It was mostly overcast during our day at Cotopaxi National Park, but we catch sight of the famous peak briefly before we started our hike down the mountain.
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I could feel the adrenaline pumping, the knot building in my stomach. I had to force myself to take a deep breath and focus on my book – I was only riding the bus home from work for heaven’s sakes! But it was hard to stifle the excitement. This past Saturday, June 5th 2010, our countdown for leaving on our family world trip officially started. I didn’t sleep very well last night as I made numerous mental lists of the things we have yet to do. My work day finished, my mind returned to those thoughts and I realized that this tingling feeling all over was exactly why I wanted to do a trip like this. I am terrified, worried, overwhelmed, yet confident and excited.
So what is going through my head as we enter the final stretch of planning this adventure? Here’s a random sampling of what I was thinking about today for your reading pleasure…
* I will not plan more than the first four weeks of our route in detail before we leave. Yes, I know this may cause us not to get the best deal or be able to do everything we might want to do, but my head will explode if I have to cajole my husband and kids to follow along with a detailed plan. Best to take one step at a time and remember to stop and smell the roses often.
* I’m truly terrified that we will not come back but accidents happen at home too so that’s not a good enough reason to call the whole thing off.
* Ditto for getting sick.
* Putting together a schooling plan for a 5th grader and a 9th grader is a daunting task. If my boys weren’t both highly capable I’m not sure this trip would be possible. Today’s bright idea was to reach out to people we know who are teachers and ask for suggestions, references and review of the plans before we start. So far, the response has been positive.
* Renting out our house and praying to come back and find it habitable is a huge risk. It’s good that I’m an optimist and I believe that most of humanity is decent.
* My younger son is very social and has already voiced his concerns about “getting enough time to play with other kids”. I’m making a list of english-speaking schools in all the cities we plan to visit. Hopefully we’ll find some who welcome visitors for a day.
* My older son is a very reluctant traveler but once engaged is a fantastic person to be with and, in fact, can play tour guide after what might seem like a cursory glimpse at the guide book. The challenge is getting over the initial reluctance which is something we’ll deal with on a daily basis. This, folks, is parenting at the Olympic level.
* He, by the way, has grown an inch in the past two months. Clothing him for a year in advance is going to be very tricky. Ditto for shoes for both of my children.
* To bring electronic games or not to bring electronic games, that is the question. These are noble minds and I would gamble that a Nintendo-less year would be more fortunate for all. But dare I take arms (verbal of course) against my children?
* Based on my family’s genetics, I expect to live a long life. In my 90s I may end up in very reduced circumstances because we took this trip. I have no doubt but that the experience will be worth every penny.
* I am a control freak. Planning to spend half of our trip in countries where I have no hope of understanding the alphabet not mind the language will keep me awake regularly between now and January 2011.
Whew. Now I feel better and the to-do lists for packing and other administrivia don’t seem half as frightening. Thanks for listening.
Related Posts
Family world trip
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I’m loving coming up with posts for the Monday Dreaming series started by MotherOfAllTrips. There are just so many places on this planet which I can’t wait to visit – and of course, since we’re currently planning a RTW trip with our children, we’re already brainstorming ideas for places to go and things to see or do on that trip.
Today, I decided not to focus on one place, but instead to share the ideas which we each came up with on our first “where should we go?” conversation. There are two reasons for this: (i) I want to document our starting point and (ii) I realize that our lists reflect our current interests before we start truly researching countries and destinations. I know there are many other places we should be considering.
I’ve arranged the top-5 lists by person so you can also get a flavor for the personalities involved.
Mt. Fuji, Photo credit: Flickr
BigB: Eight years old, a have-toothbrush-will-travel guy, eager to get going.
Kilauea, Photo credit: Flickr
CAM: 12 years old, prefers to stay at home rather than travel anywhere – except maybe to places he’s already been.
Santiago, Chile, Photo credit: Flickr
WanderDad: Current choice for departure date: tomorrow.
Havana, Photo credit: Flickr
WanderMom (me): The family juggler, planner and organizer. Chomping at the bit to go, but insisting that we take the time to plan.
So, where or what do you suggest we add to our list of places to visit and why? Leave me a note in the comments. I look forward to researching all of your suggestions.
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