Sail Away

Virgin Islands, 2014

In just about two weeks, we embark on our first trip as a family of five.

We're doing a home swap with our friends who live on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands!!! We'll overlap with them for a few days (they also have two little boys under the age of 3) and get to know their version if island life; then they'll head to our place for a dose of the big city while we hire a local locksmith to change their locks, throw our passports and shoes into the ocean, and start blending up some fruity cocktails.

Kidding. Sort of.  

It's had me looking back at fun memories of our trips to the islands in 2012 and 2014. And thinking about how travel, as tough as it can be, brings out the best in our little family. At home, I can get a little obsessed with 'the plan', but when I'm in a new place I see everything with fresh eyes and the possibilities for our lives seem limitless.

I've also been reading the blog Somewhere Slower, about a family who've embarked on a 'gap year' with their four children under the age of ten; they've just spent five weeks in New Zealand and explored everywhere from Big Sur to Punte del Este, all while being impossibly photogenic. They make it look like great fun.