The Shindells – Four to Go

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  • Too Much Stuff

    IMG_0016Oh my gosh – I am so relieved that we actually made it out of Reno. There were a few times over the last week that I didn’t actually think it would happen. But, in the end, preparations always take exactly as long as you have, so this was no exception. Literally, I was packing away the last boxes when the cleaners showed up and the house was only unoccupied for one night. After two weeks of packing and moving for the better part of every day, we decided that we have entirely too much stuff…and we have only lived in that house for two years! While it was stressful to have to deal with all of our “stuff”, it is also quite liberating to leave it all behind. At this point we have pared our life’s possessions down to one carry-on sized bag and one small daypack each. If we don’t have it, we will either have to live without it or buy it along the way.

    The day we left was also Lucia’s birthday and we didn’t want the chaos of departure to overwhelm her big day. Colburn purchased glow in the dark balloons, a fun birthday banner and a beautiful birthday cake so we would be able to make it at least a little special for her. We were camping the first night so Mac distracted Lucia with a little hike while we decorated the trailer with lights, balloons, and the banner. It was a lovely if subdued event. Celebrating birthdays may prove to be difficult on the road, but we are hoping it will be easier since we won’t be moving out of our home, trying to get all of our “stuff” where it needs to be, and knee-deep in final preparations when the next birthday comes around.

    Our first stop was with Deb’s brother (Rick) and sister-in-law (Laura) who just purchased a new hobby farm in California. It has been their life dream to have a piece of property like this so we are incredibly excited for them to embark on their journey to rural life and wanted to see it before we left. Serendipitously we dropped in on the first “Lowellpalooza” – a crazy weekend of kids, wine, swimming, and friends from their old neighborhood camping on their farm. There were probably 10 or 12 families dealing with the record breaking heat currently engulfing the West Coast. Although a bit overwhelming for us coming off of our craziness getting out of Reno, it was great to be able to share the event with them and to see them in a place that seems perfect.

    We also dropped off some of our most prized possessions (Moxie, the trailer and the truck) with the Lowell’s. We were all very sad to say goodbye to Moxie. We knew it would be difficult, but driving away from him was definitely the most difficult goodbye so far. With friends and family you can make arrangements to see them on the road or keep in touch through Skype and telephone calls. But, with a dog that greets you with a tail wag and request for a collar scratch every morning for the last nine years it is hard to reconcile not seeing him for a year or maybe even more. He has a gentle, knowing presence that grounds each of us when we are stressed. Stroking his soft curly fur is incredibly calming. We know that he will be loved and well-cared for, so it will be fine for him after the first few days. We are mourning our loss, not his.

    Today Colburn’s sister dropped us off at the airport and we are on the first of many flights as I write this. Although we were so “proud” to have fit all of our stuff in to a carry-on sized packs, just walking though the airport today made us realize that they are too heavy to be sustainable. We have too much stuff. Yes, it all fits, but the kids are falling backwards with the weight. Colburn and I looked like pack mules with the kids bags, our bags, and our daypacks walking down the aisle on the plane. When we get to Grandpa’s house, we are going to have to do some serious paring down of both weight and volume.

  • The “Official” Launch

    With a little over 2 weeks to go until we hit the road, one of my main priorities was to “officially” launch the blog.   The posts that I have done to date (only 4 of them) have been so that I could learn how to use the tools and to begin to think of ways to organize the content.  Now, with just a few more days to go, it’s time to get moving and go live!

    We’re in the home stretch of preparations now, tying up loose ends and finishing out to-do list.  Back at end of January I set a schedule with a task or two assigned to each week: update passport photos, get immunizations, rent houses, get notarized letters so that if something happened to Colburn and me, someone could take the kids back to the U.S…..yes, we’re a little paranoid but better safe than sorry.  But, the good news is that the vast majority of stuff has been done and we’re just getting the loose ends tied up.

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    As the academic year wrapped up for each of us, there have been a myriad of social events to attend.  At each event, I have found my self answering certain questions again and again from people who are curious as to how we have gone about organizing a year or two on the road.  Below are answers to some of the common questions.

