In reality, or at least our reality, in which we have to suck out all the value we have out of everything we have, with all the time we have, its not quite so effortless. It involves a lot of boxes, a lot of digging, a lot of sorting, a lot of thinking in big puzzles. Then these puzzles have little puzzles in them that need sorting and make the job even less light and easy.

The big job of sorting out the garage contents has started. There are a lot of boxes with all sort of things in them and as much as we have avoided meeting them in person in the last few years, now its time for face to face, heart to heart. It goes a bit like: You go…you stay…go…OUT!…mmm…dunno…Oooooh, I forgot about this…

A lot of liquidation needs to happen, before our trip can become a reality. There is a lot of work ahead of us and even if we dont end up going, it will feel so good to have this out of our heads.

Digging through things bring up memories as well, which is the nice part about this whole mess. There IS one, thankfully. If we make money, that will be the second one. But for now, spraying refresher on the memory banks is quite enjoyable.

Like the pipe that marks the start for our love story:

Or the top of the cake for my 30th birthday. The best birthday ever, organizing lovingly, thoughtfully and perfectly by Mr.Blab. I had completely forgotten that I save it, so I had a good pause and re-winded the events through my mind as I stared at the contents of the box.

The girls have started a pile in their room that will go to raising money. I have prepared the train table to be ready for a new home and hope my friend is still interested. There are other boxes filling up with unused toys, clothes and whatever really.

Its not only money raising activity though. Its money saving as well.

If we go, we will need to store the left over furniture and stuff until we come back. This costs money and more than you would be thinking. Obviously, the more one stores, the more one pays.

And in the end it turns out that whatever we decide to keep: first of all, will not make us any money, and second of all, will cost us money. It will have to be well worth it. Which is actually a very nice way of looking at the stuff that surrounds us. I so hope in the end we finish this crazy process with a small pile of things we truly care for.

This is where we are at the moment. There are a few things going on in the background too — like searching for storage, sorting out shares and taxes, looking for connections around the world. I am also still trying to finish up the update of this blog, the one that has been long awaited by me , because otherwise it will have to wait even longer. I am most certainly not burying myself in codes and blog decisions while on a trip. Not by choice, anyway.

The dream is still alive. Lets see what will happen to it.

Related posts:

1. The planning process in action

Mr.Blab is a collector, as he likes to call it. I call it other things. One of the items he has accumulated over the years are travel guides, cause we havent just suddenly realized our love of travel, the bug has been planted long ago, and the itch has been scratched before. We have been dreaming of an extended trip for years. The long term plan was to make a full run around Europe with a motor-home once we retire. South America has been a dream destination for both of us, as neither of us has been there. And of course the full family around the world trip is not a new idea, although up until now it was not more than a day dream.

Finally, those guides are needed and now they are piled on the office floor and just about everywhere around the house. And if that was not enough, we have borrowed numerous books from the libraries around us — some informative, others of adventures people have taken. There is so much information that needs to be processed, I have caught myself a few times overwhelmed and wondering how we can put it all together in any sort of usable format.

For example, the initial idea was to buy a motorhome in Europe and save a bunch of money over the months on accomodation and transport. Then sell it in the end. But then more information comes to light and suddenly that plan doesnt seem as good or straight forward as it did yesterday. Should we get railpasses? Should we take the bus? Where do we want to go, or much harder question to answer, where dont we mind not going? Because as long as a year sounds, the world is rather big and we will barely manage to scrape the surface of it. On top of that, when you are trying to do it as cheaply as possible, the plans need to be flexible and realistic.

The plane tickets? Oh, the plane tickets. This one is proving a tough one too.  I thought it will be a good idea to buy the tickets from Asia, make our way to there ourselves and skip a continent on the RTW ticket — cause you pay according to how many of them you want to visit. After some search, we were unpleasantly surprised that tickets from Asia are much more expensive, so this money saving trick was not going to be saving us any money. Boo-hoo.

Next was to cut off South America and just make our way down there when we reach North America. Maybe a short flight from Miami down to Venezuela. Maybe drive down there (not a good idea). Then bus around the continent as needed. And this way if we run out of time by the time we get there, we can skip — I cant believe I am saying this — South America, and save it for a different trip. This is still hanging undecided too.

