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Off On A New Adventure!!

I made it to Italy yesterday and am still recovering from jet lag (and trying to track down my lost checked bag filled with all my toiletries for the next 4 months!!ðŸĨīðŸĪŠðŸŽ’). Yesterday was pretty much a wash (just surviving to get where I could shower and SLEEP!!), but today I’m at least functional (even though my body and brain now think it’s the middle of the day and feeling much better, but the clock says it’s almost time for bed)!! ðŸĪŠðŸ˜ī 

Anyway, I thought I would take a few moments of my wide awake time to catch everybody up on the next few months! (For those on Facebook, forgive the duplication of my thoughts!!)

I feel like my Journey began a few weeks ago with my visit to Indiana with my sister and her family! It has become kind of a tradition for me to spend time with them either coming or returning from my big trips in the past, and I couldn’t miss out on a chance to be with them!

Amidst all the fun and busyness of enjoying Carol’s family (including her 7 grandkids), I’ve also been firming up a lot of my South America details and places!! I will be in Italy for the next 6 weeks, then on my cruise for 3 weeks, then South America, for…?!?… not sure yet, but at least two (or more!!) months!!

At first, I thought I wanted to do this Journey by myself, but I decided after sorting through the details that it might be nice to have companions along the way to share the memories! So, I will have companions in Italy and South America (but I’m still looking forward to the solitude of the cruise by myself)!!

After the transatlantic cruise ðŸšĒ (which will include 6 full days at sea with no technology distractions!!), my friend and I will start off in Buenos Aires, Argentina!!ðŸ‡Ķ🇷 We will visit Puerto Madryn, then Ushuaia (which is the southernmost tip of South America) where we hope to see penguins and whales and other wildlife!! Then we will head north through the Chilean fjords on Christmas day, then back to Argentina to the mountainous area for the new year! 

I’m super excited to ferry through the fjords on Christmas Day, ⛴️🎄something I probably wouldn’t have considered without my travel companion asking questions - kinda like our next big excursion, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui as it is called indigenously)!! It’s a little pricier than my usual traveling, but we got a great deal that includes seven nights in a two bedroom condo, airfare from Santiago, Chile, airport transfers, a Jeep, and a few tours thrown in! It should be quite a week! But that is over three months away, so I have a lot of other exploring to do before then!! 

I’m leaving the end of my trip open to see how I’m feeling after 4 months away, but I’m seriously pondering Peru (Machu Picchu), Bolivia (Lake Titicaca and other places we lived when I was very young), and possibly Ecuador (which I’ve been looking at visiting for years)!! We will see?!? I’m going with the flow on that part of the Big Adventure, and I’m sure I’ll keep ya posted as time (and my Journey) move forward!

**By the way, if you see pictures of “Flat Dora” and me traveling around, this is a special agreement between Pemberley and me!! 💖ðŸĪ—💖 We discussed taking Flat Stanley on my trip (something most parents and grandparents will be familiar with but won’t be a part of their pre-K curriculum until spring).

Instead, we decided I would take a “Flat Dora” (she giggled at that idea!!) that she has colored (and her mom laminated since she will be in my bag for quite awhile)!! I thought it might be a fun way for the kiddos to track where in the world Dora the Explorer (and Auntie JuJu) are for the next few months!! 👏🌎👏✈️ðŸšĒðŸ—ŋ





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