1 Month To Go and Getting Anxious
Just one month until we leave – augh! My odd calmness quickly turned into frenzied anxiousness. Fortunately, planning has been going amazingly well. We found a wonderful family to rent the house and even take care of Chichi (the cat) and Bob (the snake). We got to know them well last night over dinner and wine and are becoming fast friends 🙂
After weeks of struggling with high school homeschooling options, I finally found an online school for Connor. Unlike the Pacifica School District which has been tremendously helpful with homeschooling up through 8th grade, the high school district simply explained their policy for accepting coursework and sent me off to do my own research. After many phone calls and emails, I was thrilled to find National University Virtual High School, which will allow Connor to work asynchronously. He can even start studying Spanish this summer to get a head start.
Now that we have accomplished the three big ticket items (work, school and house), we can focus on the million and one little things that need to get done before we leave. Not surprisingly, as a project manager, I have a detailed “project plan” with tasks, resources and due dates… Paul is now receiving his “Honey-Do” list on a daily basis. Yes, the anxiety of reaching launch day is ever present, but we are taking time to spend time with our family and friends before we disappear.
So… I hear that some bets are being made about our trip. This is heresay from Patrick, so the details might be skewed:
Patrick: We will be on the road for 1 1/2 months, then get tired of travelling and stay at the Guatemala house.
Johnny Russell: Bee-line to Guatemala and stay there.
Karen’s Mom and Dad: Make it to the Guatemala house, leave the minivan behind, and fly for the rest of the trip.
Bobby has even projected a blog posting:
Day Two San Diego.
“Well, we’re just barely underway but we discovered a stow-away today after reaching the beaches of San Diego. Turns out, our friend Bobby was hiding in the luggage carrier on top of the van!!! Of course, we said he could ride with us the entire way to our house in Guatamala. It will be fun to have him around,…”
Feel free to post your bets to the forum. Winner gets a bottle of good Tequila from Mexico (or the last country that we visit)!
Karen
Tags: 1, Prep, Travel
hwy1alltheway
Karen, if there’s anyone on Earth better than you at setting goals and seeing them through to completion I have yet to meet them. So, I’d officially like to go on record as stating my bet that you will indeed make it all the way to your goal in Chile. I will be looking forward to my Tequila prize and will share it with everyone during your welcome home party in December. In the meantime, tell Bobby that the luggage carrier might get kinda cramped as I might just decide to stow away with you all as well! 🙂
Glad that you have faith that we will make it for 9 months. I look forward to sharing that bottle of Tequila with you!
If I were to describe a journey, whether it be a real journey, like you are about to embark on, or a metaphorical journey about life in general, I would say:
We pretty much know which direction we’re headed, but we don’t necessarily know where we’ll end up. We’ll make some mistakes along the way, but we’ll pick ourselves up and move on. And if the road takes us in another direction, so be it. Life is a journey, not a destination.
May God be with you during this incredible journey, protecting and comforting you from the day you pull out of your driveway to the day you return safely home to us. I look forward to toasting with whatever bottle of poison you bring home. To life, to life, l’chaim.
L’chaim, l’chaim, to life!
I predict that you and Paul will conceive another child (a boy) on the road somewhere between Tepic and Peurto Vallarta. Nine months later, you will extend your trip (unwilling to travel bcuz of the impending birth). The child will be born in Guatamala on Christmas Day and he will be named Fernando. With his father’s encouragement, he will grow up to play professional golf and his nickname will be El Tigre.
Or, maybe not.