The Carini's Crazy Adventure

We have been on the road for almost 2 weeks now.  I had the best intentions of posting about our adventures regularly, but, of course those intentions fell by the wayside.  I have a slew of excuses, not limited to, a lack of internet service, a week of sick kids and husband, and simply enjoying the adventure.  I'm hoping and planning on doing more detailed posts about how we are doing this (in a civic!).

In my attempt to catch up here is a photo journal of what we've done so far.  (Photos are unedited, otherwise I'd never get this posted!)  Warning: this will be lengthy and still missing a lot of what we've done...

We spent a week visiting family in Connecticut before our journey.

Isabella did not want to leave...poor kid

Just the beginning

We drove from Connecticut to NYC, swapped out our winter coats for sandals.  Here are the kids and the car completely ready to go on Saturday night.

We stopped and spent the night in Hanover, MD and then visited my cousin Tara in Arlington, VA.  She was so generous to make us lunch and let our kids run around her bachelorette pad.  We loved catching up after so many years.

We stopped in Raleigh, NC and stayed with my good friend (and former roommate) Jamie Person and her family.  We had such a great time meeting her kids and playing for two days.  It was totally mellow and low key (just what we needed after two days of driving).  We hung out at KidVenture one breezy day and the next day played at Marbles Kids Museum (possibly the best children's museum, I loved it...and so did the kids :0))

Mia, Simon and Mark

Using a real saw...at the museum...crazy!  And awesome!

Mia and Bella

The gang at Marbles Kids Museum

Jamie and Me!

Car ride photos

WARM AIR!!!

Savannah!

Honey tasting at Savannah Bee Company

Angel's BBQ

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (in South Carolina, of course).

Then we finally made it to FLORIDA!!!

St. Augustine Beach

Fresh Florida strawberries

Pleasure Island in Orlando with cousin Jimmy and his family

Even though our stay at Clearwater Beach was cold we enjoyed the beauty.

After Clearwater we stayed a couple of days in Tampa.  Tampa was a great city and I'd love to spend more time there.

Glazer Children's Museum

Manatee Viewing Center near Tampa

Zipper Skin tangerine: so sweet and juicy!  From Fruitville Grove

Siesta Key Beach

Rotary Park in Cape Coral

Picking wildflowers near our hotel in Cape Coral

The hotel lost our reservation and then upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite on a high floor.  We check out today...it's gonna be hard to leave.

The Big Plan

Brian and I like to play around with ideas.  Sometimes big ideas.  Like living in New York City.  Or raising 3 kids in New York City.  Or starting a business.  Or traveling for a month on a super cool JetBlue pass.  You know, the crazy, potentially life changing, kind of ideas.

We had always hoped and planned on taking a sabbatical from work and our everyday life.  Brian was in the process of changing jobs and with much research, thought, and prayer we knew we had the opportunity to travel as a family.  We also knew these opportunities don't come very often, so we decided to dive in and just do it!  With much planning and working late into the night we were able to budget, organize and accomplish what was needed to make this trip happen.  From subletting our apartment to homeschooling Isabella.  It wasn't easy.  We had about a month between when we decided to go for it and when we left.  That's not much time to plan a 3+ month adventure for a family of five.  But we are doing it.  It is working and we are enjoying it.

Originally we had planned to do the entire USA in 3 months.  But after much discussion and contemplation Brian and I decided we wanted to travel slowly and thought it best if we only committed to the southeast states.  That way we could take our time and enjoy the journey as much as possible.

We are planning on driving through (or briefly into) 19 states and exploring 6 national parks.  Since we are taking our time we hope to really get to know the South and experience it; not just as tourists.

A few factors are making this trip possible for us right now:

• Brian was in the process of changing jobs, so it was a good time to take a break from work
• We have a good amount of savings in the bank
• Our landlord was willing to let us sublet our apartment
• Isabella is easily homeschooled
• Brian's sister works for Sheraton and we are able to get a good discount on hotels (as availability permits)

I found some very fun family travel blogs while researching for ours.  Many have inspired us and really pushed us in this direction.  Here are some of my favorites:

The Great Family Escape (My absolute fave!  They just started a similar journey in Jan.)
Discover Share Inspire
Married with Luggage
Renaissance Housewife
Family on Bikes
Vagabond Family.org
Vagabond Family.blogspot

Nomads

We are nomads.

nomad \ˈnō-ˌmad\
1. A member of a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search good grazing land.
2. A person with no fixed residence who roams about; a wanderer.

