I've been teasing you with a promised post on Christmas ornaments for a few weeks, and I promise I did start writing it today. But then I got an email about a job opening that would be so PERFECT for my husband and I got completely carried away and Christmas ornaments just don't sound that interesting anymore.
What's the job, you're asking? Well, I'm not going to tell you everything because he hasn't even filled out the application, but recently he told me what he really wanted to be doing was working in the great outdoors. He's always loved biking, hiking, skiing, and is crazy adventurous. This job would allow him to do all of those things plus a whole lot more...for a living.
What would the job mean for me? He'd be gone A LOT. It'd mean a summer of me and 4 kids figuring things out on our own. It could mean giving up our house and bumming couches from friends and family all summer instead of continuing our search for a bigger place we can all fit in. It could mean a lot of traveling to where he is, including a trip up the ALCAN Highway with my minivan, a 5-year-old, 2-year-old and 9 month old twins. It could mean saving a lot of money or turn into having absolutely no money. And most importantly, it would mean being so incredibly proud of my husband for giving up the security of a decent paycheck at a ho-hum job to do something that he really loves to do! It'd give me hope for my own dreams coming true in the future, too!
I'll let you know how it all turns out, but for now know that I have a HUGE grin on my face. And forgive me for not getting around to that very "settled down and domesticated" post I'd been promising...maybe in a few days when I come down off this high..
Showing posts with label wanderlust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wanderlust. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Am I Traveling, Am I Not (A Follow-Up)
I have been on an emotional roller coaster since my post last week and woke up this morning thinking I should share with you where I'm heading. Thank you for the amazing advice and concern and encouragement I received from several of you! That's absolutely the best part about writing and putting myself out there.
The big picture answer from my little breakdown is that I am definitely dealing with a life issue. The struggle between dreams and reality isn't solved overnight and doesn't have a 1-2-3-step process to resolution. What does that mean? I'm not going to simply wake up one day having dropped the need to travel and explore and be free from routine. I can wake up each day recognizing that not every year is going to be a big travel year. This year, for starters, is not going to find me cavorting overseas and now that I've thought about that clearly, I've accepted it completely.
Even in my muddling last week, I never once considered that I was now trapped in my house, in my yard, in my little community. Utah provides an incredible opportunity for so many different types of exploring in a very short distance and with summer coming my mind is already packed full of weekend excursions and activities. That will never change in me, and is just as valid an opportunity to teach my kids about environments different than their own as any other place I could take them in the world.
There is a truth to work through and accept that my freedom to wander the world freely has dwindled and changed. Yet, right now as I watch my kids squeal while blowing soap bubbles in their breakfast cups it doesn't seem daunting or life-sucking. My passport application is in the mail and I can keep dreaming. I never again want logistical details to be what keeps me from dreaming. But for today I think I'll tackle the housecleaning and the parenting and be excited when my husband gets home. I'm going to enjoy my family right here where life finds me.
The big picture answer from my little breakdown is that I am definitely dealing with a life issue. The struggle between dreams and reality isn't solved overnight and doesn't have a 1-2-3-step process to resolution. What does that mean? I'm not going to simply wake up one day having dropped the need to travel and explore and be free from routine. I can wake up each day recognizing that not every year is going to be a big travel year. This year, for starters, is not going to find me cavorting overseas and now that I've thought about that clearly, I've accepted it completely.
Even in my muddling last week, I never once considered that I was now trapped in my house, in my yard, in my little community. Utah provides an incredible opportunity for so many different types of exploring in a very short distance and with summer coming my mind is already packed full of weekend excursions and activities. That will never change in me, and is just as valid an opportunity to teach my kids about environments different than their own as any other place I could take them in the world.
There is a truth to work through and accept that my freedom to wander the world freely has dwindled and changed. Yet, right now as I watch my kids squeal while blowing soap bubbles in their breakfast cups it doesn't seem daunting or life-sucking. My passport application is in the mail and I can keep dreaming. I never again want logistical details to be what keeps me from dreaming. But for today I think I'll tackle the housecleaning and the parenting and be excited when my husband gets home. I'm going to enjoy my family right here where life finds me.
