Details: Who we are and why we are doing it

I'm a retired corporate/association event planner and now a stay-at-home mom to 18 year old, Caitlin, and a 20 month old, Kailani. Caitlin, who is the same age as I was when I gave birth to her, is leaving for Sonoma State University next week. I've always had a passion to travel. But for the past 18 years, some of the time being a single mother and alot of times seeing friends my age leave for various locations, thought I couldn't afford to take much time off to travel. (Not to say that I haven't done any, but way too little than what I'd like, and much was on business, without loved ones by my side to share it with.) If I could only turn back time! However, Caitlin is certainly well-traveled, thanks to Grandma "Tutu" Karen taking her to Hawaii every summer, and most recently taking her on a 8 day kayaking tour of the islands of Palau. Anyway, before I go back to work to pay for preschool, I see the window of opportunity! I can't think of a better way to satiate an 18 year old travel bug by (mostly) living in countries that cost less than what we can rent our house for. First, it started out that we'll relocate from living in Sunnyvale to Santa Cruz, which has always felt more like "home" to me every since I moved away from there to move back to where I was born and raised. Then, I thought "While we're packed up, let's take some before we move". Now, it's one whole year and a journey completely around the world. But for me, every journey has always been enlightening, and I seriously feel in need of some, especially after losing my mother to cancer and then almost completely recovering from what an MD told me I'd have to live with for the rest of my life. I feel so healthy, the work we've done on our fixer-upper the house is "enough" (there's always more that you can do, right?) and neither Sean or I have a career that we would feel sad to leave at the moment.

Kailani has been to Oregon, Texas and Mexico and has so far been a great as long as she knows we're there for her. She is an observer, so taking her to new places keeps her eyes and her mind busy. Although she isn't reading yet, she's more than happy to be read to for hours on end. Hopefully, as long as we have a stack of books on hand as well as her "baby doll", blankie and a few new surprises along the way, we hope she will fare.


Hmmmm, about Sean? I don't know. I might just have to let him speak for himself.