Greetings friends, family, and fellow travelers!

We are kicking off our newsletter, which will feature dispatches from us as we travel the globe in the year ahead. We are excited/nervous/surprised/amazed to be here, and we welcome you to join us on our adventures.

How did we get here?

In the height of COVID in early 2022, Sara and Justin went to dinner (outdoors, heated lamps) and started waxing poetic about life. With our family finally complete but feeling stagnant and urging to connect, we wondered about what was next. "Maybe we should just take six months off and travel the world!” Sara said. Justin’s interest was piqued, and he began to imagine the possibilities. What started as an offhand, pie in the sky idea stuck around, and finally last fall we decided to take the plunge and put down our first deposit on a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Deposits on Borneo and Bhutan quickly followed, and now.... we guess we're really doing this thing! We've spent the last few months cleaning, planning, organizing, purging, spending time with friends, and trying not to panic (too much). We've logged a combined total of 42 vaccination shots, and more trips to REI than we care to count. In March, Justin resigned from his job as a music publicist after nearly a decade, and Sara is preparing to take a sabbatical from her private practice, a decision that was (and continues to be) emotionally gut wrenching, yet right. We will be putting our house up for rent, enrolling the boys in online math and English, and trying to balance planning enough in advance so that the trip isn't overly stressful while at the same time, allowing the moment to take us wherever we need to be.

A little about us:

Sara: Planner extraordinaire, is in charge of route, tours, activities, accommodations, budget, and restaurant selections. Naturally, this means we are doing a food tour in most major cities and hitting as many wineries as the children will tolerate. Sara is currently considering whether skydiving is #exposurelifestyle or #reallystupididea.

Justin: Navigator, chef, cultural commentator, Justin is managing the on the ground logistics so that we can actually leave our house in one piece. Less sentimental than Sara, he is very excited that he has finally convinced her to get rid of the contents of all the boxes and bags in the attic.

Jonah: In exchange for a new computer, Jonah has promised to be our video editor this trip. Videos may or may not be run through a parental approval process, so partake at your own risk. Jonah is most excited for animal encounters, sleepaway camp, and Italian food, and least excited for hiking ("boring"), beaches ("too hot and too sandy"), and extended family time (whoops).

Simon: A history buff in the making, Simon is looking forward to learning about different cultures and past events, the gorier the better. He is also, inexplicably, hoping to do multi-course surprise tasting menus. If you can tell us where to do this without spending $$$$, we are all ears.

Calla: Still working on not confusing "The World Trip" with "Disney World," Calla is ready to bring her tenacious, strong-willed self to the party and keep up with her two big brothers. She is most excited for the one week where her brothers will be at sleepaway camp and she will get to hang out with her parents solo.

Our (tentative) route:

After visiting family and friends in the northeast, we'll fly to Croatia in early July and spend three months traveling through Europe. From there, we're headed to Morocco for a two-week tour of the country. Then, we'll fly to Malaysia, and spend about 3.5 months traveling through Asia. Next, we'll head to Australasia (New Zealand and Australia). The remainder of the route is still a bit fuzzy, but we know we'll next head to South America, where we'll explore the Galapagos Islands, and eventually make it back to Washington sometime next summer.

Once we head out, we plan to keep you updated on our travels on a weekly(ish) basis. As is our style, expect detailed recounts of the magic and memories, mishaps and meltdowns. We're so glad to have you join us for the ride!

xo,

Sara, Justin, Jonah, Simon, & Calla