Less than 40 days

We are getting to know this map! 

40 days may have seemed like a long time for Noah, but for Mike and I it feels like a very short time before we head out for our big adventure.

Our “religious worker” visas for New Zealand allow us into the country in September, but we are actually going to take the month of September to vacation our way to the Southern Hemisphere before taking up our position as Friends in Residence in Auckland on Oct. 1, 2017. We’ll be traveling to Hawaii (Big Island, Maui, and Oahu), and then to Australia. We have a quick visit to Sydney planned and then fly to Cairns to learn more about the Daintree Rainforest (a world heritage site) and to spend two and half days living on a boat above the Great Barrier Reef (another world heritage site).

We know that there is lots to learn in these incredible settings, and are eager to get started — but we’ve also learned that it takes a lot to get ready to leave for a year!  We’ve spent days in crawlspaces, on roofs, and in gardens tackling leaks and living things that might harm our property while we are gone. We’ve spent hours sorting through piles of paperwork choosing what information we need to scan and have available to us while we travel. We’ve negotiated with our sons, who will be living in our house, about rules and responsibilities. We’ve purchased prescription snorkel masks. We’ve called together a group of supportive friends from our local Quaker Meeting to serve as an anchor and accountability committee to help us listen to our leadings now and as we serve Friends in New Zealand. We’ve taken to walking or biking for at least 90 minutes each morning to improve our health and stamina. We’ve consulted with all three of our children and are in the midst of arranging a grand get-together in New Zealand at the end of November 2017. And we’ve surfed the net. A lot!  However did anyone plan travel before the days of internet?

Most of all, we’ve continued to practice the lovely art of being together. This December will mark our 35th wedding anniversary, but retirement from paid work in March of this year is allowing us to more fully grasp what coupledom means when we are physically in the same place almost 24 hours of every day — as we will likely be for the next year!

We expect that time will speed up as our departure date draws ever nearer. And we are sure that we will never feel completely prepared to leave.

Meanwhile, we are taking a leap of faith that whatever we can do will be sufficient, and practicing the daily discipline of learning to let go.

Marsha and Mike