The getting ready part...

A well-stocked pantry is an ideal that has been hard-wired into us, as children of children of the depression. As we get ready to leave our lives here for almost 5 months, we have been trying to pare down and let go so we don't have to store cupboards full of dry goods. It is the strangest feeling to feel good about depleting our stores. I recycled our cornstarch box yesterday. This is a staple in our home because we are vegans and make a delicious spreadable/sliceable cheese substitute called Lessarella on an almost weekly basis. I would never have anticipated the mixed emotions that would come from being "out" of things - on the one hand feeling that edginess that is in my wiring (must go buy cornstarch), and on the other feeling the lightness and freedom of letting go, of getting ready for this adventure. I think, in its own way, this experience is an analogy for the overall process. We live in abundance here and are blessed with so many amazing supports and resources (you know who you are) and this journey is about intentionally walking away. It isn't about loss though; it's about growth. It's about using what we have - things that maybe have been there all along - that we were never called upon to access. In the case of the cornstarch, we are going to be using a long-neglected bag of rice starch as a substitute. I'm guessing, as we move forward in preparing for and leaving on our journey, other so-called substitutions might require some deeper self-reflection to implement. Timelines are getting short now and the excitement is building. What will we learn about ourselves?

Beginnings

Of course, we aren't really at the beginning...but this is the point at which we have started to document our journey. Many people in our circle(s) have asked to have access to this story as we go forward so we thought that we would put it out there and see where it went.

So starting here, where we are, there should really be a bit of background for those who haven't been on the train with us to this point.

Background
We are a family of five. Our three bright shining stars are all under 10 - we share the parenting and have intermittently home-schooled. Travel, learning and compassion are central aspects of our lives. In pursuit of furthering career and education, dad has been going to school and he will be doing an international practicum starting in January. We are all going to travel with him. As preparation, we have already downsized our lifestyle (put much of our stuff in storage and moved into smaller - *free* - space). Mum has taken a leave of absence from her job. It has already been an adventure.

Purpose
This blog is mostly for friends and family to see some of the sights and challenges we face in our vegan travels with our 3 young children.