    1. Where are you going?  That has yet to be determined.  We’re starting off visiting Colburn’s family on the East Coast then heading to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for a vacation.  Both countries have very well-developed infrastructure and are well trod tourist destinations.  While not a true ‘adventure’, after the past few years, we’re ready for fruity rum drinks on a beach!  After our Central American vacation we’re heading to Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and a smidgen of Chile (Torres del Paine National Park).  We’re planning on meeting up with Colburn’s brother (Richard) and his family who live in Buenos Aires for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  After that, we really don’t know.  We know we’ll be heading to southern Africa, but not sure where or for how long yet.  Realistically, we need to get on the road to see what life is like before we make any big decisions about the future.  The analogy that I use is that it is like planning a meal – if you are planning for the one big day, say Thanksgiving perhaps, you can put a lot of effort in to every little detail of the meal.  But there is no way you can do that for every day of the year without frying your circuits.  Some days you have to go to the pantry and ask, “Well, what do we have?  Mac and cheese with hot dogs, great!”  Planning for an extended trip is much like that.  If you only are going to be gone for a week, or even a month, you can plan every aspect of that trip.  However, when you’re gone for a year or more, you just have to take it as it comes.
    1. Are you booking a lot of tours?  No, for the vast majority of situations we prefer to make our own itinerary.  I am an obsessive researcher, so I scour the internet for ideas.  It is very easy to arrange with the internet.
    2. How are you getting from place to place?  For us, it is a mixture of planes, trains, automobiles, busses, boats, jeeps, donkeys, yaks, camels, etc.  No, we’re not sailing around the world (although Colburn did talk about it once – but I was not in favor of the idea since neither he nor I are really sailors – seemed like a bit too much of  a risk).  We’re taking more than a few flights, but also planning on a fair bit of ‘over-landing’ since we have the time.
    3. Where are you going to stay every night, in hotels?  No, I don’t think I would do a trip like this if I knew I had to sleep in a hotel every night.  I hate hotels.  For me, personally, hotels are often the most stressful part of travel – I don’t sleep well in them, I get creeped out by what I can’t see but might be on the bedspread, and basically feel like an automaton when I am in one.  I try to avoid them whenever possible.

      With the wonders of the internet, you can find awesome flats, houses, rooms, villas, and heaps of other amazing accommodation that costs a fraction of what a generic hotel would cost.  Sites like VRBO.com, Airbnb.com, FlipKey.com, etc. have literally thousands of international rentals.  When we went to Turkey a couple years ago, we found a great flat for 8 people with a balcony overlooking the Bosphorus and it cost about the same price as one nice hotel room.  The additional benefits of renting an apartment/house/villa are that you can have your own food so don’t have to eat out unless you want to, you are living in a neighborhood instead of a tourist compound, and you have a great deal more space.  We’ve rented several times from these sites and have never been disappointed.  We will keep you posted on those that were awesome and those that weren’t.

    4. What about the kids education?  Are you just going to hold them back for the year?  This one cracks me up.  Since both parents are educators, it’s not something that could have easily “slipped our mind” — imagine us, two teachers, 3 months in to the trip when we dope-slap our foreheads saying, “Crap, what about the kids education?  We forgot to do something about that!”  We are  much too neurotic about education to not have a plan.

      The real answer is that we are going to be officially home schooling the kids while we’re on the road.  In fact, Colburn titled his blog “Road School” (you can find the link on the bottom of this page) and we have authorization to do so from the State of Nevada (surprisingly easy to get – all you have to do is tell them that your child will “progress from where they are right now” and provide a list of either types of materials or subjects to be covered – really kind of shocked me that there is assessment or evidence of learning needed at all).  From reading the blogs of other families who have done this, most folks say that they only had difficulty keeping up on math – everything else is easily worked in to the fabric of the trip.  So, what we have decided is that we’ll do 30 minutes of dedicated math plus 30 minutes of directed study (grammar, specific writing exercises, history, etc.) every day.  Sounds like a good plan, we’ll see how it goes.

