Six and a wake up!

Brisbane, Australia: 28 July 2010!

We have waited so long for this trip to come together! We have put so much effort into making sure we do all the things we want to do, making sure we treat this trip as once in a lifetime!

The first order of business was to actually plan the trip. That started in Texas,(I know we live in Los Angeles!) after we took a trip in May to see the Cubs play the Rangers in Arlington. Funny how things work; while we were in Texas, we spent time with Gene and Millie, cousins on Britt's side of the family. As it turned out Gene had his Cousin Royce in from Bauple, AU. We spent time visiting with them on two occasions, talking about Australia, their Sugar Cane farm, Hervey Bay Whale watching...all kinds of things...it was this conversation that started our minds turning.

Once we got back to So Cal we began thinking and talking about going to Australia. Romancing the idea of getting stamps on our passports, getting JT a passport. We could never afford a trip like that...right?

Wrong! We priced it out through Qantas, it was super affordable. Qantas had a sale to all the major spots in Australia, with family in Brisbane, Rugby in Brisbane, Whales to watch in Hervey Bay...it made sense. So we did it.

We booked our tickets on Qantas, we waited a couple weeks and booked hotels and a rental car to drive us to Bauple (It's about 3 hours). I bought tickets to Rugby on Sunday afternoon, Britt found the Koala sanctuary, then the Whale watching. Yes, we are actually doing this thing.

There is a big part of this trip that is about going to Australia, how cool that is, how fun that will be. But the other part is about sharing this experience as a family. Being able to take Jake with us is pretty special, we work so hard in life to provide for our family! In our house it is baseball and video games, vitamins and gym memberships. Sure, we could spend our summer in front of the TV, at the beach, in the weight room...or we could adventure out and see all that God has created.

Part of us is chasing a dream with this trip. It would be easy to contemplate the cost, over think fiscal responsibility, worry about financial margins...but we can do this thing without going into the poor house! We have the chance to do something, and go somewhere we will likely never forget.

The concept of traveling the globe seems large and expensive, it's not. It seems like something that only certain kinds of people do, it's not! Australia, Italy, wherever it is that you have always wanted to go...it's sitting right there, it's up to you to figure the rest out. That seems easy to say, tough to execute...there is truth in that, but if you really want it, you can do it.

All you have to do is be strong enough, courageous enough, but also adventurous enough to make that dream a reality! Our reality begins in six days and a wake up!

TM