It's nearly GO time!

When we started planning this big adventure, we really wanted it to be so much fun at ALL times. We fully expected it to be. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? Over a year of freedom… what’s there to worry about? When we first came up against any stress or worry, it felt… wrong. However, as we began to research and make decisions about the areas of Africa that we wanted to visit, along with flights, accommodations, travel options between locations, immunizations needed, safety precautions listed, travel advisories, documentation (visas and stamps) required, we DID worry. We spent hours and days and weeks of research, sometimes spending an entire day researching and feeling like we didn’t get anywhere. On those days, we both felt frustrated and defeated. However, I always tried to come back to the true purpose of this trip:

QUALITY TIME EXPLORING NEW PLACES TOGETHER

I often remind myself that there may never be another time in our life where travel is so easy to plan, despite how challenging it might feel at times, and where we have the time to do research, and go to the places we have planned. When I come back to this, I am filled with gratitude and excitement. We want this trip and this whole experience to honour and reflect who we are. Rather than living out the dreams of others, we want to live out our dreams. On this blog, I plan to share our true feelings and experiences travelling, both the joys and the hardships.

One of our friends, Zo, has made a special request that each blog post include the kindest thing someone has done for us since the last post (idea inspired by The Kindness Diaries). Since this is the first post, I have to say that we have been overwhelmed by all of the well wishes, excitement, and offers to help. We have especially appreciated the travel books loaned to us (thanks Mitch and Dan!), our amazing house sitting gig (thanks Bob and Linda!), a generous MEC gift card (thanks Marysville staff!) and the offer to get us to the airport (thanks Allie!). I love the idea of reporting out on acts of kindness and will try my best to remember to keep this up!

Overall, it’s been a LOT of fun to plan and dream and talk about. We can’t wait to take you along with us! Time is flying by, and it’s nearly time for us to leave beautiful BC. We will continue teaching until the end of June (only a few days left!), and then hop on a plane to Ontario on July 1. We can’t wait to visit with friends and family there!

We have had a few common questions as we have prepared for this trip, and thought this was a perfect place to answer some of them! We also thought we would post our travel plans as they stand now, and then just marvel at how they change as time goes by!

Also, although we might not respond to emails regularly, we really do look forward to getting messages from you throughout this year. From our past experiences of travelling for just six or seven weeks, I can tell you a message from home gives us A WHOLE LOT of joy!

“I will leave here with the hope that the expansion of on person, the magnification of one life, is indeed an act of worth in this world”

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love