We have not ventured more than an hour from where we are staying since September. We are staying with Judy’s dad, who is 71 years old, so we are extremely cautious about going places. This week we took our first road trip back to Atlanta. It is a 5-hour drive, so it was easy. It is a different experience worrying…
We have chosen not to travel far from our temporary home in NC during COVID. We have done a few short getaways to cabins, but we are putting our big travel plans on hold, at least for the next couple of months. Being in one spot for a while, we have settled into a good routine. Lucas and Henry loved…
Welcome to 2021! We rang in the New Year with cousins, aunts, uncles, dogs, and grandpa. We are lucky to have a family bubble during this time. We missed all of the family and friends we are not able to see now, but hopefully, we will be seeing them all in 2021. We had a phenomenal last meal of 2020.…
This past week we lost my stepmother Lois Buerkle after a 3 ½ year battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her family until the end. She is the reason we came back from Nicaragua in August. We have been spending the last three months in Winston-Salem helping to care for Lois and spending time with her and my dad. …
This year, Thanksgiving will not be the Thanksgiving we had imagined, but that is true for many families this year. We planned a large Thanksgiving with family. My brother in California was going to fly to North Carolina with his family. He was going to get to see our Stepmother who is very ill. Cousins were going to see each…
When we quit our jobs last year, we lost our health insurance. When we went to Central America we did not have health insurance that worked there or travel insurance. We did not have any major health issues while we were there. Any medicine we needed was easily accessible and affordable. A big misconception we found out was that our…
We have not had a smooth road heading out on our long term travel journey. Last year our plans were sidelined while Michael battled cancer. Earlier this year our plans were altered because of COVID. Now our plans are shifting again because my stepmother is battling cancer. We came back from Nicaragua at the end of August so that we…
Now that we are traveling full-time we have to think differently about how we travel. We used to spend a lot of money on vacations because we only had a couple of weeks a year and we felt like we couldn’t leave much to chance. Now we think about travel differently since we are more flexible and we have been…
Michael and I have many hopes and dreams for our kids. We want to create a path for them that helps them open whatever doors they want to open. We want them to be respectful, thoughtful, tolerant, compassionate, hard-working and most of all happy. If we want them to be all of those things, then we need to model those…
Since we have been in North Carolina I (Judy) have developed a routine of walking when I wake up in the morning. Sometimes I will listen to an audiobook or music. Other times I will use that time to reflect on the previous day or think about the day ahead. It is 40 minutes a day that is mine. It…