Driving from Georgia to Florida

 Two months ago we renewed our lease for our apartment.  Once December 1st rolled around and we were still living here it was a bit monumental: this apartment became our longest lived in residence.  We just passed the 2 year mark.  In 10 years of marriage we have lived in 8 different homes.  That doesn’t even include the 2 furnished apartments we sublet during our first few months in New York.  Come to think of it, neither of us have lived anywhere this long since we left home to go to college.  Actually, my family moved a few times when I was teenager, so I’ve been moving around since I was 15!  That means Brian and I have been living a nomadic lifestyle for the last 20 years.  We are often looking forward to what is next; what will fit our needs best.  And usually, with each move, we tell ourselves, “Let’s try this just for a year.”  That’s how this whole living in NYC business started 8 years ago.

We were living in Pittsburgh at the time and were at a crossroads.  Our lives were ours and we were ready to take on an adventure.  During our last year in Pittsburgh we would frequently have discussions that would go something like this:

“What should we do after Pittsburgh?”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to live in NYC for a year or two?!”
“Yes!”
“We’ll go to NYC for a year, have some fun and figure out what we will do next.”
“Yeah, before we have kids.  There’s no way I’m having kids in NYC.  Then after NYC we can settle down and start a family.”
“Awesome,  Let’s do it!”

Eight years and 3 babies later and we are still here.  We are still trying to figure out what we will do next.  We are still loving the adventure of living in NYC, for “just one more year”.  For the record, a lot of families we know (some with 6-7 kids!) came to NYC with the same mindset: go to NYC for a few years for school, or work, and then move out and start a family.

The question is, where does one go after NYC?!  After living here (the greatest city in the world), the idea of moving to suburbia doesn't feel like a lifestyle we will be able to embrace.  

Yes, I regularly dream of a home where our daily rhythm can flow from outside to inside as needed and of carefree summer evenings, playing with the kids on a cool green lawn until it’s time to tuck them into bed.  I long to be able to step outside my door and take a deep breath of quiet, fresh air.  I hope to grow a large, delicious garden someday. I still believe that time will come. I was born a country girl after all.

Brian and I frequently discuss, and plan, on finding a place that we can call home for more than 2+ years.  A slower, possibly simpler, lifestyle is appealing during this season of bearing, raising, and growing our sweet little ones.  We have been searching for some deep, rich soil in which to bury our roots.  But we have not found that fertile ground yet.  Until we find it we will continue to move, to be nomadic, in our own, modern way.  We will continue to search for what is best for our family at each time and season in our lives.  Because, so far, with each move, the grass under our feet becomes greener and our lives are more rich because of it.

Winter Wonderland

We loved having some snow finally fall and stick here in the city.  It's been 2 years since we've had a good snowfall here.

Isabella was up and in her snow clothes before breakfast.  (I really look forward to when the boys are big enough to get into their own snow clothes.)  It's nice having our apartment door open right outside.  She was able to play in front of our building (right outside our windows and door) while we stayed cozy inside making pancakes ("pampakes" in Oliver-eez).

It took us a while before we all got into our winter clothes and headed out to play in the snow.  Once we did we had a blast walking around Central Park and sliding down the icy paths in the Ramble.

oh the joy of a sassy six year old

sweet sweet boy!

my daughter is a penguin

the paths were so icy the kids could slide down on their bums

the lake was so beautiful

At one point Isabella was doing a whole one-gal slap stick comedy show for Oliver (lots of exaggerated slipping and crashing into things).  He was laughing hysterically.  In between breaths he gasped, sighed and quietly said, "She's so funny."  It was my favorite moment of an awesome day.

Our beautiful street was even more amazing this morning.