63 Days…but Who’s Counting?

14 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by Roaming Nesters in Fun in the Sun, Travel Planning

Well, we have 63 days to take-off and it’s been a wild ride so far. Two of our travellers, Jacob & Léa (my 2nd “daughter”), moved home temporarily….yes our nest is a little less empty. And, my consulting gig in Ottawa ended so I have moved home too! So we have been very busy moving two apartments into our house and finding space that doesn’t exist. Frustrations have mounted at times but we’ll get through…and most of the time we all enjoy each other’s company.

It sounds crazy but this is the first time since 2008 that I have been working in my home town for an extended period of time. Between being located for long periods in other parts of the country or world, or having a commute into the city of 5 hours per day, my husband had gotten used to managing the house on his own and relied on my mom for company. I think I’m cramping their style! Now with Jacob & Léa home to boot, I’m sure he’s ready to fly the coop himself.

Instead, we will all fly the coop together for a well-deserved getaway. And this time we are planning for 9. It’s a large group and the logistics have been a little crazy. Dave & I, along with our son Jacob and his girlfriend Léa, our daughter Victoria and her boyfriend Graeme, my mama Betty and Léa’s parents, Christine & Robert, will fill a large home in Eleuthera. The house/puppy sitter has been booked. Flights are booked. Beach is waiting!

Now we have some logistics to figure out.

Determining what groceries we can bring and what we should pre-order. Apparently, we can fly with meat that is from Canada as long as we have proof (labels / receipts), so we will plan to pack a cooler for the Paleo in the group who is also allergic to some seafood (happy to hear if anyone has done this successfully or had issues in the past!!).
Getting dinner pre-cooked on the beach for the first night there – an indulgence after a long day of travel
Finding the best solution, preventative medicine or treatment for “no-seeums”. These nasty little creatures left Dave scratching for half the trip – although he seemed not to notice until we crawled into bed and the alcohol wore off (again – happy to hear from others who successfully beat these little critters)

There will be more to do, I know. But 63 days is a long time…right?

Planning is Half the Fun!

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by Roaming Nesters in Uncategorized

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Planning is half the fun, right? Well, it is until you run into the ‘glitches’. Just over a year after our first trip to Eleuthera, a little slice of paradise, we have decided to plan a big trip with our family in June!

After a significant amount of time searching for the right property for 9 adults, we decided on what appears to be an ideal spot. Pau Pau Beach Estate is on the Caribbean side of the Island and we thought being right on the Beach would make for an incredible vacation. I could picture us sitting around the firepit on the beach (after spraying for no-seeums of course), enjoying the sunrise, the sunset, the rum bubbas.

But, when I confirmed with the agent we were ready to commit, I was told he made a “mistake” and the rate was significantly higher than he had quoted…a mistake that would cost almost $1,000 given the exchange rate right now.

So, right now I take a deep breath, wait to hear back from the agent on whether he can give us the originally quoted price and follow up with our second choice.

Don’t get me wrong, our second choice is Shangri-La a lovely home on the Atlantic side with a separate cottage. But there are no Ocean views from the home and it’s a 2 minute walk to the Beach. Would anyone really mind? I doubt it. Am I putting too much pressure on myself? Likely. It’s tough to plan for a big group of people…we are Empty Nesters, after all!

Reflections

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by Roaming Nesters in Reflections

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We created our Blog in June 0f 2014, in anticipation of taking you along on our travels with us. Have we traveled? Absolutely – together as a couple, with our family, and with my mom. Have we written? Well, that hasn’t been so successful.

I have learned that, as well intentioned as we might be, travel writing isn’t easy – it takes time and planning. During our travels, we have to make time every day (or second or third day) to reflect, to organize our thoughts, to write it down.

But this, in general, is life, isn’t it? Life gets busy. And we need to take the time to reflect, to organize our thoughts and to write it down.

So, as I sit here this morning, reflecting on our travels over the last year (and a bit) and my own journey as I spend the week away from my family, I realize that the Empty Nest takes on many forms. And, for us, while our home has a couple less occupants on a regular basis, our nest is far from empty. And, surprisingly, our children still like to travel with us so we actually rarely travel alone. But, at the same time, we enjoy traveling alone. After 30 years, we still enjoy each other’s company…how cool is that!?!? (yeah, yeah, I used the word “cool” and completely aged myself – I’m good with that).

So, we are going to play a game of catch up. We might miss a few weekend getaways but I invite you to join us in reflection over the next few weeks/months as we look back on our travels. We will take you from the Bahamas to the South of France and we will take you with us as we plan our next trip. We are still not sure where and when it will be but the planning starts this weekend….and the planning is part of the fun, isn’t it!?!?

Through the window2

“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.”
~ Charles Dudley Warner

Let the New Journey Begin

15 Sunday Jun 2014

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Our journey together started more than 30 years ago…so long ago, yet in many ways it seems like yesterday. We were kids really – just 15 and 17 – when we started dating. Oh, who’s kidding who, we are still just kids…at heart at least.

We are the proud parents of two incredible children. Jacob and Victoria have had the pleasure of frequent “road trips”, trips within Canada, the US and overseas. They’ve even had the opportunity to do summers abroad, taking advantage of a mom whose commute has often been very long distance.

As young parents, we grew with our children. For all of us, our best memories are related to our travels. David and I decided to have our children while we were quite young so by the time I was 26, Jacob and Victoria were both here and an integral part of everything we did.

So, when the time came for Jacob to head off to University in 2010, it started becoming much more difficult to plan travel as a family. Soon, the reality started to hit us….in 2 short years, our lives would change drastically. Our children would both be away at school. Our nest would be …. Empty.

Ok – for some of you that sounds melodramatic. For those of you who have been there, you know that sinking feeling. It truly is a life change. We had to do something – we would convince our daughter to go to a local University! Nope…that wasn’t going to happen.

And so it began. We live in Kitchener. Both children chose Universities in Toronto. A mere hour and a half drive (ok – 2 ½ – 5 hours with traffic!) and often, my contracts had me working in the city! We could do this, right?? Not without making some changes — a change in our attitude and our perception of how things would be. We had to embrace the Empty Nest.

And with this, we would embrace travel for two and the adventure and romance it would bring.

Let the New Journey Begin!