Category: Travel

Be back soon…

Posted on by Caroline
We haven’t had power for two days and our phones and computers have been limping along on our teeny little external battery. So we’ve been falling behind on posts. (But not falling behind on fun…) Today we woke up in Madraki, near the town of Hydra, and we’re on our way now back to port in Athens. We’ll stay on the boat for one last night tonight and tomorrow we’ll have a recovery day before exploring Athens. We’ll catch up soon!

Epidavros

Posted on by Caroline
The sun’s rising now on our second morning on the boat. We decided to spend a full day in Epidavros yesterday. Epidavros is a harbor town on the Peloponnesian penisula. We walked to an ancient amphitheater, ate some gelato, went swimming on the beach, and ate some more gelato. The kids have been making friends with all the cats wandering around town. And I do mean all of the cats! It’s been hot, and I’ve been honestly missing air conditioning… But as long as we can get in the water and sleep on the deck, it’s been manageable. And well worth it. Today we’re heading out to the island of Paros. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to open up the...Read More

The travel bug

Posted on by Caroline
Two years ago today, Tim sat down at his first day of training at United. The culmination of years of hard work. And on Sunday, we’ll celebrate 17 years since we got married. I’d like to think that we’ve learned a few things along the way. Since we’re currently on another airplane flight, I’m inclined to think of those lessons as a traveling analogy. Tim and I met when we were both living in England, and by the time we’d been dating a few months we’d traveled all across Europe together. So you could say that traveling is hardwired into our relationship. We strive to be adaptable and curious. To plan when we can, and change course if opportunity knocks....Read More
Planning for Adventure

Parts unknown…

Posted on by Caroline
And… we’re off. After getting temporarily sidelined, we’re finally starting to live the vision we had when we uprooted ourselves and moved to Guam. Tim got the month of August off and so we’re setting out for parts unknown. Okay, maybe parts only hazily known. We’ll be in Denver for a few days before we set off toward Europe. Specifically, Greece. We spent most of this school year learning about ancient history. And Amelia’s taken a few sailing classes lately, so Greece seemed to be the perfect fit. Or maybe we’re just working our way through our “G” geography. We originally chose Europe so that we could meet up with cousins that we’ve dearly missed. But it turns out that...Read More

Oasis

Posted on by Caroline
I doubt I’m the only one, but the constant stream of contradictory news about the coronavirus has left me fatigued and off-kilter. On the flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, we heard the news that the president had declared a state of emergency and that our old school district had canceled classes for the next four weeks. Facebook has exploded with crazy debates about exactly how worried we should all be and my normal outlets of reliable news don’t seem to be any more certain about what we should do or what to expect in the next few weeks. The world feels topsy-turvy to me right now. So, in addition to the usual haze of travel, I was pretty preoccupied...Read More

In the Air

Posted on by Caroline
Amelia and Duke and I are currently in the air, about two hours from Honolulu. We’re on our way to go visit my parents for close to a week. The main agenda item is to visit with Grandy and Opa. While it hasn’t actually been that long since we saw them at Christmas, living halfway around the world has made it feel like longer. We’ll also do a little bit of shopping while we’re there and remind ourselves that some parts of the world aren’t perpetually 85 degrees. After we leave Denver, we’ll head back to Davis for a few days. We have some doctors and dentist appointments that we’d like to keep, and I’m heading into the office for...Read More

A Quick Trip to Osaka

Posted on by Caroline
I’m behind on posting this, so I’m going to focus mostly on the pictures. We loved our trip to Osaka. We stayed in a ryokan within minutes of Dotonbori - an area known for street food and neon lights. A ryokan is a Japanese style inn with tatami mats, futons and onsen baths, and the kids love them. Osaka has an air of goofy exuberance that made it a really fun visit, at least when viewed through the lens of the hustle and bustle of Dotonbori. Nara was also a blast. Watching the tourists (including us) feed the deer, and getting harassed by them was one of the funniest things I’ve seen. There are signs at the entrances to the...Read More

Osaka

Posted on by Caroline
Right now, we’re about 40,000 ft above the Pacific Ocean, on our way to Osaka. I had imagined that before this trip, I would have researched the history of Osaka. Learned about the local architecture. Looked up the best restaurants for okonomiyaki. Found the best kid-friendly attractions. But it’s been a crazy week. Last Friday, they dropped off all our household goods at our new house (yay!). On Saturday, Duke and I were diagnosed with strep throat (boo!). On Sunday, Amelia came down with strep (boo!). On Monday, we checked out of the hotel (thank goodness we had the hotel for a few extra nights!). Our house is still buried in boxes, and I don’t know where anything is, but...Read More

We’re off!

Posted on by Caroline
Amelia and Duke and I left my parents house at 5:00 AM. We’re on our way to San Francisco, where we’ll meet up with Tim. From there we’ll fly to Honolulu and then on to Guam. We’ve had to say some hard goodbyes. We’re lucky that we have so many people rooting for us and wishing us well. We’re looking forward to some pen pals and occasional visits back to the states and sharing our adventures along the way. In the meantime, I think I’m done with lists now - finally! We’ve packed our last box and everything we own (almost) is on its way to the island. We’ll have work to do to get ourselves unpacked and settled in,...Read More

Intrepid travelers

Posted on by Caroline
After an early-ish start, we had an uneventful trip. We didn’t have quite as much time in Hawaii as we were hoping, but we managed to fit in a poke lunch and finding some leis for the kids. After another 7 1/2 hour flight, it’s starting to dawn on me exactly how far Guam is from San Francisco. We finally arrived at 7PM on Saturday. (Another reality that I’m finally beginning to actually understand - the 16 hour time change) After collapsing into bed, the kids were up at 4 AM. So we’re sitting in the room, waiting for the sun to rise. Waiting to see the outlines of our new life. So far, not a bad start.....