We're Going on a (Really) Big Trip
It's not exactly a five-month vacation.
Next month, my husband and I are going to put our clothes in storage, hand our keys over to subletters, and take our two kids on a very long trip.
Where are we going? Dunno yet. I want to fill in some of the gaps in my travel knowledge (like Mexico and the Caribbean), and hunt down some fantastic travel stories. Right now I'm thinking a month island-hopping in the Caribbean, some time in South America, and a month or two in Europe. We want to explore Italy, and I've been wanting to see the castles in Czechia since I interviewed Petra Nemcova a few years ago. August in Scandinavia sounds nice, right? Any and all ideas (and invitations!) are welcome.
I'm not sure how much of our itinerary to plan out/book in advance, and how much to leave open. Maybe come up with a few anchor points and fill in the rest as we go along? (We're planning to stay in a combination of hotels and home rentals.) Fortunately, our kids are excellent and flexible travelers. At the age of 4, Jack has already been to a half-dozen countries, more than I saw until I was about 19. Lia, who is 2, actually likes pickled herring and uni. (I do not like pickled herring and uni, even when they're not in the same dish.)
Drew and I are planning to work along the way—in fact, that's part of the point of the trip. I know that travel writing sounds like a glamorous job, but it comes with challenges. It's not easy to make a living. And when you have two little kids, it's tough to travel enough to come up with good ideas and write authoritatively about destinations. We're an extremely close family, and I don't like being away from my loves for more than a night or two at a time—and even that only happens a few times a year. But Drew can work from anywhere too, and he's adventurous and generous enough to give this a shot with me.
We'll see how it goes! I'm hoping to blog about the trip, too. I'm sure this is going to be educational—for us, if not our children. Stay tuned for updates...