Our New Destination: Lisbon

"He who would travel happily must travel light." - Antoine de Saint Exupery

Leaving Edinburgh with one less suitcase was a smart move on our part. We are now traveling with one suitcase, a pack, a carry on bag, and our laptop bag.  Truly, it is much better to travel with less then to think of every possible scenario and try to pack accordingly.

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey."- Fitzhugh Mullan

To make our 7:15 a.m. flight out of Edinburgh, we had to leave at 4:00 in order to catch the bus to the airport.  We were all very tired by the time we reached the apartment in Lisbon around noon.  We dragged ourselves to a nearby grocery store and bought food for lunch.  We all took a long nap and felt much better.  Once we woke up, Bobby and the kids headed to check out the nearby playgrounds while I unpacked and tried to help us feel settled.

"There are no foreign lands.  It is the traveler only who is foreign."  - Robert Louis Stevenson

We are back to feeling out of place and clueless.  We stick out with our light skin and blonde hair children.  The first phrase we have learned:  não falo português.  This means I do not speak Portuguese.   However, I think we have learned how to just jump right in and try to learn and accept that we will become more familiar as time goes by.  

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as it is for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted." - Bill Bryson   

The apartment we are staying in for the month has a lot of wonderful features.  First, it is much bigger with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  It has a bathtub!  One of the bedrooms is set up for a little girl with lots of fun toys to play with.  There is a laundry room to be able to hang clothes.  In addition, we have an office space with a proper desk and chair.   I have had to learn how to use a different washing machine and dishwasher (with buttons all in a different language) as well as how to make coffee in a different way.

View of our living room and actual dinning room table.

Liam is in the office reading a book.

Amelie doing crafts in her room at her desk.

Toys found in Amelie's room.

Just finished with a nice bath.  I had been traveling with hooded kids towels but took them back to the States in June.  This apartment has nice kids hooded towels!  :)  It's the little things that makes mommas happy. 

Laundry room with drying rack on a pulley system.  I love having the separate space.

Liam dressing up with my hat, Amelie's necklace, and Bobby's shoes.  Yes, he does need his own pants on but let's not mention that. ;)

"Traveling is a brutality.  It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.  You are constantly off balance.  Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending toward the eternal or what we imagine of it." - Cesare Pavese

With it being so hot, we did spend one day (Aug 10th) walking to IKEA in search of air conditioning as well as a fan for our apartment.  We also ended up buying plastic plates, bowls, and cups for the kids along with a 11 Euro highchair for Liam.  It was another all day affair of lots of walking, but we are glad to have a fan around the house.  We also enjoyed eating yummy meatballs! 

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller

Traveling by Train

We woke up early on Sunday May 12th to start our trek by train to Lower Largo, Scotland.  We walked with our luggage (2 suitcases, a pack, a computer bag, and a carry-on bad) to our nearest Metro stop.  We had to transfer two times to make it to Gare du Norde in order to catch our ride through the Chunnel.  One of the pieces of luggage is very poorly designed, and has been the cause of much anguish on past trips.  The wheels are very close together so if you start walking quickly or go over an uneven surface it begins to wobble very badly.  Walking the distance we had to cover quickly in order to not miss our train was not very agreeable to this suitcase.  I was proud of Bobby for keeping his composure through it all...I just had to keep laughing (under my breath of course) at the comedy of our entourage.  We have decided that we would love to somehow consolidate even more so that traveling is not so laborious...hard to know what can go though...

We made it to London and rested for an hour in the First-Class Lounge.  We then boarded a train to Edinburgh.  We were all able to sleep in our first class seats. ;)  We watched movies, ate, colored, ate more, and watched the beautiful scenery.  Once in Edinburgh, we had to transfer to another train in order to get to Lower Largo.  Our apartment in Edinburgh wasn't ready so we decided to spend 5 days on the coast in a very small fishing town about 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh.  We only had 20 minutes to make the transfer with all of our gear and were a little nervous.  We were surprised by the care some of the passengers provided us to make sure we made it to the train with ease.  Two couples walked with us, helping us keep the kids occupied while showing us the way around the train station.  It was very nice the generosity of these strangers.

Amelie & Liam playing in the First Class Lounge.

Liam playing with the sugar packets while Amelie watches a movie.

We were able to see lots of sheep, cows, and horses from our window.

Once near Lower Largo, our gracious hosts picked us up from the train station and drove us to the apartment.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a cake, fresh fruit basket, and a goody basket full of treats/food.   So far, we have LOVED Scotland!

