A Huge THANK YOU! No Words Left Unsaid

Last updated on May 4th, 2016 at 07:15 am

My last post, Travelling Home, really got me thinking. Reflecting on all of the wonderful people that inspired us and helped us to make the changes in our lives so we could begin to fulfill our travel dream. With 2012 gone and 2013 just beginning I want to recognize and thank these amazing people who made a difference for our family and affected us personally.

The first person I really need to recognize and thank is my wonderful Husband Rob! We are here, at this stage, standing on the edge of some kind of wonderful life because of him. He was the one to ask “what if?”, to question “could this be possible for us?” then dedicate 3 years reading, researching, financially whittling and creating to finally say yes, it is possible and lets do it! There were so many times I was worried we were making a mistake, seriously scared we were making a huge mistake. He helped me through all of my crazy panic and tears. He talked me off my ledge of fear with calm words of reassurance and reason and for this I will be forever grateful to him because I am fundamentally changed by this dream.

Second to thank is my beautiful Son Makai. In our time together the last 6 months he has helped me appreciate so many things I took for granted. I see so many things with new eyes because of him. I have learned so many things because of him and his insatiable curiosity. Truth is he has taught me more in this 6 months than I have learned in 40 years about me and what I want in life (as well as dinosaurs, transformers , volcanoes, our solar system, gravity and a myriad of other things). The most profound things Mak has taught me is I was born to be a Mom and to travel this world working to inspire others to chase their dreams. He helped me recognize the value in taking time to smell the roses. Thank you so much son.

To round out the top 3 is our  Mom , Dad and Sister. We could not have made this first step toward our travel dream without them. We thank all of them for loving us so much. I know they have misgivings about how we want to live, life on the road. Despite those doubts they helped us start our journey by opening their home to us. We are so grateful for the generosity and memories made. We know them better as people now after 20 years of slowly growing in different directions we get to learn about each other again. I feel very lucky because of them.

Next and in no particular order here are people, places and things that helped us launch this travel dream. Maybe you will find some inspiration in one of these links as well.

The first travel blog I ever read, which is still my favourite I must add, So Many Places Travel Blog. Kim‘s posts inspired me to believe more in myself and that dreams can come true. Her words and advice helped me keep my eye on the prize in times of doubt. From Kim’s blog I found these strong, adventurous women: Sarah at Sarah Somewhere and  Hannah at Further Bound. Their adventures, struggles and perspectives have been the comfort, inspiration and kicks in the butt I have needed throughout 2012.

Families on the Move Facebook group. Specifically, Talon Windwalker and Tigger at One Dad, One Kid, One Crazy Adventure, Lainie Liberti and Miro at Raising Miro On The Road Of Life and the Denning family: Rachel, Greg and their 6 beautiful children at Discover, Share, Inspire. The group and and these 3 families with their experiences gave us answers, reassurance, and a seemingly endless flow of information about life on the road and hope. Many of the travelling families were met with huge obstacles that could have prevented them from starting a travel life. They have shared personal and financial challenges and how they pushed passed these barriers to get on the road. Their blogs and comments gave me hope and now confidence that our dream will come to fruition. It may take a lot longer than we had anticipated but we will get there. Another unschooling family we met in Argentina, T.C., Charles and their amazing kids J.J. and Tommy. Thinking about our visits with them helped us decide to unschool Makai and inspired me to write about our decision.

And last, but certainly not least, all of Expat Experiments loyal followers. Thank you, thank you all so much following us on this adventure! Your interest and comments of encouragement bring me so much joy. You are all part of this Expat Experiment and we are so lucky to have you here with us. With 2013 burgeoning I am filled with so much anticipation for the next 11 months. I don’t know what the future holds or where in the world we will be this time next year. What I do know is there will be a lot of change coming.