    5. Isn’t it really really expensive to travel for that long?  Well, that depends on what you mean by “really” expensive.  We don’t know for sure yet, but the thing that many people forget is all of the usual expenses of living at home that we won’t have while we’re abroad.  For example, we will not have a cable bill, car insurance, or propane bill until we return.  Health and evacuation insurance for the whole family was  $2,400 for the whole year, not $350 per person per month.  Another aspect that many people do not realize is that when you slow down, the price can actually be cheaper.  Instead of spending $200 for flying between cities, you can take a bus for $25 because you can spare the 8 hours it will take.  Similarly, we were considering a Galapagos cruise which cost $2800 per person for 8 days.  Yes, it would be a total budget-buster, but hey, after all, it is the Galapagos!  Then I realized that you can rent an apartment or a house for less than $100 per night on 3 of the 4 inhabited islands.  So this means that we can be in the Galapagos for a 28 days for the price it would have cost us for 1 person on an 8 day cruise.  Getting from place to place is expensive, once you’re there it is relatively “cheap”.   We’re going to try to balance the expensive with the frugal.

    These are just some of the common questions.  If you have any other ones, please feel free to post them and I will do my best to answer!  The journey begins in just a couple weeks!

  • The First Good Bye

    The First Good Bye

    DSC_0033 Last weekend we said our first good bye – and it was much more emotional to than I would have expected.  Ever since our mom died a few years ago, my sister and I have arranged to enjoy some family camping time on the Sonoma Coast at least twice each year.  Typically we meet for Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day, but this year we had to alter our plans as Auntie Mar (the ultimate kid-magnet) and Uncle Roland (a close second for ultimate kid-magnet) are heading north to Alaska for the summer!  As a newly retired couple, they are enjoying the freedoms of no work and no schedule by revisiting where they went on their honeymoon, but for a bit longer this time.  Since they won’t be around when we leave in July, we wanted to make sure we had one last “hurrah” before they left.  And, while we are incredibly excited to hear of their adventures as they adjust to retired life on the road, we are also incredibly sad to know that this was the last time we may see them for a year or two.  Our cousin, Beth, was able to join us as it was likely the last time we see her too.  In some ways it was a turning of the tables as soon we will be the ones leaving on a grand adventure, but for now we are the ones left behind.  While we had an awesome weekend, it was somewhat melancholy to have to say goodbye….especially with so much work left for us to do.

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    The weekend was a glorious April weekend along the California coast.  The place we usually go camping is north of San Francisco near Bodega Bay.  We wanted to try someplace new this time, so headed a bit further (it ended up being MUCH further) up the coast.  The weather was typical for CA at this time of the year – overcast to begin but then the clouds broke on Saturday afternoon and we were able to enjoy the “sunny but cool” CA weather that makes for wonderful camping.  As we drove through Bodega Bay on our way to our campsite, we saw signs for a “Fisherman’s Festival” on Saturday so, of course, had to go see what is involved in a “Fisherman’s Festival”.  While the festival was a little less than overly exciting, there was a wooden boat building and racing competition that provided a fair bit of amusement and lots of craft booths to peruse.  The concept is actually pretty cool – teams of contestants get 2 hours to build a wooden boat from scratch then race it around a short course to see whose boat is most sea-worthy.  Watching the building was fun but we weren’t able to stay long enough to see the actual “race”.

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    Probably the most “exciting” thing that happened from my perspective was that while we were wandering through the stalls, I saw a guy that looked a lot like one of my old river guide buddies … and it ends up that it was one!  It was fun to catch up with someone who I haven’t seen in nearly 20 years – he still looks the same so was easy to recognize – and to see how life progresses from being carefree 20-somethings to a settled, professional life that includes parenthood.  Lucia started asking all sorts of questions about how I knew this guy, what I did when I was a river guide (only some stories are appropriate for a 10 year old), how being a parent is different than being a river guide (totally honey…isn’t that an interesting bird over there?), etc. and, of course, we had to eat our fill of oysters and calamari so I was able to distract her from querying me more about my life back then.  Score another one for distraction!

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    When we got home Sunday evening, Lu, Colburn and I sat in the bedroom and talked of our “first good byes” and how change can make us more than a little sad.  It’s a good lesson to learn, especially since we will soon be on the leaving side of the equation.  Beth, my cousin, said, “You know, it’s always easier on the ones leaving than the ones staying behind.”  This was our weekend to learn that lesson.

