Wait. What?

When we look back at the biggest events in our lives, most of them can be traced back to a simple, random conversation. Gina and Jon met because she had a conversation with her seat mate on a plane. Jon worked at an orphanage in Mexico because he ran into someone he knew at a soccer game. Gina started her Arbonne business because she ran into an old friend at a party. This adventure is no different as it began on our couch back home. 

A friend came over for dinner and in the process of catching up mentioned that her and her roommate were losing their apartment. Gina offhandedly mentioned, “You should stay here.” 

Cut to us packing up our house, putting things in storage and having semi heated discussions about how many pairs of pants each person will need for 6 months. 

To be fully transparent, this was not a new idea. Early on in parenthood we had spent many evenings with a drink in hand planning our "sabbatical” as it was known back then. We had visions of taking the children to Europe and teaching them multiple languages while introducing them to friends we love from our days working there. 

This hasn’t happened. Yet.

So the idea of a 6 month adventure was more exciting than it was daunting. Though the daunting side had a healthy appetite. 

We got late night cards level competitive as we tried to create an unforgettable adventure for our children who won’t remember much from this age while on a cost conscious budget. Gina has her own business and Jon is starting one so being strategic with our dollars was a fun and necessary challenge. 

What this looks like is a lot more staying with people and a lot fewer hotels. Lots of eating groceries in the car and a lot less eating out and even a bit of camping.  

(Keep an eye out for our post on what has and hasn’t worked for us in cost conscious traveling.) 

A special and heartfelt thank you to those that have let our band of chaos into their homes and another to those that have offered. 

Thank you. 

Us 5 ~ with love