(As part of my "therapy" I promise this summer I'll share some of my adventures with you,
including my upcoming trip to flea markets of the Heartland,
and playing tourist with my sister in Southern Utah's national park playland)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The Journey That My Heart Is On
My husband is in Seattle this week. My boys and I were going to meet him there for the Easter weekend and go exploring on the Olympic Peninsula, but the the weather forecast was for low 50's and rainy. We're not going. We were going to go to the Redwoods for my 2-year-old's birthday, but we didn't. I wanted to drive to San Diego, leave my kids with family, and go on a cruise this summer before the baby comes. Completely off the table. And the year-long adventure I've been dreaming about? Most definitely not going to happen.
In full disclaimer, my kids and I are going back to the Sparks Flea Market next month to hang out with my family. I used all my frequent flyer miles and all our free hotel nights to get us there. They were going to waste and it's not looking like I will be using them for anything else anytime soon...I don't travel anymore.
As for the third and final reckoning in my brain? My husband has decided he likes living a comfortable suburban life with a safely predictable job, all of his hobbies, and extra-curricular responsibilities. He has contentedly settled down. He won't tell me that matter-of-fact, but it's time for me to accept and start dealing with it. How do I know that's where he's at in his life right now? He's quit getting excited when I call out of the blue with a hair-brained plan for where we should take off to on the weekend. I used to jump in the car and show-up unexpectedly wherever he was working out of town, but now he as much as tells me it'd be more responsible if I stayed home and saved the money. He's in his fourth year of a job that was always supposed to be the hold-over until a great new adventure came along, but now he talks about a year from now when he'll be working more in the office and less on the road. The final blow? The year-long traveling life change I believed in wholeheartedly never evolved further than a passing whimsy to be discarded quickly in my husband's mind.
In full disclaimer, my kids and I are going back to the Sparks Flea Market next month to hang out with my family. I used all my frequent flyer miles and all our free hotel nights to get us there. They were going to waste and it's not looking like I will be using them for anything else anytime soon...I don't travel anymore.
Would you mind being the bounce board for my therapy?
First, I never have renewed my passport. The money always kept going elsewhere. The cruise I mentioned earlier would require a passport and applying now would probably not see that beautiful blue book back in my hands until I'm too pregnant to be sailing. One weekend I had an idea to fly to Canada and go camping in Banff National Park this summer, or to drive to Alaska to visit friends, but those are things I also can't do without a passport. Please don't offer the advice that I could expedite my renewal. I know. That adds to the cost which has been inhibiting me all these months and appears to be staunchly implanted in my brain as an excuse not to go get my new photo taken tomorrow.
Second, life happens when you don't realize you're looking right at it. For 15 years I've had a personal philosophy that people don't need to settle down until they have children that start school. And with today's technology, that's not even a resolute reason to change your wandering lifestyle if your family is still out there having fun. Five years ago when I had my first baby my ideals didn't change, but since then the trips have become routinely shorter and closer to home. I HATE when people tell me having kids changes things. I don't think it's an excuse to quit doing things. How could I have let that happen to me?
Now I have my soon-to-be kindergartner registered in an online curriculum that would enable us to keep taking off on far-away adventures. So what happens? Life, again. All the money we'd saved and sacrifices we've made to pack up and leave town weren't for nothing. They've just turned out to not be for what we'd thought they would be. Medical bills for new babies and broken arms and who knows what else is to come turn out to cost just about the same amount of money as backpacking around the world for 9 months in bliss.
As for the third and final reckoning in my brain? My husband has decided he likes living a comfortable suburban life with a safely predictable job, all of his hobbies, and extra-curricular responsibilities. He has contentedly settled down. He won't tell me that matter-of-fact, but it's time for me to accept and start dealing with it. How do I know that's where he's at in his life right now? He's quit getting excited when I call out of the blue with a hair-brained plan for where we should take off to on the weekend. I used to jump in the car and show-up unexpectedly wherever he was working out of town, but now he as much as tells me it'd be more responsible if I stayed home and saved the money. He's in his fourth year of a job that was always supposed to be the hold-over until a great new adventure came along, but now he talks about a year from now when he'll be working more in the office and less on the road. The final blow? The year-long traveling life change I believed in wholeheartedly never evolved further than a passing whimsy to be discarded quickly in my husband's mind.
Having now had my equivalent hour on the couch, how do I evolve from here?
I have no idea. Always in my mind are the thoughts that I'm being tested and need to learn to be happy in the moment with the circumstances surrounding me. That it is noble and normal to live in one house & one town with predictable days forever. I feel guilty that my vision of motherhood, marriage partnership, and family life is so different from everyone else. I struggle with wondering why I have to be the one that pretends to be something different than what is deeply rooted inside me. I dread hearing people tell me not to give up on my dream or lose the wandering part of my soul when I don't see how there is any other option for me. I don't want to be one of those, "When the children are older," or "We'll do that when we retire" type of people, but that is exactly what is happening.