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  • Wounded – intentionally

    photo-1To give you an idea of my penchant for procrastination, I have had a pretty painful foot for a couple years now, but waited until 12 weeks before we leave to have it fixed. Crazy, right? Now, it might now be as bad as it sounds – I actually have a reason for waiting. Here’s the story – I saw the surgeon in November and we thought about doing it then, but it would have meant missing the majority of the ski season. Because we’ve been having such fun skiing with the kids lately, I didn’t want to do that. So, I had to balance a decent ski season with enough time to be able to handle any recovery issues before we leave. Given that our departure date is 1 July 2013, I wanted at least 12 weeks recovery – so surgery was March 25.

    All in all, it is going as planned, but not as I had expected. When I had a similar procedure done 15 years ago, I was in a short leg cast for 6 weeks and on crutches the whole time. Luckily, things have progressed since that time. The surgeon said that I’d be able to heel walk in a boot (and ditch the crutches) as soon as I was comfortable doing so. In my mind, this would be a few days to maybe a week or so post-op. I’ve always rebounded pretty quickly from surgery and really thought this would be similar. Whoa, was I wrong! My little piggy is tired and sore! Not really pain, but rather an intense itching, stretching, pulling kind of sensation. The only place I am truly comfortable is lying in bed with my foot up and an icepack on it. When I had my back fixed, after the first 24 hours, I only needed to take pain pills every once in a while – like 2 or 3 in my whole 8 week recovery. This, in contrast, still needs consistent medication even 10 days later! But, I guess part of it is aging too – I’m a few years older than when my back was done and it was a relief to get it taken care of – this is different because it only hurt when I walked.

    C and the kids have been awesome – waiting on me hand and foot, coming in to bed for our morning snuggles, and making sure everyone is “calm” when my foot is out of the boot. I couldn’t ask for a more loving or caring family. Yet, being wounded is a lesson in humility – I can’t shower on my own, need to have someone bring in my plate of dinner, and retrieve my morning coffee for me. Today was the first day I drove – and had a little sense of giddiness as I was able to take the kids to school. Really, it is the simple things that are most difficult. I haven’t been able to help make dinner, clean up, do laundry, pick up the kids from school, etc. and feel so helpless. These are the foundations of my daily activities and all I can do now is aimlessly wander the internet.

    The benefit of my aimless wandering on the internet is that we are going to the Galapagos!

    Going to the Galapagos is a lifetime dream of mine – other than perhaps safari in Africa, I can’t think of another place that I have always wanted to visit. Initially we were considering doing a boat tour, but these are very pricey ($2,000-5,000 per person!) and we have a daughter who is very prone to motion illness – making it less-than-optimal. We decided to pull the trigger and were almost ready to book, when I came across an article which suggested, “why not spend a whole month if you have the time?”. Well, guess what, time is what we have! So, with a little poking around we were able to secure a 2 bedroom flat on the main island for substantially less than what it would have cost for even one of us to do the cheapest boat tour! We will do some day tours and short hops to the other islands from our home base, but will spend more time getting to know the ecosystems, ecology and issues rather than cruising from island to island and spending less than a half day in each location. We are all VERY excited – a month on the Galapagos – pinch me!

  • Getting Ready – 17 weeks and counting

    PeruWeaverThe intensity of preparations has been ramping up over the past few weeks. Being the ever-prepared “Plannie McPlanerson” (a name, by the way, that we have hijacked from a family from Colorado who did a similar trip a few years ago – she liked to plan too!) that I am, I set out a schedule of things we needed to accomplish before we left – rent houses, get visas, get school books, etc. – as weekly assignments so that we won’t get overloaded in the last few weeks. As two former outdoor educators, we strongly believe in the old adage, “prior planning prevents piss-poor performance”. The unintended drawback to this idea was that I allowed too much time to get things done. For example, India offers a multiple entry visa good for 180 days over the next 10 years so I put that as one of the first things on my list. To complete the application, we need 2 passport-sized pictures for each of us.  While this is not hard to do – it only involves having an off-white background on which to shoot the picture – I’ve been busy with work so now it’s 6 weeks later and I still haven’t taken the pictures because I have “so much time” left before we go.  Perhaps the reality is that everything really will happen in the last month or two because that is just the reality of preparation – you don’t actually do anything until it absolutely must be done.

