for what we have as a family, and I hope they develop an appreciation for different cultures and a desire to step outside their comfort zone to explore something new. I truly believe that through travel and exploration of different cultures, we really develop our values for peace and acceptance. It is something I wish everyone could experience sometime in their life.

Some of my most memorable moments travelling were the accidental interactions with strangers that didn't speak the same language as us. Once high up in some mountains in Turkey while we were waiting for enough tourists to arrive to the town so we could go on a rafting trip. We decided to kill time by hiking up the barren mountains. At the top, we saw a green plateau with cows, so we went down to investigate, only to be greeted by a tiny old shepherd lady who was shouting and wielding a giant axe, and all I could think to do was offer her some cherries and speak the very few words I had learned in Turkish, that translated to "Hello, how are you", which was returned with a big toothless grin, and some much kinder words in Turkish (I have no idea what she said, but I think she was much happier with us).  She showed us to a path that led us back to the town, and as we passed some houses along the way, people would invite us in for tea and bread. This was actually very common when we travelled to the smaller towns of Turkey. So many strangers, inviting us for tea, sharing their meals and inviting us to stay with them.

In our society today, we are constantly fed all of the shocking and scary stories that are happening all over the world, and I understand the importance of making safe choices, but I strongly believe that there is a lot of generosity and kindness that can be found all over the world. I can't wait to go make some more memories. Don't worry mom, I'll keep your grandchildren safe!

My biggest fears of this trip are that my children won't eat a thing and/or will get terribly sick! As I was researching required immunizations for travelling and I was shocked at all the suggested diseases from which we should protect ourselves! Yellow fever, Dengue fever, Typhoid Fever, Valley Fever, Tuberculosis, Zika Virus, Leptospirosis, Leishmaniasis, Rabies, Influenza, Malaria, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and of course Traveller's Diarrhea! Oh boy, our traveller's shots are going to be expensive!

I am very excited to share our adventures. Please sign up on the link on the side if you would like to follow along. Also, as part of their growing and learning this upcoming year, Charlie and Adeline will have their own blogs too. If you have any questions or comments for them, please post them as this will help them with their learning.