Travel Plans

Since we did not have our plans mapped out before we left, I thought I should do an update on what we have planned.  We have loved our journey so far, and value what we have learned as individuals as well as what we are learning together as a family.  I know Amelie and Liam are very young and will not probably remember very much, but this experience has to be shaping them.  They both speak a little French, and Amelie has started play talking with an accent.  They are both very flexible in adjusting to new home environments.  They are appreciative of the small amount of toys that we carry around with us, and discover new "toys" at each house.  When searching for different cities to live in, they are our number one priority to please.

We are not using an agency, but are planning all of our own travels and accommodations.  If you are looking to plan a trip (both in the US and Internationally), we would recommend airbnb.com, home away.com, and vrbo.com.  We have found some wonderful places to reside for the next couple of months on these websites.  We research the neighborhoods, and use Google Maps to look at street views to get a feel for the neighborhood.  Spending the time to research different attractions in the area, reliability of public transportation, and speed of the internet have been our focus too.  Although this takes time in planning, it has been well worth it in the end!

So, tomorrow we are riding on a train for a short amount of time to Edinburgh.  We will stay in Edinburgh until August 9th.  The third week of June we will be coming home to attend a conference with Georgia Virtual School.  We are excited about coming back for this week to not only learn more professionally, but also to see family and friends.  We will be meeting our niece, Alaina, for the first time as well as possibly getting to be in town for the birth of four of our close friend's children!!  It will be a fun week to be back in Hot-Lanta!! ;)

When we originally set out we did not know for how long we would be traveling around.  We have decided that after about a year of travels that we would like to come back to the States to set up a home-base, but continue to travel during the summers.  We loved the beach (especially Gulf Shores) so much that we will be returning to the same townhouse in January 2015.  Since we will be coming back to the States we decided that instead of spending 3 months in places, we would spend a month in order to experience more places.  After Edinburgh we will be going to Lisbon, Valencia, Barcelona, Venice (for just a couple of days), and ending in Split, Croatia.  Can you tell we love (and missed the beach) as all of these cities are on the coast?! ;)

More important than the cities we will be visiting, we are so thankful for this time that we have to learn and discover as a family.  I do not naturally jump out of my comfort zone; but I have no other choice in learning new cities, cultures, languages, and more.  I am thankful for all this is teaching me, and how by becoming a learner myself will encourage my children to always be learning and growing.  Also, I am incredibly thankful for the amount of quality time we are able to spend together.  We absolutely love our jobs, and we love the flexibility we have been provided to have this time together.