    This is not to say that we are total procrastinators as Colburn tested two different packing systems (regular backpack or convertible soft-sided) with the kids during trips to visit his parents. We have decided to go with the convertible ones because there are fewer straps, handles, and various other “dingle-berries” to get caught up. They are also front-loading instead of top-loading is a key factor – you can actually see all of your stuff when you open the soft-sided ones. So – check – at least one thing has been checked off the list!

    The other major accomplishment to date has been coming to the realization of just how much there is to see and do in this world! In talking about what our priorities were for this trip, Colburn and I have realized that we really are gluttons for adventure. We sort of knew it before, but our life has become so settled and “ordinary” over the past few years that we almost forgot about it. We are also very lucky that even the kids are excited for new adventures….what do you think of a camel safari in Morocco? Cool! How about hiking 2 days up hill just to see some Inca ruins? Sure! Every time I bring up a new place or activity, our family tends to respond the same, “Wow, that would be cool! Let’s do it!” You’ve really gotta love a 7-year old who says that to a 6-day train trip across Russia and Mongolia or a 9-year old who is willing to brave the tarantulas in the Amazon just to see pink river dolphins!  The other aspect of this realization is that our trip may take longer than the one-year we had originally planned.  We will leave it open to see what feels right once we actually get on the road.

    We are also setting up our first volunteer experience. If all goes well, we will be doing a service-travel program with Awamaki – a group in the Sacred Valley of Peru (near Cuzco) which works on community development and women’s empowerment. Although we don’t know what our actual role will be quite yet, we are looking at teaching English for Colburn and the kids and possibly doing some healthcare for Deb. If you want to check out what they do, they are at Awamaki

  • Getting Ready – The First Days

    DSC_0137Well, the holidays have come and gone and we are now 5 months from our departure date.  We had put off moving on any actual preparations for our trip until after the New Year, so now it is time to really begin getting ready.  There are passports to be updated, visas to be procured, immunizations to be administered, houses to rent, gear to be purchased, school-work to be organized, and a myriad of other little details to be handled – all while working full time and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy.  While this is all very exciting, there is an aspect which is still  very unreal…..it’s been something we have talked about for the better part of a year, but now it is time to put our plans in to action.  Going grocery shopping or skiing on an amazing winter day is much more tangible and consistent with our previous life that it is difficult to believe that we are really ditching all of this to head out around the world.

    The upside of changing from what we will do to what we are doing is that we are all very excited – Lucia has started her own blog (travelingperfume.wordpress.com – the first post will be ready soon), Mac is choosing which Legos to bring with him and Colburn and I are finally getting to do all of the things we have been talking about doing.  It is very difficult to decide on a route, what to bring, etc. but what we have realized is that you can’t prepare for every situation.  We will plan for an average situation then adjust accordingly as we go.  Part of the beauty of extended travel is that you get to adjust to where you are and what you are doing.  We are hoping to limit our baggage to “carry on only”….which all sounds well and fine until you try to cram school supplies, iPads, first aid kit, cameras, emergency barf bags (a necessity in this family), etc. in too.  If it was just clothes and shoes, we’d be fine, but it is all the other stuff that we feel we must take with us that makes it a bit tight.

    Many people have asked what our route will be – while we cannot say what will actually happen once we are on the road (or even how things will change between now and then), our current plan is  rough idea based on region.  Obviously we cannot see everything in a year, so we will take a selection from the following areas/regions:

    Asia: Japan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, India (mostly northern), and a few places in SEA (Indonesia, Thailand, ????)

    Australia and New Zealand (if time permits)

    Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, and Morocco.

    Middle East: Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon (all depending on what the political situation is at the time)

    Europe:  Italy, Holland, and who knows where else.

    South and Central America: Argentina and Peru with “maybe” for Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, or Costa Rica.