Getting out the door - Alrica

Getting out of the door is the hard part. After moving 6 times in the course of 5 years, I know all about preparing a house, getting it ready to sell, packing up . . . but this is definitely different. With just a couple months left, the plan is to get rid of pretty much everything. How to do that is quite a bit harder. Especially considering that life continues, we are still coaching soccer, running a girl scout troop, homeschooling Carver, and working; activities like finding the time to post furniture on craigslist are hard. And that is just the big stuff, there are so many little things that we need to decide on: throw it out, give it away, donate it, sell it. All are options, but take some time. And none of us wants to get rid of things that we think we might want during the next couple months.

So turning my attention to the upside: In July, we are leaving Lancaster to see friends and family around the US and then we head off to explore the world in August 2015! We want to learn about the people and the history and the culture, though I'm sure we will see many sights too. We want to be travelers, not tourists. Spending two months in each place should help with that. We are all trying to learn enough about the cultures and languages that we will be able to fit in as well as possible. We will live in rental apartments and houses where the natives live. First stop is Prague! That first month in Prague we want to really immerse ourselves. We expect to play in the parks, see Old Town, shop at local markets, take our time . . . live slowly. The great thing about Europe is how compact it is so as we get more settled in the Czech Republic, we plan to venture out more and see other surrounding countries. We know that best laid plans still go awry so some of the conversations that we have been having revolve around being flexible and keeping our expectations in check. 

For now, it is back to preparing the house, figuring out our packing list, and finishing up the school year. We hope that people follow us on our journey and stay in touch!