Is Around the World Travel Right for Everyone?

At the Redlands Bowl watching the "California Guitar Trio"

A unique set of circumstances has led us to be on this amazing trip.  Elaine and I feel like it is going to be good for our family.  Since we first started contemplating this trip we agreed that we would pursue it until we hit a red light.  A red light could come in the form of an insurmountable obstacle or a feeling.  If an obstacle were insurmountable we would know by the accompanying feeling.  We've had no insurmountable obstacles or feelings that we should stop pursuing this.  In fact, things have come together so smoothly and we've felt so good about it that we grow daily more confident in our decision.

One thing I've asked myself repeatedly is, "If this is good and right for our family does that mean it would be good and right for every family?"  And conversely, "If this is NOT good and right for every family does that mean that it is NOT good and right for our family?"  To me the answer to both questions is "NO".  For me there are two factors and both need to line up:  timing and circumstances.  The right timing with the wrong circumstances or wrong timing with the right circumstances will affect the goodness and rightness of such a decision.  Our kids are of ages that make a trip like this easier without disrupting present or future schooling too dramatically.  Our circumstances are such that my employer and business partner are both supportive of me working from the road.  Doing things as a family will not be a new experience for us. Timing and circumstances are both on our side.

For Elaine and me, "rightness" has always been determined by paying attention to our feelings.  For us, "wrongness" is associated with feelings of being unsettled, doubt, or confusion.  For us "wrongness" is not the same as being undecided.  The kind of unsettled I'm talking about comes after making a decision and is only related to the decision itself and not to the ramifications of the decision.  If at that point we feel unsettled, doubtful, or confused then we know something is not right.  On the other hand "rightness" is associated with feelings of peace, confidence, and love.  If we feel peace about a decision it does NOT mean that we have all the answers and have worked out all of the details.  For us feeling peace only means that that decision, and nothing else, is right.  I must note that for us these feelings are different from our intellect and our emotions, both of which can sway us if we are not careful.

I can't say if what we are doing for our family is good and right for anyone else.  I can only say what is good and right for my family at this time and that this method of making decisions has served us well for a long time.  Things might be different in a different time and with a different set of circumstances.

The Golden Gate Bridge - BY JENNA

TYPED BY RICH AS DICTATED BY JENNA

This is my first blog post.  I saw the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was big and red.  We saw boats under it.  We drove on the bridge three times.  It was really really cool to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

It was windy and cloudy and foggy.  We had to dig out our rain jackets but it was not raining.  They kept us warm from the wind and fog.  We were going to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge but it was too windy and there were no parking spots.  I thought there would be a golden gate but I couldn't see any gates.

I love to be on a trip but it is hard to not be with my friends.

Goodbye random citizens.

Disneyland Flashback

About 10 years ago we decided to take our kids to Disneyland.  At the time we had three children ages 6, 3, and 1.  We left Grandma's house early in the morning, parked, and purchased tickets and were ready for a fun day at the “happiest place on earth.”  A few hours later, our oldest child announced he was bored and wanted to go back to grandma's house. We brushed him off and took him on more rides only to hear him say again that he just wanted to go back to Grandma's house.  After quite some time of listening to him whine about having to be at Disneyland, I kind of lost it.  In not the nicest voice, I told him that we had paid a lot of money to get in, we were staying until the end of the day, this was the happiest place on earth so he better stop whining about Grandma's house and just enjoy the day.  We did stay to the end of the day and had a good time, but we haven't returned to Disneyland since.

Donner State Park

For the first part of our big trip we are doing a road trip to Grandma's house.  Instead of driving the usual I-15 south to Southern California, we drove over to Reno, on to San Francisco and down the California coast.  The first few days went well, but shortly after crossing the California border I suggested we stop at Donner State Park and I heard, “do we have to stop?  Can't we just drive to  Grandma's house”.  I ignored the plea and we stopped at Donner State Park for a few hours.  Later when we were nearing San Francisco someone asked how long it would take because he just wanted to get to Grandma's house.  The kids did think the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty cool (and it was literally cold there).  But that was all the patience they had for San Francisco.  After telling them of other things we could do there, they decided they would rather start driving to Grandma's house.

Redwood State Park

We forced them to stop a few more times to see Redwood State Park (and yes they liked it), the Santa Barbara Mission (they thought it was boring) and to see some relatives.  But the the prevailing theme through it all was “when can we get to Grandma's house”.  I felt like it  was Disneyland all over again!  Here we are trying to take our kids to new places to experience new things and they just want to go to Grandma's house.  It is going to be a long year if anytime we want to do anything we hear, “let's just go to Grandma's house.”

 

Santa Barbara Mission

Prologue

Just like every good book, every good trip has a prologue, a little backstory before the actual thing, this is ours.

For the last week, we have been eating corn dogs and sitting on the floor. At the yard sale a few weeks ago we sold most of our furniture, and this last Thursday we got rid of the rest of it. Then we really got to sit on the floor, and eat off the counter.

Every time we go on a vacation, our mom goes into vacation mode and doesn't shop for groceries for a week at least beforehand. This time was a little different. She didn't shop for nearly a month, by the end we were really down to the last crumbs in the pantry.

As of Saturday, this trip kinda stinks. We had to work a ton to get everything packed and the house cleaned. But this Saturday (today) things are looking a lot better. We are at our Grandparents house in California, with plans for the beach, swimming, and playing with our cousins during the week!

Uggh. Cleaning.

We cleaned a lot before this trip. Everything had to be absolutely perfect for my mom.  We had to scrub all the walls in the whole house, vacuum everything at least 10 times, mop the floors, go without the Wii for 2 days :(, sleep on the ground for 2 nights, and shove everything we owned into our two cars. It stank!

Terri's House

Starting out we had a nine hour drive to Reno, Nevada to my dad's birth mom's house. We arrived just before dinner. We had some turkey sloppy Joes for dinner and for dessert we had a cold chocolate cake with a creamy chocolate frosting all over it. It was super delicious. For breakfast the next day we had waffles with some homemade syrup. We had some blueberry, blackberry, strawberry syrup and a regular flavor. They were both good.

Terri had a nice old black Labrador Retriever named Reno who died the day after we left.  We are sad that he is gone.

Technology is great...

Huawei Mobile Hotspot - MiFi

One of the things I like about technology is when it works.  There is nothing better than technology that works.  Last week I picked up a MiFi device, the last piece in our technology arsenal for this trip.

A MiFi talks cellular data on one side and WiFi on the other.  The other day while Elaine was driving on the freeway I was online and working on my laptop using the MiFi.  Isn't that amazing?!?  We were going 65 miles per hour on a freeway and I had speedy Internet access.  On another occasion we needed to research hotels so we pulled into a parking lot, fired up the MiFi and laptops and had a reservation in a matter of minutes.  Isn't technology great?

There were a few other times, however, while driving through a valley or remote area that the MiFi became unusable.  I can easily overlook this shortcoming of the cellular networks because the technology is just so cool when it DOES work.

Of course, MiFi access isn't free and we won't use it when free WiFi is available but it is definitely good to have as an option.