In the spring of 2021, we figured out that we could take the 2023/2024 abroad as a Family Gap/Study Abroad year, so we have had plenty of time to make a plan.  The first few months were spent on logistical preparation, to be able to leave for almost a year (more on that in a later post.)  

While all of that preparation was going on, when we would have time, we’d brainstorm about how we would spend this year.  When it came time to actually start making plans, there was much to figure out – where would we go and how long would we stay in each place?  To answer those questions, we had to keep coming back to the bigger question – what are our goals for this year?  In late fall of 2022, we had been spinning in circles like a dog chasing its tail.  I was on a solitary retreat when I had an epiphany: we have to plan the parts of our trip that involve other peoples’ schedules first: our time working for/with Living Water partners (one in Zambia and one in Guatemala) and the time in Africa visiting our friends Jay and Janet.  I reached out to each group and that got us moving in a forward direction.  

Once I’d heard back from everyone, I made a plan.  I used graph paper and post-it notes.  I’d bounce ideas off of Scott and move the post it notes around.  It was fun.  I was right in my element, exercising my spiritual gifts of administration and stewardship.  I made a wonderful plan that incorporated drilling and project cycles in Zambia and Guatemala, Jay and Janet’s schedule, going to Europe and the Holy Lands, Spanish immersion, and limited crossing the Atlantic to one time each way all while considering the best time to travel to each place considering the weather.  It was fantastic!  I was so pleased with my work.  I laid it out for Scott, who also thought it looked great.  It was time to see what the kids thought.  As my dad would say, it went over . . . like a lead balloon.

They couldn’t get past two things.  First, they really wanted to come home for Christmas (they had told me this many times before.)  I had frankly dismissed the idea.  I would say, “I hear what you’re saying, but that just doesn’t make sense.”  Then I’d launch into my reasons:   it’s expensive to travel across the ocean so it’s most efficient to go to Africa and the Holy Lands before or after we go to Europe.  We don’t want to keep getting jet lag.  What about the weather?  Long-haul flights are uncomfortable, and did I say, expensive?

Second, they were really opposed to starting out in Zambia.  I thought it was the perfect place to start.  First, because of the rainy season there and in order to accomplish the work that we’re going to do, we have to go sometime between the first of May and the middle of September.  Since the kids wanted be home for at least part of this summer and the mission in Zambia was going to be full with medical missions and other groups starting sometime in June, our partner, Shadrech, said “come sometime between August 11th and 13th.”  I said, great, “We’ll be there August 12th.”  We’d begin our year abroad doing meaningful work, giving to others and working on something that’s a lot bigger than ourselves.   It was a roadblock for each one of them, each for slightly different reasons.  The summary of their concerns – they were scared.  They also assumed they would be bored for 3-4 weeks.  I was okay if the last concern came to pass; I pondered the first.

After talking to friends with family-travel experience, we reworked the whole plan (a big thank you to whoever invented post-it notes.)   First, we decided it was best to honor John, Abe and Arlie’s desire to be home for Christmas so we could spend it with family as usual, and continue family traditions.  We want them to value family and make it a priority, so it seemed wise to support their request to do that in this way. Second, I had another epiphany: we could still be traveling next May and part of June, so we could go to Zambia then.  I checked in with Kevin, Living Water’s engineer, and the Zambia team to make sure that would work.  It occurred to me that starting the year off going to places that are gentler to travel in, like Europe, and seeing things and places connected to what they’ve read and learned might be something they could become more excited about.  At the time, Abe and Arlie were not looking forward to the year away at all.  We asked them again what they were interested in seeing and made sure we put most of those places on the list.  

So, that is why we are visiting Europe and the Holy Lands this semester.  Below is a simple version of our itinerary.  It took a lot of back and forth to flesh out the details once we set the big picture for the semester.  Now it was Scott’s turn to work on flow.  He’d take our list of places, come up with a plan for where we’d go when, then show me the proposal and I’d say, but what about . . .  We did this many times before we got to what we thought was a livable plan.  We are trying to minimize transitions and maximize time spent in one place so we can establish some type of routine and also be able to home school the necessities for Abe and Arlie.

Below is the itinerary we left with on July 19th. We have five months between then and the middle of December.  As American citizens, we can only be in continental Europe for ninety days without obtaining specific visas (there are a couple of exceptions to this rule involving France and Denmark) so that was a big factor of the itinerary as well.

1st Week – Queen Mary 2 Voyage

Month One:  United Kingdom, primarily England:  One week in London, One week in the Cotswolds, The Rest split between Bath, the Lake District, Scotland and Yorkshire

Month Two:  Greater Paris area, Harlem/Amsterdam area, and the Northern part of Germany

Month Three: A little More Germany, Poland and Salzburg area of Austria

Month Four:  Italy

Month Five:  Greece, Turkey, Jordan and Israel

We assume we’re going to have to make adjustments along the way.  If you are going to be “across the pond” and you’re able to meet up, please let us know.  We would love to see some familiar faces and enjoy part of this adventure with you.