Packing Up

(Navyn) You know that game – if you could only bring three things to a deserted island what would they be? As I look at the size of the bag I must pack to hold my things for the next 215 days this game comes to mind. Luckily technology allows us to fit unlimited books, games, music, movies, all onto one device.

We are all ready to take a good break. Away from soccer practice, carpools, bus stops, birthday parties, school events, school, volunteering, work, play dates, and the endless to do list. We are switching off email, leaving teenager cell phones behind and entering lands where they don’t serve chicken nuggets or ketchup, where everything is unfamiliar, the people, culture, sights, smells and streets. But we are certain that Paul will ask endless questions and make us lots of new friends and hopefully not too many enemies. I have always loved venturing to places off the beaten path – as I find those are the places that you will most remember and learn from. To have the opportunity to teach from the road, to learn by doing and seeing is something we are so grateful for.

This is a photo of the girls in Iceland – sheer happiness. Before embarking on an adventure like this we had to test them out. Some have survived, Haiti, Sierra Leone, The Galapagos, and an RV trip out west to name a few. They all passed with flying colors, have adventurous spirits and most importantly, all get along incredibly well and are up for just about anything.

The Travel Clinic knows the Salem family by name, CVS groans when I approach the pharmacy counter, our passports have been making the rounds to obtain visas and the packing puzzle continues. Uncertainty, excitement, who knows, what awaits us.