The Journey Before the Journey

Even though our flight to Rome is more than a month away, the journey has already begun. The journey began years ago when we thought about taking a sabbatical and traveling the world. It's so easy to talk about. "What a great idea. We should really do that someday."

The push we needed to actually do it was that next year Kaija would enter high school when taking a semester off would be more difficult. It was now or never. So we decided that we'd just take the next step. After all it wasn't entirely up to us. Our school boards had to approve, and someone needed to look after the critters at home. Would all the pieces fall into place? If yes, then we'd go.

Well, they all did fall into place, and when each one did, we were both excited and a little nervous. We would actually need to follow through now. No more just talking about it.

In the planning and contemplation stages, it has also been a journey of the heart and mind. Now I'll speak for just me (Connie). I can put a lot of pressure on these kinds of situations. "Must make it epic! Must make it monumental!" Must drive myself and everyone around me crazy is more like it, but it's just the reality of being me sometimes.

And then there are the moral/ethical questions. One perspective is that we are about to leave a huge carbon footprint by flying halfway around the world and we will be spending large amounts of time and money on ourselves in a world where so many live without. How can we justify this? Truthfully, the trip we're actually taking is not the one I had often imagined. I imagined all kinds of service opportunities and ecumenical experiences. It seems they were not meant to be. So we're trusting that something else was meant to be, which brings me to the next head game - letting go.

We're each leaving our programs at school. What does that look like next fall? We're leaving our dog and house to someone else's care. We're leaving family, friends and a parent that is not entirely well. It's only 4 months, but still we have found that it takes some letting go.

But we have also had many moments of utter gratitude for this opportunity. We are so very fortunate to be able to have the time and resources for this sabbatical. I am also grateful for all the pioneers and encouragers of this adventure, from friends that have taken similar leaps, to strangers on blogs, to Rick Steves himself (man I love that guy). I am looking forward to expanding my worldview, experiencing beauty and growing closer as a family, or at least not killing each other.

So here's to just being in the moment. Here's to being open to what each day brings. Here's to letting go and seeing what happens!