A (Love) Letter From Danny

"We went from here to there," and that's a story we all know well enough. Besides visiting vistas, seeing scenes, and playing on playas, I want to describe a journey where people are met, situations are encountered, odd trivia bits are discovered, and lots and lots and lots of happiness happens.

In this tale, there's going to be confusion, delight, insanity, and hopefully (most often) big 'ol exploding high fives of good vibes and sentiments. And somewhere in between, some helpful, proper tips on just how to do the how and answers to why we're doing this whole thing. You can check out our first couple of posts for details on our pre-trip adventures, but just to recap our last couple of months:

NYC > Baltimore > CHI > Baltimore > LA > NYC > Baltimore > Tampa > Orlando > Santiago

There. To those that housed us over the last months, I want to offer FREE camping space to you all, including (in chronological order), Peg and Joe Cronyn, Ryan Archer Kelly, Drew Brownell, Steph, John and Laurel Hunzicker, Paige and Cedric Volk, Angela Patriarca, Sean and Jess King, Colby and Nikki Young, Jake and Amy Burns, Shahla Fatemi and Alex Nelson, Tim O'Bryan and Mike Belknap, Grandma and Grandpa Honey, and finally Sally and Mike Magruder. Please redeem your free camping space whenever you feel like being exactly where we are in South America (relative value ~1,000,000 Zimbabwean).

Safe to say, we love you all, and we love that we have such amazing family and friends—without which none of this would be imaginable or possible. Truly, you all are our present, not simply past or future and you are with us always. To everyone we didn't see, you owe us a visit or risk us completely forgetting about you (relative value about 1.5 million zimbawean). Kidding, obviously. We're just sore that we missed you. 

That concludes pre-trip thanks, next post to follow on where we currently are, and cliffhangers abound! Did we make it safely here, or did our plane crash and are our ghosts currently writing this?! Find out next post!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

After criss-crossing the country for a few weeks, our bags did eventually get packed for our trip. Painful? Yep. Did we pack too much? Probably. Our reasoning was that we’re moving into a van and therefore we wouldn’t need to actually carry all our belongings on our back. But first we had two more stops to make.

4 checked bags and 4 carry-ons...whew.
4 checked bags and 4 carry-ons...whew.

With just under a week left before we fly to Santiago, we took our last respite with family in Florida. We spent a relaxing couple of days with Shannon's grandparents in Tampa then drove back to Kissimmee to spend our final days in the States with Danny's aunt and uncle.

Tampa Day 1

Before heading to Shannon's grandparents in Sun City Center, we stopped for dinner with Shannon's uncle Tim and learned that restaurants in Florida are enormous, especially when they are connected to the Bass Pro Shop next door. After dinner, we arrived at Shannon's grandparents' house to be greeted by Kimo, their enthusiastic Maltese puppy, and yet another dinner! To say we ate well those few days is an understatement.

Kiss me you fool!
Kiss me you fool!

Tampa Day 2 and 3

The next couple of days we tried to work off some of the food with workouts at the Sun City fitness center, relaxed by the pool, and had two more wonderful dinners with family. We also noted that Florida has the biggest Walmarts and gorgeous sunsets.

Shopping with G Honey. 16 full floor to head height freezers of ice cream at the Sun City Walmart...we're American and we're still stunned by it. 

Shopping with G Honey. 16 full floor to head height freezers of ice cream at the Sun City Walmart...we're American and we're still stunned by it. 

Kissimmee Day 4

On Saturday, we made the drive from Tampa to Kissimmee to visit Danny's aunt and uncle. We joined in for their weekly trivia night and helped the team get their first win! 

Our contributions? Danny got Robert Downey Jr. for top 3 highest past actors in the past 3 years and Shannon got Uggs for an Australian company specializing in boots and footwear. 

Our contributions? Danny got Robert Downey Jr. for top 3 highest past actors in the past 3 years and Shannon got Uggs for an Australian company specializing in boots and footwear. 

Kissimmee Day 5

After a much needed morning sleeping in, we hopped in the car to to experience one of Florida's premier attractions—airboats! These things are seriously loud and seriously fun. The wildest part is flying over what looks like land (it isn't, it's lily pads and water grasses). 

Uncle Mike and Danny doing it up Florida style. 

Uncle Mike and Danny doing it up Florida style. 

Later that afternoon, we headed out to Melbourne for a late lunch and then the beach for a swim in the Atlantic. Just two weeks before, we were swimming in the Pacific!

Just love the East Coast beaches with the dunes and grass.

Just love the East Coast beaches with the dunes and grass.

Kissimmee Day 6

Which brings us to our last full day in the States where we had the most magical experience of all—a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! While a bit jarring to wander around Hogsmeade in 95 degree weather while looking at snow and eating heavy winter food (think Shepherd's Pie and turkey legs), it did not disappoint! 

Yes, we're smiling, but inside we're wishing for the snow to be real.

Yes, we're smiling, but inside we're wishing for the snow to be real.

We spent most of the day in the Harry Potter land riding the Dragon Challenge roller coasters (if you go, the Chinese Fireball is more fun) and the Forbidden Journey ride (don't worry if the wait is long since you'll want that time to enjoy the stunning detail inside Hogwarts), before exploring Jurassic Park and the Marvel Universe. Of course we decided to keep the wet rides until the end (never underestimate those log rides with the drop at the end) which meant a soggy car ride home, but we were happy and exhausted. 

After pizza dinner with Danny's family, this time including his cousin and his cousin's wife, we headed home to check the last few things off our list before our flight to Santiago. That's right, our next post will be from South America—finally! 

All in all, we were incredibly grateful to have these few weeks in the States to make some sweet memories with awesome people. And now we're ready for whatever adventure is coming next. See you on the other side!

Pre-Trip Planning And The Farewell Tour

On our first date, one of the things that drew us together was a love of travel. So, from the beginning, an extended trip was a dream of ours. The dream took a lot of hard work, saving, and planning. But we did it and now we’re on our way!

Find it at Tony's Baltimore Grill
Find it at Tony's Baltimore Grill

The adventure began on June 27th, 2015 with us moving out of the Brooklyn apartment we called home for 3 and a half years. Our itinerary over the following weeks was planned around Danny’s teaching schedule, visiting family, and friends. Since we left Brooklyn, we’ve slept in 13 different beds and traveled 8,346 miles- and we haven’t even left the States yet!

Reflections at the Bean in Chicago.

Reflections at the Bean in Chicago.

So what exactly is our plan? We wanted to go on a grand road trip around South America so Danny started an intense search for a VW kombi for us to call home. We'll tell that story another day, but suffice it to say our "new" VW is waiting for us in Santiago, Chile. We'll land in Santiago on August 19th and spend a few weeks waiting for the paperwork to go through, learning Spanish, and exploring the city and surrounding areas. Once our kombi is ready to go, we'll head south to Patagonia!

Just missing mom, the photographer!

Just missing mom, the photographer!

That's all we've got so far and, of course, all our plans are subject to change. But the main thing is that we’re keeping ourselves pathologically open to the universe. As loose as our itinerary is, some of the things we're looking forward to are camping, working on farms, volunteering where we can, becoming fluent in Spanish, dancing together, and even rolling some jiu-jitsu.

We fly to Santiago on August 18th, but first we've got two more stops to make!