That is what is happening to me. Part of me is being buried and the tightening I feel in my chest when I admit it so I can let it go confirms that I've barely embarked on the most challenging journey yet that my heart has been asked to travel.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Uniquely December: International Mountain Day
My first trip to the mountains was on a church youth group retreat before I graduated high school. We took a 14-hour charter bus ride to Estes Park, Colorado and toured through the Rocky Mountain National Park. Hanging over the edge as the bus crawled around the curves nearly had me jumping out of my skin. And to this day I think back to our day of cliff rappelling as my first real-life faith lesson (which I failed miserably, but continue to learn from).
My next foray into the mountains came in a big way the day I left home in my car driving to Alaska. No person, driving solo for days in early spring over the ALCAN Highway, can say they've stayed sane. But Alaska grew on me and living within view of Mt. McKinley off and on for eight years gave me a great appreciation for the wonder and magnificence of the Earth and it's Creator.
Several years ago I got to travel with my family to Switzerland where we spent the day shadowed by the Matterhorn. It was beautiful and impossible not to marvel at it's grandeur as it slipped in and out of it's cover of clouds.Now here I am living in Utah. My husband grew up in the mountains and feels out of place in wide open spaces. My 4-year-old is learning how to ski and I realize I'm now raising mountain boys. When I first moved here I thought for sure I'd never take the mountains for granted, but the day did come when I was driving down the freeway and was struck by the thought that I hadn't given the mountains any thought for longer than I could remember. And then the day came when I'd flown back to visit the land of my childhood, but only felt like I was "home" as I flew back over the Wasatch Range to land in Salt Lake City.
The mountains have come to mean a great deal to me? What impact have they had on you?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
A Little Piece of Paper Defines Me
The truth is that my life has been changing. I've noticed over the past few months that my travel-planning is more of an afterthought. The dreams are constantly in my mind, but the opportunities pass and I'm left reflecting on how I let practicality or financial responsibility make the decision for me. Where in the past I would have spent the last two months spontaneously road-tripping, the farthest I've actually been is 2 hours from home on a Sunday afternoon. It's a numb feeling inside of me that normally would have me kicking and screaming. Instead I'm resigning to my current reality.
Which is not to say that all is lost for me! I've written before about the big plans my family has for traveling. That dream is still alive and well. And to reawaken the life-breath inside of me, I'm going to share the latest rendition of our plans with you...
I recently discovered that kindergarten is not required in the state of Utah. This is wonderful news for me! Our little boy Beck will be old enough to start school in September 2012, one year from now, and so that has become our target date for packing up and leaving. Rather than loading up with notebooks and pencils, his backpack will be full of maps and traveling activities (he is adorably in love with reading maps and telling us the way).
We're going to go east first for a stay with my family in the Midwest and a chance for my husband to work and make a little more money before leaving the country. After that the world is wide open for 9 months of traveling. Right now we're thinking to spend a month at a time divided between cute comfortable cottage-like rentals and camping; a temporary home-base where we can get get a feel for community, but also venture out for days at a time and see the most of what there is to see.
More details? No, not yet. It's still a year away. Right now I only have one important job to complete: Tomorrow's mail will carry my passport renewal form and photos away, along with my 18-month-old son Peyton's first application. I remember the excitement I felt seeing Beck's photo inside his very own passport, and I know it will be a party the day our mailwoman delivers my travel freedom back to me.
I promise future posts on where we're going to go, how we'll make sure Beck gets his kindergarten education on the road, and many other travel-related topics that get me smiling. Until then, I'd love to hear anything you have to say!
Monday, February 28, 2011
It's What Motivates Me
I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind of girl. Not necessarily the drop everything and go kind of girl that I used to be, but an instant planner. My husband can mention a random event in passing and 15 minutes later I'm bombarding him with the best dates to do it and how to get there and where we should stay and how much the whole thing is going to cost. At that moment I am 100% ready to go....15 minutes (or less)...and my husband is left trying to remember if he was the one who'd set the whole trip in motion.
So, what motivates me? Let me walk you through the three adventures I've wanted to embark on just this week.
To witness, or be a part of, history.
