Making this all happen

I've been asked enough times now how we've been able to take a three-month sabbatical, that I thought it worthy to share it here. Let me first say that this is not a luxury vacation, nor is this something that we can do because we are wealthy. While we are comfortable, we live very prudently and Jim and I both value travel and so we often make financial decisions that allow us to save money specifically for travel. This is much easier than you may think. We drive older cars, we buy many of our clothes from consignment stores or e-bay, we grow a lot of our own food, we don't spend money on the latest technological gadgets, and we resist impulse buys. You'd be amazed at how much you can save by simply asking the question, "Is this a need or a want." If it's a need, then we'll often make the purchase, if it's a want then we give serious thought before deciding whether or not to make the purchase. We also aren't "house poor." We bought a house that we could easily afford so that we had "extra" money to put toward travel. Up until now, our travel has mostly consisted of road trips. We've spent more hours than I even want to think about between Eugene and Sonora, CA; Edmonton, Alberta; and Seattle, WA. We've also spent an ample amount of time on the east coast (Washington DC, New York, Outer Banks) and visiting Jim's family just outside of New Orleans, LA. This domestic travel has been mostly satisfying, but as the boys got older we pined for more. Last year was the first time since we opened our bakeries that we took more than two weeks off in a row. While we always lamented the absurdity of a culture that doesn't value extended time off, there was just no way we could ever break away from our businesses for more than two weeks. Even though we had talked for years about taking a year-off with the boys to travel the world, we couldn't ever figure out how we could possibly make that happen.

What inspired this trip happened during our visit to Paris and London last year. On our first day in Paris, Logan was literally begging to move here. He badgered us all week asking if we could move to Paris. Even though Logan was most vocal about spending an extended period of time here, Quinn was also enthusiastic about the possibility. To see the boys enthusiasm about living abroad certainly re-kindled Jim's and my desire to travel more extensively. Upon returning home from our trip last year we started exploring all the possibilities of living overseas. It soon became apparent that we couldn't pull off a year away--between the hassle of securing an extended stay visa to schooling to trying to manage our businesses, we soon decided that a three-month trip was most realistic. We were familiar with an on-line charter school available to Oregon students and decided to enroll the boys in the school for their 8th grade year. We figured that if we decided not to travel the boys could always go back into their middle school; however, it soon became apparent that they were more academically challenged through the on-line academy and they most likely would have stayed the whole school year, regardless of our travel plans. Once we had their schooling figured out we then had to think about when we'd want to go abroad. Initially we thought we'd be here during the winter, but an unexpected relocation of one of our bakeries quickly changed those plans. For a while we weren't sure if going abroad would even happen given the craziness of building a new bakery and getting it up and running. The managers in our stores helped push us into making a decision as they said they were accustomed to us being unavailable while we were busy building the new store and they were confident in their abilities to handle everything in our absence. I'd have to admit that Skype, on-line banking, etc. has helped make this possible, as I can't imagine being away from our businesses without being able to keep a close eye/contact with our stores. In fact it's the first thing people asked us when they learned of our intent to leave the country, "Aren't you afraid you'll come back and find your stores in shambles?" I think they were always alluding more to their own fears/insecurities, but I can't say the thought didn't cross our minds. I'd just like to give a shout-out to our great managers for doing such a great job in our absence! Thank you Emily, Sahra, Heather & Michaela! With some parameters on when we wanted to travel I then spent a good three or four weeks on-line doing research on apartment rentals. We would select a few apartments but given the 9-hour time difference between the west coast and Paris a whole day would be lost in our communication with the various rental agencies. It was a bit overwhelming trying to select an apartment in an arrondisement that we weren't familiar with. We had confidence in using the metro to get where we needed but we also wanted to be conveniently located and didn't want to be spending too much time traveling to and fro. Part of the beauty of Paris is walking, so being close to those parts of Paris that we knew we'd want to frequent was important. We knew we loved le Marais in the 3rd arrondisement, but ended up in an an apartment in the 7th. My only criteria for an apartment was a decent kitchen and a dining room table, I figured we could make do with anything else. Price was also a consideration, of course, so with these parameters in mind we quickly whittled our search down to about three apartments. We chose our apartment for price, location, size, and amenities. We totally lucked out and I would absolutely recommend this area for anyone looking to rent a short-term place in Paris. In terms of affordability we figured that eating is eating, and we would be buying groceries/food at home, so we didn't count that as part of our overall budget. Our biggest expenses were the apartment rental and the plane tickets. Fortunately, we scored on some decent priced plane tickets and when we rented and paid for our apartment the exchange rates were more favorable. Since being here the exchange rate hasn't been so great, but even so, we've been able to eat MUCH BETTER food more cheaply than we would at home, so we consider that a wash. As far as visiting museums, the boys get in free to most everything since they're under 18. There are certain days a week when the museums are open later at a reduced tariff, so we take advantage of those opportunities.

I am very grateful that we own the type of businesses which allow us this time away. I'm also grateful that we have a strong enough family unit to be able to live abroad without wanting to strangle each other. Not that we haven't had our moments, but having this uninterrupted time together is something I know I'll value for the rest of my life. Jim and I don't want to get to the end of our lives wishing we'd done things differently and sometimes you just have to make a bold move. This sabbatical has been just that, and I know this will be the trip that keeps on giving long after we return home.