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T-Minus 16 Days

June is around the corner and with it our much anticipated summer abroad will begin. In an effort to capture as many memories as possible I will be blogging throughout our journey, and so, today I decided to post to get this blog set up. 

Here is the plan:



June 5th - Fly to New York for an overnight layover
June 6th - Red eye flight to Sao Miguel: one of the Azore islands outside of Portugal (not accurately represented on the above map)
June 13th - Fly to Munich, Germany
June 19th - Drive to Interlaken, Switzerland
June 29th - Drive to Val Gardena, Italy
July 6th - Drive to Venice, Italy
July 8th - Train ride to Rome, Italy
July 13th - Day trip to Pompeii, Italy
July 15th - Fly to Barcelona, Spain
July 21st - Train to Madrid for 1/2 day then down to Malaga, Spain
July 29th - Drive to Lagos, Portugal
August 4th - Drive to Lisbon, Portugal
August 6th - Fly to Boston for an overnight layover
August 7th - Home to Utah

This trip feels like unlike any other vacation we have attempted. It is ambitious in both the length of time we will be gone and the attempt to juggle working remotely while seeing the sights and keeping the kids entertained. We all have some mixed feelings so far about the journey.

Lucette: "Excited. Um. I don't know, happy?" When asked what she is most looking forward to she says, "all of it." Lu does report being sad to leave her birds for the summer and would like to bring them with us which we will not be doing (thank you Keddingtons for being willing to take them!). The only thing Lucette wants to do while we are away is rappel, swim, and zipline.

Azure: "Excited. Also, kind of stressed because Mom's stressed and when Mom's stressed I'm stressed and we've been kind of sick, and yeah. I'm sad about leaving karate for the summer. I'm most looking forward to just making it there. Safely getting there. I think we will be very sleepy."

Cormac: "Excited. Because I want them all to start with excited. Wait, so I can say anything and it will go into the computer? I feel kind of sad that I won't get to hang out with my friends over the summer, but I think I'm going to be having so much fun that I'll barely even notice. I'm excited to see the Colosseum and also for some of the hikes over there."

Melanee: I am not as stressed as I thought I would be, in my defense. I am definitely feeling a time crunch to get everything done, but also this whole thing feels a bit surreal. Even with over a year of planning, I still have a hard time believing we are actually going and find it all a bit overwhelming. Aside from that, I am very excited. I'm excited for a break from this routine and excited to discover new places and rediscover a few places I have been before. I can't wait to watch the kids experience these new places. It will definitely be memory making and something to remember.

Ammon: "I'm excited for it to be here. We've been planning for it for over a year. I'm intrigued to see how we get everything packed and anxious about all the details. I am looking forward to the experience, the adventure, the new sights and sounds. Excited to spend time with the familia."

As mentioned, this took over a year to plan to get to this point. It has been fun to involve the kids in planning our itinerary. It has also been a lot of research. This is why travel agencies exist. Just 16 days to go.

In the meantime, the kids have concerts this week and a lot of wrapping up of school. Can't wait for the adventure to begin.

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