Starting off

About five and a half years ago, we made the decision to take an adventure of a lifetime with our kids. They were still so young at the time (aged 5 and 2) and imagining them as older kids was next to impossible. But we knew that by 2025, they'd have grown up and they'd be at a great age to take on a trip of this magnitude. So in January 2020, we started saving. I was able to do it through a deferred salary program that my employer offers. It means that every paycheque a portion of my salary is put away so that over the six months of my leave, I'll still be getting paid. Jon had to save on his own. As a self-employed medical professional, he also had to get permission from the hospital he works at to take a leave. Lucky for him, his boss had done something similar just a few years before — in fact, she was part of our inspiration for this crazy trip — and she agreed.

I'll be taking six months off, starting July 1. Jon is taking five months, starting the day we leave. Our kids will be 11 and 8 years old — old enough to appreciate the experience, remember it and actually like hanging out with us, but young enough that missing four months of school won't cause them too much harm, we hope. We are planning on homeschooling them (more on that later).

Our family in January 2020, pre-pandemic, on our way to Cape Town, South Africa.