Prologue

It is difficult to articulate all of the preparation and planning that is going in to this adventure.  Taking the time from our everyday lives to do something extraordinary is not an uncommon dream, having the courage of those convictions seems less common, and the real challenge.

 When the opportunity for me to take a sabbatical presented itself, the first impulses to travel began to make themselves felt.  When the opportunity for Monica to take a leave of absence coinciding with my sabbatical became a possibility, and then a reality, the wanderlust took hold.  What about the Kids? We looked into several homeschooling options, and talked with several parents who were active homeschoolers.  When we asked if they wanted to take a year off from school to travel, the boys were ecstatic. There was some concern that they might miss some of their friends, but this seem to disappear when we began to talk about our plans.

 We spent many long walks on the beach discussing possibilities and options, and daydreaming about what we might do.  There seem to be no end to the places we wanted to go. The reality of the planning, the emailing and making contacts, fell mostly with Monica (the brains behind "Team Furmanski").  We wrestle with constant tension between the intuitive impulse to have an open ended organic experience, and the practical need to know that when we get off that train in the middle of the night in the freezing rain that we will have a warm room to sleep in.  Where is the balance? We will find out.

 The Itinerary.

After many long conversations revolving around weather, geography, seasons, time and hemispheres, we arrived at this imperfect but very workable itinerary. This is a very loose list of the path we are going to travel over the next year.

 July 4^th, depart (Independence Day!)

Europe, North Africa, Turkey, Egypt,  India, China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, South America, Home.

 We are leaving out many things that we wanted to see, but any good adventure needs to plant the seeds, and leave room for a sequel.

 Hopes?

For a life altering experience, to see the world first hand, to give our children a perspective that is unique, the opportunity to bond in a way uncommon with one and other.

 Fears?

That we fly too close to the sun. I feel an obligation to seek out temples devoted to Icarus as well as Hubris while we are in Greece, and leave generous offerings.