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Sabbatical year


 Our adventure has started. First stop is Lisbon, Portugal.

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Bom dia! Early morning in Sacavém

The dream

My husband talked about wanting a Sabbatical Year for a long time. I was skeptical at first. How can we do it? Leaving our home for a year with two young daughters in tow. Yes, we have travelled a lot, using any possible mode of transportation but 12 months -- away from Verjus, our family and friends? How about my potager and my job ?

The how

January 2018-we started to organize our trip and to facilitate this I emailed 3 travel agencies in Geneva and only STA responded, thanks to Marina. The girls' school directress was also given notice.
In the months that followed and the inevitable departure  looming, my girls and I have started sorting their toys and clothes out. Packed, recycled or trashed. Sold small stuff as well thru Facebook and my favorite Bourse aux vêtements in Grand-Lancy. Visa and accomodations were readied. Visited doctors, consulted and had our vaccination.
One of the important questions was what to pack for our travel that would not exceed the alloted weight that each adult could carry. With my  SIL's help,we have managed to have 19  & 17 kgs each for adults using this and this  and the girls' luggage at 10kgs  which they can pull/carry easily when using the public transport. Each one of us has a backpack not exceeding 7 kgs as a carry-on.
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We are grateful to the others who have preceded us. Their blogs about family travel  gave us useful insights and coupling it with our travel experiences made us believe that our family are equipped for this adventure. However, nearing our departure, our family has suffered the loss of Lola. We are so fortunate to travel with her for so many years.
As we begin this trip, we hope you can follow us. Please do not hesitate to share your insights and suggestions for this family of 4. We are learning and will continue learning in this great adventure.

 COMMENTS

 nida piriou
August 4, 2018 at 7:27 pm
Good luck & Bravo!! that will be a great experience for your kids too, May God guide you for your great adventure!! better than joining pékin express 🤪🤪 I will be following your blog!! hello to Carlos & the kids🙏🏼🙏🏼
  1. Enjoy the trip sissy and family..Have a fruitful travel…God bless





    Good day and enjoy your travel. God bless you all always. Take care





Enjoy exploring!keep safe amd have lots fun. Take care





God bless the 4 of you and may this one year break be fruitful to the fullest😘😘😘 Will be following your every step on this journey.






God Bless and von voyage!!!






Hi there… you will never regret your decision. In 2000 my wife and I did the same. Bacpacking for a year. Our plan was only a year – today we have two hotels. One in Nepal (Tings Kathmandu – in case Nepal is on your itinerary) ant Tings Lisbon in Portugal….
Just posted a year on the road video – in 3 minutes – for inspiration. Looking forward to follow you!
Thomas
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