The best part of this process so far has been…you! After I put out my plea for free accomodation anywhere around the world, your responses and open welcoming arms have warmed my soul more than I would have thought. Thank you very much from the bottom of my melted heart!

The girls have had fun putting green dots for every open door we have on the map. And other colored ones for places they want to go. Oh, and we have a brand new map, of course. Wipe-able, so we can wipe the excited drawings of the kids be flexible.

This is a very small fraction of the stuff that is happening in our house at the moment. Its exciting, its strange, its scary at times, its so wonderful that seems unimaginable and impossible. I wonder where this process will end?

Until then I have a lot of green dots on a wipeable map to warm me up on cold nights like tonight.

Related posts:

1. Leaving the house in 6 hours
2. Trip ripples
3. Two and a half years ago..
4. Its time
5. Hello Tokyo — First afternoon

Little B became 3 years old.

I was browsing through some old photos and trying to sort them out, so you get a bit of a taste of my reminiscent feelings.

Just as this year, we went down south to Denmark to celebrate her birthday. I was freshly pregnant with a certain Popcorn.

We stopped at the fairy parks along the way..

Back then we stayed at this wonderful little place that was built, carved and hand crafted  by artisans from the area. Run by a hippie looking couple that were fun to chat to, the spot was perfect for us. In the morning through the blinds the girls would spot the kangaroos  in the yard and then run around and laugh at the little poo deposits in the grass.

We did the walk through the woods, which was magnificent.

One could even look out to the world from the giant trees.

We had a lot of tasting plates from the farms around the place. In general there was a lot of eating happening as the weather was not great, so we needed frequent stops to warm up or fuel up for the constant shiver of our bodies.

Running around did the same job for some.

Our most favorite beach in the whole world was freezing, cold and miserable. Still, stubbornly we went there and had fun in spite of it all. A bit of jumping here, a bit of running there, some splashing, rock climbing and before we knew it the girls were soaking wet piles of sandy mess. But they were loving it. Me? I was half frozen, I think.

The party get away was a success, as is every trip down south.

I love this picture of an exhausted three year old on her way back home.

____

As you guessed it, I got nothing sorted out. It always happens that way. I have great intentions, I dive in and then float away on a visual memory current until its too late to be productive and I postpone the whole thing for some other time.

At least this time you can join in for some of the journey back in time.

Related posts:

1. The planning process in action
2. Leaving the house in 6 hours
3. The aliens around us
4. The Book Monster
5. Third world city — or turd world city

But our trip did have to come to an end, but not before we took a drive the long way home. We felt like sight seeing.

The forests in the beginning of the drive were so beautiful and a nice change from the dryness of the city.

And there was a lot of it. Green and luscious.

Until we came half way and stopped for a break. We were looking for a nice waterfront place or park to rest and let the kids run wild, instead we stumbled on a fancy waterfront new development. But it had coffee, ice drinks and water. We enjoyed..

Coffee…

The Caramel loved the decorations and the ceiling. I think he was still a bit woozy from the long trip and being strapped down like a madman. I think he was smelling freedom and air..

We waited for our refreshments..

And went outside and sat on the grass.

Where we drank.

We looked at the scenery.

And Caramel.

Caramel?

He lost it. He was running circles.

The poor boy had a bunch of energy to waste and he sure did.

Unfortunately for him, the car seat was not far away and after we had stretched some limbs and rubbed skin on the grass we were back in the vehicle, now rubbing tires on the road.

The views were now not that inspiring and I was getting bored.

Freeway.

A truck. A car. A truck. A car. A car. A car…

Yawn.

So did some playing with underexposing the sunny day for dramatic effect.

Hey, those clouds are not half bad.

Nah.

The low point was reached when I started intentionally taking out of focus pictures.

Yep.

But home felt good.

Its very important to clean and tidy your house before going on a trip. It makes coming back home so much better. Otherwise one feels like coming back to the everyday chores, instead of back to comfort and warmth.

And this is the end of this trip.

Now I want another.

And another.

Related posts:

1. HOME!
2. Steaming!
3. Brrrrr