One Year Anniversary

On August 1st 2008 we began our journey South…

July 31st was my last day at the “corporate job” - it was also the day we finalized the sale of our house. - so that night was spent sleeping at a friends house down the block.

We spent the night re-packing the car and suitcases.  In our rush to get everything done we had begun throwing stuff in the car that we thought we wanted to take with us and now the car was stuffed.  For a few hours we got rid of more stuff, organized our remaining gear, and sat on the couch talking about what lay ahead.

After a restless nights sleep we woke, fed the kids breakfast, said our goodbyes, and headed south.

Our journey would take us from Oregon to California to Florida to Costa Rica to Panama to Ecuador to Columbia to Peru to Bolivia and to Argentina.   We found you can’t get much further South than Argentina

It is amazing to think about all of the adventures we have had this year, and incredible to think of what our life was like then and what it is like now.  Just as Gina never had any regrets leaving her corporate sales position some 4 years ago, this past year only confirmed for me that my decision to leave was right thing to do - both for myself and my family.

In fact, the organization that I worked for has had a rough time of it as many businesses have had this past year and fired almost 30% of the workforce.  It is likely that more jobs will go as well.  For all of the reasons that I left and for the current economic reasons the organization was/is not a healthy place to work - I feel healthier for having left!

I am not the sentimental type (i can hear you snickering) but reflecting on the past year brings nothing but joy and happiness to my thoughts, and since we have decided to return to the U.S. in September I can see the end of this part of our journey…an incredible 12 months traveling through Latin America as a family.

It is the one year anniversary since we left our home in Oregon - I have learned that our decision means something different to everyone; the four of us, family, friends, and casual observers.  For me it is getting back to a place that feels more comfortable to me, a place that I forgot, and learning to express that part of me in ways that I have not allowed myself to do for many years.

I has been a good year…

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