My sister called this week to ask what channel would be broadcasting the launch of space shuttle Discovery. Three minutes before blast off we found it on CNN and then the NASA channel. I recorded it and watched later with my family. Watching instantly took me back to 3rd grade, sitting in my school desk, watching the launch and subsequent explosion of the Challenger. It moved me. It was my husband who later reminded me there are only going to be two more shuttle launches in the entirety of history.
Getting from Utah to Florida for a space launch is not an overnight jaunt. Plane tickets, lodging and rental cars are going to cost a bit of money. But can you put a price on creating memories? The last two launches are scheduled for April 19 and June 28 and I want to be there. When my children are writing school reports about space, I want them to have first-hand stories to tell. When the world starts to forget this incredible part of United States history, I want to have first-hand knowledge to share and remind them.
Anything Is Worth Free
I have a NASCAR family (at least at the beginning of the season). My dream would be to buy the RV infield weekend package and surprise my dad with the trip of a lifetime. However, until I wake up in a bed of money, I'm more than willing to get in on the events more within my budget. This weekend's Kobalt 400 race in Las Vegas is the closest the NASCAR circuit will come to me this year.
Of course I want to go. At first it was just a joke with my husband. It would get us out of a weekend of church stake conference meetings. Then I discovered there are two days full of free activities well worth seeing. On Thursday there are autograph sessions with drivers we follow and my dad's favorite racer, Danica Patrick. Both Thursday and Friday you can watch practice laps and qualifying laps in the stadium for free. And Thursday night the NASCAR car haulers parade down the Las Vegas strip. After paying for gas and dirt-cheap Las Vegas lodging, it's an entire weekend of free!
It's There!
Utah is an extremely diverse state and I've explored nearly every inch of it. I feel sad to talk with people who live here and have never ventured away from their mile of the Wasatch front-especially in Utah County. We're right in the middle! Nowhere is too far from here. Moab is the perfect place to get away from the mid-winter blahs! I've learned that south of I-70 does not automatically guarantee it's always going to be warm enough for camping, but even in March the days are beautiful. Fresh air and sun on your skin. Who doesn't want a little bit of that?
Getting YOU Out There
Unfortunately, I'm probably not going on any of these trips soon. We're working hard to pay off debt and save money for our 2012 multi-month get-away. And so, if I can't go, I want to find an opportunity that will inspire you. How great it makes me feel to pass on dates and times for local parades or festivals or share my travel "secrets" when friends are heading out of town. I love planning and finding good deals and am more than happy to do the dirty work if it will get someone else out on the road.
These are a few of the things that motivate me. Traveling is what gets me excited. Exploring and experiencing make up a huge part of who I am. And I guarantee that this week I'll have a whole new bundle of ideas about where to go and what to do. Want to come along with me?
So, what motivates me? Let me walk you through the three adventures I've wanted to embark on just this week.
To witness, or be a part of, history.
My sister called this week to ask what channel would be broadcasting the launch of space shuttle Discovery. Three minutes before blast off we found it on CNN and then the NASA channel. I recorded it and watched later with my family. Watching instantly took me back to 3rd grade, sitting in my school desk, watching the launch and subsequent explosion of the Challenger. It moved me. It was my husband who later reminded me there are only going to be two more shuttle launches in the entirety of history.
Getting from Utah to Florida for a space launch is not an overnight jaunt. Plane tickets, lodging and rental cars are going to cost a bit of money. But can you put a price on creating memories? The last two launches are scheduled for April 19 and June 28 and I want to be there. When my children are writing school reports about space, I want them to have first-hand stories to tell. When the world starts to forget this incredible part of United States history, I want to have first-hand knowledge to share and remind them.
Anything Is Worth Free
I have a NASCAR family (at least at the beginning of the season). My dream would be to buy the RV infield weekend package and surprise my dad with the trip of a lifetime. However, until I wake up in a bed of money, I'm more than willing to get in on the events more within my budget. This weekend's Kobalt 400 race in Las Vegas is the closest the NASCAR circuit will come to me this year.
Of course I want to go. At first it was just a joke with my husband. It would get us out of a weekend of church stake conference meetings. Then I discovered there are two days full of free activities well worth seeing. On Thursday there are autograph sessions with drivers we follow and my dad's favorite racer, Danica Patrick. Both Thursday and Friday you can watch practice laps and qualifying laps in the stadium for free. And Thursday night the NASCAR car haulers parade down the Las Vegas strip. After paying for gas and dirt-cheap Las Vegas lodging, it's an entire weekend of free!
