Seattle on a sunny day is a beautiful thing. Sparkling blue seas dotted with steadily gliding ferry boats. Immense craggy mountain ranges topped with snow on nearly every horizon. An expanse of the expected evergreen trees and an unexpected vast variation of green plants, bushes, grass create balance bordering the blue skies and seas.

We live in an admittedly liberal oasis, sometimes forgetting that there’s a significant part of our country that bleeds red. Our beach community is involved and idyllic with sweet surprises, like yarn “bombed” trees, and children and adults alike who stop to pet our dog. A neighborhood blog keeps tabs on all news, big and small, and makes us feel more united. The local elementary school our children attend has high parental involvement and the afternoon pick-up feels like social hour…I half expect to see a parent sipping out of a martini glass as they chat.

A year ago, we purchased and moved into my grandparents home, after painstakingly remodeling it, and its bones provide the deepest serenity…its history a foundation for our family to grow from.

So why leave? Today it’s 77 degrees in Seattle, I paddle boarded in Elliott Bay, meditating on each wave as it undulated toward me. It’s tempting to say, “Heck, let’s stay here…I could do this self-care thing for an entire year.” How decadent.

And that’s exactly it…it’s time for less decadence and more simplicity. When your child asks you to purchase Italian Soda for yet another school celebration and then complains that you purchased the wrong brand…your household is in need of a global reality check.

We cash that check on September 1st.

I expected some left turns along the way however I didn’t expect them BEFORE we hit the road.  RTW families consistently gave me the advice to travel slow and to not over plan.  I had this nagging feeling that I was failing at both…and I was.

I had every day of our four months in Japan and SE Asia planned and the pace of an average stay was five nights in each location…too brief to get a handle on and appreciation for our surroundings.

Part of slowing down is listening to your gut and last night I canceled all of our SE Asia accommodations.  Tonight, instead of purchasing the planned Global Explorer rtw tickets, I purchased four one way tickets to Tokyo.

I feel liberated!  And grateful that with life starting to slow down, I can hear myself again.

This is Mickey.

This is Mickey as a puppy.

I can hear you saying “ahhhh.”  Do you see our dilemma?

Mickey’s a part of our family and, yes, we are attached.  When I kneel down to pet him, he puts a paw on my shoulder, claiming ownership. Sean says that while we may think Mickey returns our love, the dog is simply invested in us because we invest in him with food and play.  Wah wah.

A common question we hear about this trip is “what are you doing with your house and dog?”  We debated many options with the house:

• Trade it?  Too cumbersome. And surprisingly grey Seattle is not a top destination on home trading sites.
• Rent it?  Eight months is an odd space of time to rent and the thought of packing everything up when we moved in less than a year ago was numbing.
• Sit it?  Yes!  Ultimately we decided we needed a house sitter to stay in our house, taking care of it and Mickey.  That person ended up being a younger brother – it works out for both parties.

AND, he can send us Mickey updates while we’re on the road.  So when we hear the dog put his paw on my brother’s shoulder, I’ll know it’s all about the kibble n bits.

Here are two reviews of the Viking Natures Resort on Phi Phi Island in Thailand:

 “An idyllic hide-away with stunning views and clean, comfortable rooms”

 “DO NOT STAY HERE! Worst hotel I’ve ever been to”

One picture shows a beautiful beach with turquoise water and the next picture shows the same beach with trash strewn across it. 

Will the real Phi Phi Island please stand up?

The fire hose of online information is a mixed blessing.  Frankly, it was reading other rtw family blogs that encouraged me to believe that we could do this trip.  On the other hand, when 8 out of 10 people say that they didn’t appreciate Vietnam, should I consider taking that country off the list?  Information paralysis!

One family blog, http://away-together.com/, has the motto of no regrets.  I find this to be a wise stance.  In eight months of travel, there will be places, people and experiences that make our hearts expand with gratitude and joy.  And of course there will be times when we are let down and uninspired.  Regardless, whether we love every destination or not, we’ll learn from it and that learning will inform the rest of our lives.  So, in good times or in bad, with too much information or too little, I ask, how lucky are we?

In fact, I think that’s going to be our motto, how lucky are we?