Grand Adventures and Household Chores
Reflections on our family’s adventures as we live, work, and play around the world
On August 9th, 2014, we are leaving on a trip around the world.
The entire trip will take about two years. We plan to spend the first 10 months in and near Europe, followed by a few weeks back in the USA, and then another year or so in South America, Asia and the South Pacific, and Africa.
For most of my life, I would have declared proudly that I couldn’t give a damn about fashion.
And yet… I did care very deeply about the aesthetics of an outfit, and would sacrifice practicality for something I loved, such as dresses that required a particular slip, skirts that matched no shirts that I currently owned, or sandals that rubbed blisters onto the back of my feet. Once I owned these, even as I resented the impracticality, they latched onto me emotionally saying “love me, love me, KEEP ME,” and I did.
Theo and I recently flew to Ohio to visit family. On our flight back, we had a four-hour layover, and I’d imagined grabbing dinner and letting Theo run around the airport before hopping onto a late evening flight where Theo would sleep. The flight to Ohio (my first time flying alone with Theo) had been intense, but manageable, so I was optimistic about this one as well.
(Please feel free to insert jokes about Greek gods and hubris here.)
As part of getting ready for the trip, we are donating or selling almost all of our possessions. We’ve left a few less replaceable items with relatives, but most of what we keep will be carried with us.
Our plans for our trip so far are:
After that? Who knows. Our plan is make our decisions based on what we learn in the first few months.
We have two weeks left to reduce our physical belongings to what will fit into a suitcase and a backpack.Yikes.
There have been several moments recently where, after a series of vague questions, I realize I’m being politely asked if we’ve received a large inheritance or some other financial windfall that is funding our trip around the world.
After a flurry of last minute packing and de-stuffing on Saturday, we started our trip!
We took the overnight ferry from Rosslare, Ireland to Roscoff, France. Theo was talking about the boat trip for a couple of months before we left, but once we actually boarded the Oscar Wilde, it took about half the trip for him to be convinced that we were actually on a boat.
(In the photo above, Brian is trying to convince Theo that we are on a boat as we depart. Theo is not buying it.)