Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
- Henry David Thoreau
How can I possibly express my excitement, happiness and gratitude on an evening like this one? Here we sit at my sister Maura's house, all packed and ready to go. We just had a lovely dinner with Maura and Tom and their kids Amber and Ted, and now everyone is settling in for the night. Shaun and I did tons of prep work over the last few weeks to ensure that this final night in the States would not be chaotic and it was all worthwhile. Our bags are packed, our few remaining items are stored away and tomorrow morning at 6AM we are headed to Logan for a flight to DC and then on to an overnight flight to Munich, Germany. We won't be back on US soil again until mid-December and that will just be a quick two to three week visit before we are off again to New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia.
The last few weeks have been a blur. We were lucky to get the chance to visit with lots of family and friends in the midst of all the planning and packing. For those of you we missed, you'll just have to join us somewhere along the way! We already have my brother John joining us for the first six days, which is great because he's been taking German lessons! No matter where you go, the people are always friendlier when you speak their language so I'm hoping John will at least arm Shaun and I with the basic pleasantries before he leaves us to fend for ourselves! Danke Shoen John!
And speaking of friends and family, we are using our long layover in DC tomorrow to hopefully have lunch with my cousin Sarah. What better way to say goodbye to the States for a while than to spend it visiting with a "Frousin" (that's friend/cousin for all you non-Flatley's!) in our Nation's Capital! Of course, getting to and from IAD will be good prep for the mayhem to come. And then, when we get back to the airport, we may get a chance to see my friend Carolyn as well who will be flying out of Dulles around the same time! It's a small world!
As for the trip, we are really excited and optimistic; but we are also realistic about the fact that everything will not go perfectly. We know that there will be some tough times on the road. We know that we will get lost more than a few times. We know that we will get in a few fights (probably after we get lost!) We know will probably go over budget once or twice?! We know that there will be missed trains and some scary accommodations and lower standards of hygiene than one might expect from a couple of forty year olds. But we also both know we wouldn't trade this moment for the world!
Personally, I'm most grateful tonight for my husband Shaun. Maybe I'll tell you our story somewhere in these pages when I have more time. All you really need to know though is that I could not ask for a better travel companion. He is as low key as I am high strung and we are great foils for each other on the road. So off we go to bed, feeling like little kids on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow, we start living that life we imagined!
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