The title is slightly misleading as we are presently hurtling through the air 37,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean at nearly 600 mph, but I do feel as if I am still preparing for this grand adventure and massive lifestyle change. I pride myself on being a planner and being prepared. I have a plan. I’ve researched each of our destinations for the next six months at great lengths. I have accommodations paid for and flights booked for each leg. Heck, I even have playdates set up for us to meet up with other worldschooling families…but I’ve never even traveled out of the US before, so prepared might be a bit of a stretch. I guess this is a heck of a crash course in rolling with the punches.

I am fully expecting worldschooling to be difficult. Sure, I have dreams of picture perfect days where we all wake up happy and adventure through the jungle, stroll through historic streets, tour ancient temples, or lounge on white sand beaches. I know this is an impossibility for every single day though. We will have hard days. Being a mother and learning to read what my kids need and when they need it, even when they don’t know, has been quite the feat. I’m hopeful that the strong bonds we share will only be strengthened by this experience.

I am so very lucky to have such a supportive group of people cheer us on through this journey. I lived very close to my mother, my sister, and two of my nephews, so we spent some time with them before hitting the road. My mom was a huge help in preparing our houses to rent out. In fact, she’s still finishing things up and managing them while we are away. My dad came up from Oregon and did a massive amount of work basically re-plumbing my house. I don’t think this would be possible without my parents’ help and I am extremely grateful for them.

After getting our houses rented out, we left for a weeklong farewell road trip. It was everything I hoped it would be. Though we didn’t get to see everyone I would have liked, we got to spend a weekend camping in the Sawtooths, visit with two of the kids’ great grandmothers, aunties, uncles, and cousins in three different states all before heading to the airport.  Thank you to everyone that made the effort to see us off or is supporting us from afar. We love you all.