As we are in flight to Guatemala City, I just keep thinking how grateful I am for the chance to travel. This will be my longest trip and my longest time out of the country since 2008. It’s also a special gift to be able to do the trip with Maggie.

Travel is a chance to step outside my normal spaces. Be uncomfortable in different ways. Enjoy the people I am with – and get annoyed by them. It’s just a different space and gives me an opportunity to learn a little from that different space.

Doing that with my kids has always been special and this trip is doubly so. Maggie and I have had a lot of change recently – new apartment, new neighborhood, new rhythms and soon to be new school for her. I am excited for this trip to bond a bit, maybe jump off some stuff into some water, maybe climb some stuff, but also just enjoy being in a place that’s a bit (a lot) outside our normal routine.

We have quite the trip planned. We will be in Antigua, Guatemala for three weeks. Maggie will go to language school and I’ll work remotely in the mornings then I am taking the afternoons off for us to goof around and do stuff. We will travel a bit on the weekend too perhaps. But mainly we will just hang out.

We will be joined by quite the cast of characters. My sister Michele will be with us the whole time and her friend Nicole and Nicole’s son Luca will join for the first week. Our friends Andrea and Matthew will be there the second two weeks with their crew of five kids age 5-19. They’ve promised us they have a pool at the condo complex they’re staying in. Michele and the kids will all be in language school together – the rest of us adults speak Spanish so will be working or enjoying a quiet house in the morning. I am optimistic we will pick up some friends along the way as well.

Many adventures ahead I suspect, but mostly I hope for good time together, a few good card games and a chance to step into a new space and learn something new about ourselves and each other.

Nicole writes….I survived. But God knows I was tested. Note to self; don’t give up when trying to get money from an ATM before going to Lago. No, they do not accept American dollars or credit cards as one would think. No, 3 ATMs and one bank stop were not enough. Thank God for Mr. Sergio’s patience. Second note to self; before you order, and eat your food make sure that they will accept the form of payment you have on your person. Third note to self; ensure your American dollars are crisp, not wrinkled, and unblemished for they will be inspected with a careful eye and rejected at the slightest imperfection. My non homicidal critique is; the landscape is lush, the weather is perfection, and the backpackers are not as smelly as I thought they would be. The indigenous women in their traditional garb and their shoes without supportive arches, who while chunky and shaped like Michele, carry 100lbs potato sacks and 5 year old children on their backs have me in awe. I am pretty sure Michele descended from the Guatemalan people… we have seen her doppelganger around every corner.

Luca writes….. We got on a plane. I felt good on the plane even though it took 2 hours and 18 minutes. On the plane we saw a helicopter and volcanoes. We arrived at guatemala city and then we took a 3 hour drive ride with Mr. Sergio. We saw a lot of corn, cows, and horses. The cities don’t have regular cars they have tuk tuks. They are tiny cars with one wheel in front and two wheels in back. The houses look like cabins and are really close together. The woman here have African American clothes on. (Tia told me they are called Ropa Tipico, central American traditional clothing) Then we took a boat ride that we had to wait a long time for because there wasn’t enough people on the boat. Mommy almost threw up waiting on log to get on the boat. The boat was really fast and really bumpy because of the waves and mommy bumped her butt. Tía and I sat at the front of the boat. We saw all the volcanoes while we had the boat ride. We got to our hostel La Iguana. Our room was nice and clean like all hotels. It’s on the second floor with a balcony. I ate a hamburger and French fries for dinner but they tasted Spanishy. So I ate all Tias food. After dinner we took a long journey walk on a secret passage way. Then we played pool and I hit the ball in 3x in a row but Tia won everything. Then we went to bed. That our story. The end.

Today is our last day in the US! We’ve packed up our bags, found our passports, and get on the plane at 4:30 a.m.

Setting up a place for us to write, share and reflect on our time in Guatemala.