Our journey begins

This week we packed up the car for six months of adventure during my husband’s sabbatical. “We” means my husband (J), my children (L1 is 3.5 years, and L2 is 1.5 years), and my dog (Paddington). The first phase involves taking 5 days to drive halfway across the US to Phoenix, Arizona. From there we will launch our international travel. We left in four inches of wet snow – picture perfect winter wonderland, but not pretty to drive in. We were glad to have some snow before we left, although L1 did not get to build his snowman. We were even gladder to drive out of the snow on our first day.

L1 has a collection of dinosaurs that he brought along to play with in the car. They kept him occupied for long stretches of time (due to the time distortion of traveling in a car with two small children, I couldn’t say if this was 20 minutes or 2 hours). He also asked for his own lip balm at a gas station, which became a prized possession for two days.  Among the photos he took one afternoon in the car when playing with our phone was a series of pictures of his pteranodon with Chapstick. Looking at the pictures he chooses to take is an insight into his world view: what is important to him and literally what his perspective is, whether that is from the back seat or from knee level among adults.

Travelling and parenting have a number of things in common. You learn about yourself as reflected in someone else’s eyes. You are faced with ever-changing challenges that push you out of your comfort zone and force you to think on your feet. You encounter new joys and beauty that leave you breathless, often while you are sleep deprived. And some of the best moments are the small details that are so easily missed in the rush of life, but leave you with a smile when you do notice them, like a pairing of a pteranodon with Chapstick. I’m looking forward to both the big adventure of traveling during J’s sabbatical, and the quickly passing moments of the boys’ childhood.