It's There!
Utah is an extremely diverse state and I've explored nearly every inch of it. I feel sad to talk with people who live here and have never ventured away from their mile of the Wasatch front-especially in Utah County. We're right in the middle! Nowhere is too far from here. Moab is the perfect place to get away from the mid-winter blahs! I've learned that south of I-70 does not automatically guarantee it's always going to be warm enough for camping, but even in March the days are beautiful. Fresh air and sun on your skin. Who doesn't want a little bit of that?
Getting YOU Out There
Unfortunately, I'm probably not going on any of these trips soon. We're working hard to pay off debt and save money for our 2012 multi-month get-away. And so, if I can't go, I want to find an opportunity that will inspire you. How great it makes me feel to pass on dates and times for local parades or festivals or share my travel "secrets" when friends are heading out of town. I love planning and finding good deals and am more than happy to do the dirty work if it will get someone else out on the road.
These are a few of the things that motivate me. Traveling is what gets me excited. Exploring and experiencing make up a huge part of who I am. And I guarantee that this week I'll have a whole new bundle of ideas about where to go and what to do. Want to come along with me?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Learning From Memory
Le Havre, France. Not a town most people would know or remember. Probably it's only claim to fame is being a logistically decent place for cruise ships to stop and send their passengers off for day tours of Omaha Beach and other noteworthy WWII sites. Give me a few paragraphs, though, to convince you of it's redeeming property.
Travel back in time with me to April 2008. My husband Ben and I, with our 1-yr-old son Beck, set off on a celebratory tour of the continent of Europe. Ben had finally finished his bachelor's degree so we packed our bags, got on a plane, and flew away! Not until we were halfway across the Atlantic Ocean did we realize we'd left behind an important piece of equipment.
This is Beck:
No, he isn't what we left behind. But, at age one, you can imagine that Beck was an incredibly mobile child-not yet walking, but more than willing to get himself somewhere in a high-speed crawl. Even at his best, however, we could hardly expect him to make do on his own for 6 weeks of budget traveling.
Figured out what the missing equipment was yet? We'd left our backpack carrier in the car at home. All of a sudden the idea of carrying a squirming, wiggly baby in our arms for hours and hours and days and days seemed daunting. It was the first time we'd considered that traveling with a child might not be fun.
Enter Le Havre. We happened to be there at the beginning of our journey and an angel of a tourism official directed us to a second-hand store where we might be able to find redemption. She seemed ashamed not to be able to send us to a fancy department store. We gave prayers of gratitude that our first unexpected purchase with euros might not break the bank.
This is the store:
Travel back in time with me to April 2008. My husband Ben and I, with our 1-yr-old son Beck, set off on a celebratory tour of the continent of Europe. Ben had finally finished his bachelor's degree so we packed our bags, got on a plane, and flew away! Not until we were halfway across the Atlantic Ocean did we realize we'd left behind an important piece of equipment.
This is Beck:
Figured out what the missing equipment was yet? We'd left our backpack carrier in the car at home. All of a sudden the idea of carrying a squirming, wiggly baby in our arms for hours and hours and days and days seemed daunting. It was the first time we'd considered that traveling with a child might not be fun.
Enter Le Havre. We happened to be there at the beginning of our journey and an angel of a tourism official directed us to a second-hand store where we might be able to find redemption. She seemed ashamed not to be able to send us to a fancy department store. We gave prayers of gratitude that our first unexpected purchase with euros might not break the bank.
This is the store:
Neither Ben or I speak French and the shopkeeper of this adorable store knew very little English. After a lot of pointing at Beck and then at our backs, we found ourselves following this nice lady out of her store and up three flights of stairs next door. She unlocked a door and offered up her entire store room for us to find what we were looking for. We were inundated with choices and she let us try on everyone. Grateful and overwhelmed we finally settled on the pack we liked and hoped we had enough money in our pockets. Truth is, to this day I don't know how much we paid for that backpack carrier. What I do know is that it was worth it's weight in gold!
This is the pack:
Honestly, it was perfect! Beck slept in it, ate in it, laughed in it, played in it. He rode on our backs through eight countries. It was incredibly comfortable and I carried him on my back for six of the seven miles on the Cinque Terre Trail in Italy. That accomplishment is still a feather in my cap! We have searched high and low and haven't found this exact backpack anywhere. They don't exist. But we have one. It's our little miracle.
