And so it begins!  A family of four headed to Japan-Thailand-Vietnam-Laos-Peru-Bolivia-Chile-Argentina.  A trip of a lifetime.  Why are we doing it?  Our twins will be eleven years old in February.  They are hurdling into tweenhood.  The desire to slow the clock, quiet the tick tock of the daily grind and expand all of our horizons beckons.

Originally each family member picked their most desired location — for Kyle it was Japan, for me Slovenia, Julia chose Greece and Sean chose the Silverwood theme park in Idaho.  Yes, really.  In the end, only Japan made the list because it gave Kyle the opportunity to explore Japanese woodworking to expand his recent fine furniture making education.

Beyond Japan, it was important to visit countries that would test our comfort zones, expose us to completely different cultures and not break the bank.  There are roughly 195 countries in the world and we’re only visiting eight!  We may squeeze a few more in however its important (to us) to have time in each country to better immerse in the culture.  Plus the kids will need time each week to address their school work.

We’re in fierce planning mode — eight month countdown!