Travel Countdown Begins

I grew up in the Seattle area close to the Canadian border. When I was a kid, crossing the border for the day meant potentially waiting in a long line of cars on a sunny day, but required no passports. We would drive to the border, make it through the check point, then explore amazing Vancouver. I especially loved visiting the Vancouver Aquarium and enjoying black licorice ice cream.

This is the extent of my “international” travel experience. So, the drivers in Vancouver might navigate the roads like maniacs and Vancouver is a diverse, dynamic city. But let’s be real: The people. language, shops, etc. in Canada looked a lot like the place I came from – they just didn’t charge sales tax.

In two weeks, my family of 5 (gestating 6) will be flying to France for study abroad for one month, then spending two in England for an internship. (In case you are worrying about my publicly sharing our trip, our house will not be vacant. Thank goodness for the sublease!) My husband has lived in Argentina and speaks fluent Spanish, but even he will be out of his element on this one.

I’m feeling eerily calm at the moment, trying to remain zen about it all. We have passports, a visa, living arrangements, Little Pim French Language tools, Euros, electronics to entertain, and more.

But my  mind starts to freeze when I consider the fine details:

1. Spend one night at a friend’s house because we need to sublet one day before we are ready to travel.

2. Wake up the morning of travel to ride a bus at 3 am to Chicago (4 hours). Oh, and figure out how to get to said bus stop and get mini-van to friends for summer.

3. Arrive at Chicago airport for flight and spend the afternoon waiting (bus options were limited).

4. International, overnight flight with 4 kids ages 2, 5, and 7 while 4 1/2 months pregnant.

5. Arrive in France and make it to hotel. Hopefully nap before opening dinner with other students.

Whew. Are you tired yet? And this is just the beginning.

Am I complaining? Nah. I agreed to this and I am calling it an adventure. But I know it will be crazy hard sometimes and just plain crazy. I’ll be writing about our travels along the way, including packing light with Lug, finding compression socks for the flight, keeping my sanity, and seeing Europe! I hope you’ll join me!