I am always relieved at the end of a traveling day when the kids behave and all goes smoothly.  I am thankful how well they roll with the punches.  They are amazing!! :)

Getting from There to Here

Getting ready to go through security in the Atlanta Airport.

Every time I would think about traveling internationally with two small children, I would feel a little sick to my stomach.  I knew that once we reached our destination all of the troubles of getting there would diminish, but I was not looking forward to the actual traveling portion.  As the day for us to board the plane finally arrived, we met it with a mixture of emotions: apprehension over the many aspects of traveling that we knew would be out of our control, excitement for the fun things to come and how we would grow as a family and as individuals, sadness for the family and friends we would miss over the many months away, and these are just to name a few. 

We packed and pared down, repacked and pared down even more, and then repacked and pared down as much as we could in order to fit all that we thought we would need for the next year in 2 suitcases and a pack.   We arrived at the airport without much trouble and made it through security checks fairly easily.  After waiting for about 45 minutes at our terminal we were told that our airplane was struck by lightning upon landing and would not be flying again any time soon.  Thankfully, British Airways put us up in the Hilton with many food vouchers to hold us over until another flight left the next evening.  We (really Bobby) made sure we used every penny of allotted to us.  He ordered 4 dinners for our first night at Hilton but since me and the kids were exhausted (and rightfully so, it was midnight or later), he ended up grazing on his own. He even stocked up on nuts and snacks in the airport for our first week in Paris. He is definitely resourceful!

Since we were squeezed onto another flight, I did not get the promised cot for Liam, which was disappointing.  In all the waiting and changing planes and connecting flights and shuttles and taxi drives, our children were amazing and very adaptable.  They both slept when they needed to and didn’t complain for all the craziness of being “off” of their schedule.   I saw firsthand the importance of setting the mood for the kids.  If I remained calm and chill about the inconveniences then they did too.  I also learned it’s the little things that make it fun.  Having a dum-dum for take-offs was a highlight for both kids.  Allowing the freedom to run in the airport helped not having the urge to run when on the airplane.  Having 4 different outfits for Barbie keeps a little girl occupied for a LONG time.  I also learned that the actual traveling part was not as dismal as I imagined it could be. 

We missed our connecting flight in London so we had to sit around for a couple hours in the Heathrow Airport waiting to get to Paris.  When we arrived in Paris, we had planned to take the Metro to our apartment but we were both so exhausted that we decided to splurge on a taxi.  Wow, are we so glad that we did!  The combination of being rush hour, the many stairs to climb up and down with luggage and kids, and not being totally familiar with our route I think could have made for a miserable experience.  Our taxi ride on the other hand, was very smooth and easy and didn't cost all that much more than what it would have been to ride the Metro.  Sanda, the owner of the apartment we are renting, met us with hot chicken rice soup.  It was absolutely perfect as we were starving and did not have the energy to think about where we were going to get food. After our tour of the apartment we were excited to finally be able to rest.  

Liam waiting for the shuttle to the Hilton at midnight.

Liam napping in the airport while Bobby and I did school work.  Since we had to check out of our hotel at 1 p.m. but our flight didn't leave until 8:45 p.m., we had some time to kill.  Thank goodness for WiFi so we could stay caught up on our jobs! Amelie made herself a pallet of jackets and played for hours on her own.

You Guys Are Doing What!?!

We receive questions about what we are doing quite frequently.  We realized that we have not done a great job outlining our plans and wanted to catch everyone up to speed on what we are doing for the next year.    Below are a list of questions and answers that have come up.

·      Where are you going next?...and after that?...

o   Paris, France is our first stop.  We will live on the east side of Paris (in Montreuil) from February 11 – May 11.  It is a modest town house near one of the biggest parks in Paris (bois de Vincennes).  There is a convenient Metro stop near the house which will be our main source of transportation.  We will be around 15 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower which is on the west side of Paris.  Below is a picture of the 1905 house that has been recently renovated.

o   London, England will be a little vacation from May 11 – May 17.

o   Edinburgh, Scotland is next.  We will live in Lithe which is right on The Shore in a tiny apartment from May 17 – August 9. Below is a view of our street from the apartment.

o   We have not booked anything after the above mentioned dates; however, our loose plans are to live in Italy, Spain, or Germany from August 9 – November 7.  Then live in Croatia from November 7 – February 5.  This is subject to change based on our experiences in Paris, the connections we make, our source of income, and more.

