And we’re off!

On July 31 we squeezed ourselves, friend Finabelle, and our belongings for the year into Doug’s Subaru Outback (having sold our beloved 14 year old Honda Odyssey with 195,000 miles), and headed for Davenport, New York to Doug’s family lake cabin.  This first leg was to decompress and ground ourselves, be in the lap of family and friends, and enjoy the calm of nature.  It had been a month of intense preparing for our year abroad, with vast amounts of purging, cleaning, planning, and connecting with friends.  We successfully found homes for all of our pets for the year, and a great guy to rent our house.  We might still be in the house if not for the help of Erik, Rachel, Elle, Kari, Deb, and others who pitched in our last week.  We were repeatedly reminded of what a lovely neighborhood and circle of people we are blessed with!

So why would we leave, you might ask?  When our daughters–now 16 and 14–were very young we imagined moving our family abroad for at least a year, experiencing other cultures and new terrains.  This seed was likely planted when Doug was 5, and his parents and 7 year old brother Steve headed to Indonesia for 5 years.  “The boys” often reminisce of happy days playing in rice paddies, winning many a kite fight, and having a pet gibbon.  Travel was in their blood, so it was no surprise they set out again after college, backpacking and hitchhiking through New Zealand, Australia (where they sailed and worked on a tall ship for 9 months) and Southeast Asia.  They spent two years on this walkabout, now 30 years ago.

We will be on a similar pathway, minus the hitchhiking, sailing, and eating oatmeal and fish out of frisbees (thankfully).  Instead, we are now visiting family and friends in Vancouver, Seattle, Sonoma, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz before continuing west to Oahu, Hawaii for 4 days (I know, bummer…).  A stop for 8 days in Samoa will break up the long trip to New Zealand, where we arrive on September 2.  Awaiting in New Zealand will be a camper van and our previously shipped camping gear, setting us up nicely for two months experiencing the spectacular beauty of both the North and South Islands.

Our general itinerary is:  New Zealand – September 2 to October 30; Australia – October 30 – February 15ish; Indonesia – February through March; Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos – April through mid-July; Swiss Alps for 10 days in July, then back to family cabin the end of July 2018.

The girls will be world schooled, with amazing experiential learning and some on-line and independent study.  Phys Ed will include hiking, more hiking, yoga, pilates, swimming, and becoming SCUBA certified in Adelaide, Australia.  Science will include coral reef and volcano studies, and all the unusual creatures we’ll come across.  Electives will include the likes of Southeast Asian cooking, native dance and fine art, and video production.  Follow their site (being developed now) at hellastrout.com.

You have all been so enthusiastic and supportive, and we look forward to sharing our experience with you.  This is a fluid trip, so please share your suggestions and ideas, including places to visit, books to read, or people to meet.

We are super excited!!!  Here are some shots of our time at our family cabin, and at our friend’s outside of Seattle.