Tomorrow we fly.  We will officially be leaving on a jet plane for our around the world adventure, starting in Italy.  This fact is both exhilarating and daunting.  I have packed, sorted, packed, reduced, packed, added, and packed again until I can just barely fit the items I want to take into the four packing cubes my husband purchased for each of us to help us organize our packs for the year.  Actually, so far, he is the only one who can successfully stuff and zip our backpacks, but I am hopeful that I will be a quick learner.   

I have had friends ask me about what I am taking and how much my pack weighs for the year.  I had one person ask if I would return home to resupply once or twice during the year. The answer is that I didn’t know until today, it’s about 35 pounds so far, and, no, I will not return to resupply, as tempting as that might be.  Our trip will lead us farther and farther away from home as the year progresses, until we reach our half way point in Australia in January, nearly the opposite side of the globe. 

If you’re not interested in what I am bringing, then skip this paragraph. If you’d like to hear an overview of most of the items, here goes: three casual shirts, four sport shirts, one pajama shirt, four pairs of pants, three pairs of shorts, two dresses, two scarves/shawls, five pairs of socks, six pairs of underwear, two bathing suits, three long sleeved shirts, one down sweater, one windbreaker, one set of long Johns, three pairs of shoes, two hats, sunglasses, reading glasses, a money belt, a cell phone and charger, Cliff bars, toilet kit items, and curricular books for teaching the kids, though most of these are online.  Oh yeah, and a tennis racket and balls, but my daughter is carrying that.  I expect that the weight and tight fit of the pack will motivate me to load shed as I go, especially since I will want to add my mementos.

When we leave the states tomorrow, the plan is that we will not return again until August of 2019.  Whatever fits in my pack is what I can take, which is why some would say I have overpacked. We went to bagels today, because we all wish we could take those with us on our trip.  Zosia has been pounding cheeseburgers, because she knows it will be hard to rival an American cheeseburger anywhere we go.  We’ve all been enjoying the clean drinking water we can use from the tap and the ice cubes in our drinks!  But most of all, we have cherished every moment with our friends and families.  That is by far the most heart-wrenching aspect of leaving the country for a year. We wish that we could fit you all in our packs and take you with us on our journey and through all of the mishaps and adventures.  That is why we are putting in the effort of making this blog spot, so we can feel just a little more connected with those we love as we disconnect ourselves from our lives in the U.S. 

For all that we are leaving behind, we will have so many new and memorable experiences to look forward to: Italian gelato, Greek hummus, decoding Egyptian hieroglyphics, SCUBA diving in Australia, hiking the Great Wall, the list goes on.  Who knows what we will actually experience or where we will ultimately get to on this journey, but the possibilities are enticing, and tomorrow they will begin to unravel.  We hope you will enjoy the ride with us as we travel.