·      How are you able to do this?

o   In 2010, we sold our house in Athens and began renting a town home.

o   In 2011, Kelly secured an adjunct teaching job with Georgia Virtual School teaching science and being a special needs consultant.  In 2012, Bobby began teaching online as well with Georgia Virtual School teaching social studies.  We do not know from semester to semester how many students will be assigned to us, but so far we have had good work and are trusting that this will continue. 

o   With our house sold and a way to make money, we decided to sell almost everything we own and make the commitment to save as much as possible and start traveling.  So far, in the 6 months we have spent living on the beach we have not regretted making this decision. :)

·      What are your long term plans?  Are you coming back to Georgia?

o   This is a hard question as there are so many variables that will affect our plans.  We are planning around 3 – 6 months at a time and will just continue to do so providing we do what is best for our family.

o   We love Athens and continue to have strong roots there.  We love the beach as well.  We don’t know where we will end up permanently!  One day at a time!!

·      What about language barriers…do you speak another language currently?

o   We are wanting to learn as much of other languages that we can.  We currently do not speak French but are eager to learn and know that being immersed in the culture will help us tremendously. We have begun to watch introductory lessons on YouTube as a family which has been fun.

There are more questions to be answered like are you concerned about safety, what is something you each hope to gain from this adventure, how did you get to this point where you decided that this was a good idea; but I will have to save those for another post. 

Made it to the beach, almost settled in

Present update

After several more hours in the car than any of us could take (I blame the Uhaul trailer and traveling with kids), we finally made it to the beach on the evening of the 1st of August.  The furnished townhouse we rented seems to be in pretty good shape.  After pushing around and moving furniture to accommodate kids, cribs, and six months worth of our stuff, we seem to be settled in.  We're surrounded on both sides with water, with the Gulf on the front side of the house and large lagoon with private pier on the rear side.  Plus, we have a pool for getting whatever sand just won't come off in the outdoor shower.  Our place is definitely a rental, and has the wear and tear to prove it.  But our landlord has already sent repairmen over to fix any issues we've found.  The next six months here should be incredible!

We haven't explored much in the area because going to the beach everyday just hasn't yet gotten boring.  Sand here is really white and clean, a very fine grain, and squeaks when we walk on it.  The weather is very fluid and changes rapidly, as we learned on day two when a lightning storm rolled in way too fast for my liking.  The water itself has a decent amount of seaweed, and I've already stepped on a stingray (who decided he'd save stinging me for a later date).  However, once I navigated through the wall of seaweed, the water cleared up decently.

Amelie and Liam have loved the beach, and Amelie has already declared that this is the best place she has ever lived.  Shell finding and sandcastle building seem to interest her the most right now, but the pool is a close second.  Liam ate so much sand the first day I began to wonder on the physical limits his belly could take.  At what point does it just turn to concrete?  He has no fear, healthy or otherwise, of anything, so the natural hazards of the beach have placed him and us on the opposite sides of the excitement spectrum.

Work is picking up with the beginning of the semester approaching.  That, coupled with the busyness of moving and trying find time to intersperse some beach fun, has left us too swamped to care about taking pictures.  Thus, pictures are limited for this post, and all were taken via iPhone (so quality is limited).  Future postings will hopefully be more picture fruitful.

 First night we got here

 We've eaten a ridiculous amount of popsicles so far.

The dock/pier off the back of our place.

The past, the present, the future...(a warning)

The biggest problem with waiting months (years, decades, millennium, etc.) to update your blog is that you have a whole lot to tell the world.  And we have done and planned a lot in our lives in the past two years.  Enough plans, ideas, and dreams even to warrant the occasional retrospective blog post that will allow readers, friends, and family to understand how we got where we are.  The difficulty with trying to reminisce and write events and ideas that got us here is that there might be a great deal of embellishment, exaggeration, and hyperbole, as we remember the past how we want.  I'll try to keep it straight, but no promises.  The beauty of a blog is that those who have traveled and plotted with us can comment and let everyone know how far the truth has strayed.  That was the first warning.

Now for some housekeeping regarding reading future posts.  Of course all posts will be tagged letting the reader know whether they are reading about a present update, a past anecdote of planning for the present and future, or future plans or arrangements.  But just to make sure there is no confusion, I will make sure that there is some type of header that denotes the post type.  I am sure this is confusing (hence being warning number two), but all will be made clear to those who stick around to hear the tale that sent the Walkers wandering...