Pre travel stress

This has been a hard last few weeks. I've had a persistent stomach ache for about 2 1/2 weeks now. Dean and I have both been sleeping horribly. I feel like my brain is mush. I don't ever remember it being this stressful preparing for a trip. Today someone asked me how I was doing and I started crying. 

We are so very fortunate to be surrounded by people who love us and care about how we are coping. I talked about how our life has looked the last few weeks. I ended up feeling like a bit of the load was lifted. 

Planning for a trip this long and complicated is tough. Doing it while still continuing working, trying to get our taxes prepared early and trying to remember every little thing that needs to be done now and pre done for the next 4 months feels crazy. But when I have person after person that assures me that they are not only praying for us, but are willing to do things for us while we are gone is mind blowing. 

There are so many people that will be here at home, taking care of our beloved cat, watering our plants, taking care of our house, our apartment, our business, and even planting the garden in May. We feel so blessed. 

I know that I will feel better once we are sitting on the plane. The bags are packed. The food from the fridge is eaten. We are in the home stretch. 2 more sleeps. But right now I'm a bit sad. 

I will miss my people. The hugs I get regularly from people I know love me. The phone calls and texts I get throughout the day from my people. I will miss that in the next 4 months. But this is what we signed up for when we chose to explore and travel. But I will miss my people. My friends, my parents, my clients. They/you are such a very important part of my life. 

Christmas in Mexico 2015

We spent 10 days visiting Deans mom Hilda in PV. 

Around the world itinerary

Wow, it has been 3 month process booking tickets for this trip. We still don't have our e-tickets. But we know our dates and destinations. Here it is for the record. Even though with these tickets we are able to change any flight at any time. This is the plan and we are hoping to stick with it.

Ireland-1 week
Tanzania- 2 weeks
Namibia- 1 week
South Africa- 2 weeks
Perth, Australia- 1 week
Tasmania, AU, 1 week
New Zealand- 5 weeks (Colton is staying for a bit longer)
Bali, Indonesia, 1 week
Philippines, 2 weeks

Planning and getting ready

                                          I love this picture! It represents so much to me. 

Dean is such a teacher. He is so full of knowledge and I see how he has taught Colton and Miranda so much. They have always looked at him and trusted that there is always something new to learn. This is such a good example of what this process can look like. In 10 day we start our newest adventure. Our biggest, most complicated and hopefully best ever trip together. That sounds a little scary to me...

I think I will just let that go. We will go and be together and whatever comes our way, we will be up for the challenge. I can't wait to be on the plane and get that, ahhh we are done planning and ready to start feeling that I always get once I'm on the plane. The calm after the storm.

Around the world dream

For about 10 years or so, Dean and I have been dreaming of taking our family on a trip that would encompass the globe. We thought that we would love to take a year off from our lives and go without a firm long term destination. Six years ago we did a version of that dream. We sold our dream home and put our physical lives in a shed and traveled, house sat and worked for about a year and a half. It was the most awesome, amazing time of our lives. A the little part we did not do was actually go around the entire globe. So now it is time. We are in the process of buying an around the world ticket. We will go east. We will be gone for 4 months. We will step foot on 5 continents, we will visit 7 or more countries. We will visit about 5 new countries. We will go as a family.

We have changed our flight itinerary so many times in the last month, that I hesitate to put it here in writing right now. But as soon as it is finalized, I will put it here, in our travel diary. To be looked at for many years to come.

I also have a Facebook travel page with the same "our family travels" name. I usually put lots of pictures on that page as Facebook is the easiest way to upload pictures when the internet is sketchy.

Keeping the dream alive

Laguna De Apoyo

Right outside of Granada is Laguna De Apoya. It is a fabulous crater lake that always has warm water 

We went with a crazy taxi driver up the mountain and we stopped at a little resort that allows people to use their facilities for $6/day. We went down the hill, dropped our bags and jumped into the warm clear water. Because it was a bit windy, the waves were big as if we were swimming in the ocean. It was a weird feeling to have water splash into our faces and not be salty. 

 The view from above showed how huge this lake is.

Laguna de Apoyo (Lake Apoyo) is Nicaragua's largest volcanic crater lake. It was formed 23,000 years ago after a huge volcanic explosion left a large crater which interrupted the underground water table. Today, the lake is 180 meters deep and four kilometers in diameter. Its clear water is always warm, never below 28 degrees Celsius (great for swimming!).

Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua

Masaya volcano is between Granada and Managua. We had a driver take us on an all day tour on our way from Granada to Managua the day before we were to leave Nicaragua. The Masaya is the most active volcano in Nicaragua. It is constantly smoking stinky sulphur fumes. 

When we arrived at the park we were handed a pamphlet with things to know while we were visiting. Some of the things that we read were that the volcano could erupt without notice. We were to park our car backed in facing the exit. In case of rain or lightning, people should turn off their cell phones. Don't spend more than 5 minutes in the crater area. If your eyes or nose start to burn, you should leave immediately. 

During the pre-Columbian age, Masaya Volcano was on object of veneration by the indigenous people. They believed the eruptions were signs of anger from the Gods and to appease them they offered sacrifices, which ofter included small children and maidens. During the Conquest, the Spaniards baptized the active Volcano "LA BOCA DEL INFIERNO" or "THE MOUTH OF HELL". They then planted a cross, "LA CRUZ DE BOBADILLA" (named after Father Francisco Bobadilla). It was placed on the crater lip in the 16th century in order to exorcise the Devil.