Top 5 things we want to accomplish:

1) Get some surfing in. We are definitely hitting some spots where we can surf and for a reason. We surf whenever we can and we enjoy it. Can you imagine taking a year off and not doing what you love? I've been asked many times "Are you going to take your boards with you?". Unfortunately, it would cost us more to take it on a plane than what they are worth. Great if you are flying once, but not for the number of flights we are taking. Plus, those airline guys are ruthless with boards. We watched an entire plane to Costa Rica "Oh!" and "Ouch!" out the right side of our plane as the Taca Airlines guys threw their boards on top of each others'. I'm still trying to negotiate taking wet suits at least to Europe....

2) Practice yoga. Yes, getting excercise is important to me. When I first started researching detoxifying my body, I realized it was all about taking something. Somewhere along the way, I realize that the thing that makes me healthiest is to not pop a supplement, but to expell stuff through the lungs, get the circulation going to move it out, and to just plain sweat it out. Perhaps the sheer movement of traveling/exploring will be enough. Still, I think I'll need yoga to stretch out after uncomfortable sleeps on planes, trains and RVs. I don't know exactly how I'm going to continue this, as I'm more of a class-taker...They tell me what to do and I do it. I do practice yoga at home, but it's never nearly as good as a class. So, besides finding a class here and there, I'd like to start tightening up my home practice in the next 6 months.

3) See art in Europe. This is for Sean. He was an art major in college yet has never been to see the great museums of Europe. Need I say more? He also wants to see Gaudi's buildings in Spain. Luckily for Kai and I, he said he doesn't have the need to spend week's at the Louvre - just part of a day, he promises. He was so impressed that I know the "back" entrance to the Louvre, where there isn't a huge line of people to get in. Little did he know it's because there's a shopping mall there AND it's open on Sundays!

#4) How could I forget this? I'm sure there are some that are wondering what's up with all the talk about staying on an organic farm. Well, that's kind of Sean's gig. You see, we've had some successful crops the past few years and he keeps talking about how he'd like to farm for a living. Is he seroius? I don't know. Does he know what that entails? I don't know that either. So, I found that, in many other countries, you can stay on a farm and exchange work for food/shelter. I don't know how that will fare, since we're planning on renting an RV in both Europe and New Zealand and that's where I suspect most farms are. Or, how that'll work with Kailani, though she IS now trained in picking tomatoes at this point. But, we'll see....

#5) To humble myself. (This really should be #1, but it took me a little more time to ponder this...) So, I'm a 37 year old (What? Can't be!) stay-at-home mother of 2 living in the suburbs- EEEK! WHAT have I become?!?! Where is that 15 year old with a mohawk who's motto was "F*** the system"??? Well, apparently "the system" still sucks in my eyes. We elected the wrong president, board-certified medical doctors are looked at for all the answers to your helath problems (and the answers are always solved by something a pharmeceutical company sells) and corporations such as Chlorox spit out commercials that boast "INSTANT germ-killing disposable convenience" at the expense of children's health and the environment. I suppose my outlook on the world is a bit different after getting sick from inhaling 12 years worth of hairspray/color fumes and artificial nail dust. Or, maybe it was the several years of sitting on my a**, absorbing radiation from a computer screen while eating soup-in-a-can for lunch. I don't know what it is. But, I caught myself twice this week saying the "wrong" thing. As I think about why, I guess I suppress my ideas because they seem so much different than (what seems like) the rest of the world is doing (of course, besides a few select, loving friends). What I eluding to is that, after 22 years, it still "seems like" it's me against the rest of the world, yet I need to SEE the rest of the world to really get some prespective. I know that I soon need to again decide what I want to do with the rest of my life in terms of work (and the rest of my life begins when we get home from our trip, broke!) so perhaps I humble myself seeing how the rest of the world actually lives to truly appreciate that what I'm frustrated about is really not as bad. (This message has been brought to you by Anthony Bourdain, my hero and who's voice I hear as I write thought-provoking paragraphs such as this. Yes, I also enjoy a good roasted pig. But no, I don't smoke cigarettes!)