Why, you're asking, am I taking you on this trip down memory lane? I mentioned in my New Year's post and also my Wandering Still post that my goal for a year from now is to be traveling and exploring exotic locations. Ben and I have finally talked it out sensibly and we are really going to make it happen! We have debts to pay before we can start the planning, but knowing that he knows how important is to me has given me the hope I needed to start openly dreaming.
These are the lessons:
~We've done it before. Let people be confused and think we're being irrational. Kids travel and we wouldn't think of leaving them home.
~Things will most certainly not go completely as planned. We'll forget things and there may be setbacks and delays. That makes journeying all the more exhilarating.
~I love my family. I easily get bogged down in my day-to-day. Life doesn't magically become perfect when I pack my bags and sail away. My husband and two cute boys are going to be there along the way. If I can learn to make the most of the time I have here with them, they'll make sure we live life to the fullest when they're out there (wherever there may be) with me. And that is all I'm hoping for.
And lastly:
~Don't leave the backpack carrier in the car at home!
And lastly:
~Don't leave the backpack carrier in the car at home!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wandering Still? What It Means To Me
Small town Iowa girls don't often take far trips from home. From birth to age 17 the longest trip I had taken was a three-hour road trip to my uncle's house in Weeping Water, Nebraska. Then my mom blew everything out of the water. Attempting to get me away from an abusive high-school boyfriend, she loaded me on a plane and sent me 8 flight hours away to the European continent.
Now, don't go thinking this was normal for my family. We grew up on hand-me-down clothes and Hamburger Helper with twice the noodles and half the meat. Fate just happened to intervene that year and I became the first student hosted by our local Lions Club in a Youth Camp and Exchange Program. Traveling to Brussels with 25 Iowa teenagers and then embarking on a 6-week solo adventure with host families in the Netherlands was the most frightening enterprise imaginable.
I came home at the end of that summer an altogether different girl (yes, I did get rid of the loser of a boyfriend soon after). Wanderlust has been a part of me ever since. It prompted me to study Hospitality Management and released me from the Midwest to see the world. Working seasonal hotel jobs, I lived on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and all over the state of Alaska. Because they were seasonal jobs, and in the tourism industry, I was also afforded months of open-ended travel. My mid-twenties found me gallivanting around the globe and culminated in a 4-month backpacking/cruising trip that hopped from the Caribbean to western Mexico, from southeast Asia to Australia and New Zealand. Those are the days that spoiled me!
My Present
I'm married to a native Utahn and that has been my dwelling for the past 7 years. Within 9 months of moving here I had experienced more of what this diverse state has to offer than a friend who'd been going to school here more than 3 years. As a married couple, and now as a family with two young boys, we've made it a priority to continue getting out to see what there is to see.
People often give us long sideways glances after hearing of the next trip we're planning or reading about our latest exploits on our family blog, It's What We Do. What they usually fail to understand is that while they're spending their free money on clothes, eating out, and movies, we're bundling ours together and escaping the humdrum of our every day lives. The ultimate example of these glances, and our own sacrifices, was a 6-week trip to Europe in celebration of my husband's college graduation and our son's 1st birthday. More than anything, it proved to me that I was still me and the doors of the world hadn't closed when I said, "I do."
My Future
A day does not go by without me gazing out my window wondering where else there is to be. Traveling is now inherently in me. I used to passionately proclaim that, "You don't have to settle down until your kids are in school!" I want my family to share the world with me. Some argue that toddlers and infants are too little to even know, that world travel is wasted until they're old enough to read the places they are going. I don't agree. My 3-year-old son Beck is a map-lover! He will stop every 10 steps, lay down his map, and recalculate which way we should be heading. I want him and his baby brother Peyton to start out right from the beginning with a love and appreciation for exploring.
Peyton will turn 1 in March and I want more than anything to be somewhere exotic on his birthday. Not to be snobby, but for him to look back in 20 years and know that that is who we were. Beck starts school in less than 2 years. I want more than anything not to put him on the bus for his first day of kindergarten with the regret that we never got him out of here.
Ben and I are working on a goal. By January 1, 2012, we are going to be out of here. Maybe we won't be continent-hopping like I'd once dreamed, but we will be packed and jet-setting to somewhere more exotic than Lindon, Utah. And, then, who knows...kids can do complete K-12 programs online now...the world doesn't have to settle in on me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
