Why Mexico???

We had to pick a place to start our journey and decided Mexico was a good option.  It's only 5 hours to the border from our home in Houston, and I thought it'd be great to just drive our car to Mexico.  Never having been to Mexico, much less driven in this country, I'm not sure why I thought it was a great idea!  But I did, and I still do, although it's a bit more complicated than I realized.  We have to get new car insurance, a permit for the car, and figure out how to do a land border crossing and navigate Mexican roads.  Not as easy as flying but definitely doable!

Besides close proximity to Texas, why else did we choose Mexico?  Jodee doesn't speak any Spanish, and I only speak un poquito (4 years of high school).  But our 10 year old son Ian has been in a dual language class since kindergarten, and our oldest took Spanish in high school last year.  So what better way to help them improve their skills and help us all to learn another language than to move to a Spanish speaking country?  At least, that's our hope!

As I researched, I came to realize how awesome it's going to be to live in Mexico!  So many wonderful reasons why this is a great first pick including:

1. Variety of things to see and do - beaches, mountains, jungles, woods, ancient ruins - Mexico has it all!

2. Mexican cuisine - we're big foodies and excited to experience real Mexican food (as opposed to Tex Mex)

3. Culture and history - music, art, dancing, Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, etc.

4. Affordability - always an important factor with a family of 6!

5. Friendly people and relaxed life-style


After learning more about this wonderful country, the only question left is why not Mexico?!  

More research and talking to a new friend helped us decide on San Miguel de Allende as our first stop in Mexico.  It's a beautiful, colonial city in the mountains, with near-perfect weather and a good amount of ex-pats (although still maintaining a traditional culture).  And it's only a 14 hour drive from our home in Texas!  We've rented a home there for July and August and can't wait to explore this great city!  Then we'll move on to other
cities - maybe Oaxaca, Merida, or Tulum?  Wherever we end up, I'm sure we're going to love Mexico!

Intro: why should we give our kids passports???

About a year ago, Jodee read an interesting blog about a family who was traveling the world with their kids.  He mentioned it to me and the seed was planted.  We both thought it would be amazing but weren't sure if we could actually do it.  We started researching and planning and the idea turned from a hopeful dream into reality!  It's a mixed bag of emotions - lots of excitement and lots of anxiety, too!  Are we really up for this crazy adventure?! Let's hope so!

We've had mixed reactions when we've told people that we're leaving our comfortable, suburban life to travel around the world with our kids for a year.  Especially when we tell them our first stop is Mexico (more on that later).  A few raised eyebrows and "that's crazy" comments, but most of the feedback is positive.  Apparently lots of you want to do the same thing, but just aren't sure how!  So you can follow along on our journey here, and see if it's something you might want to do someday - or just live vicariously through us!  :)  Either way, I hope you enjoy the ride!

On to the first part of this journey - our reasons for doing it.  Why should we give our kids passports and take them all around the world?  Here are the reasons behind our "why":

1. To spend more time as a family, away from distractions and everyday stress

2. To expose our kids to new cultures and new experiences and get them out of the "bubble" of American life

3.  To give our kids a better learning environment, beyond traditional school

4. To connect with each other and bond as a family

5. To create spectacular family memories that we can look back on and cherish


And a smaller reason why is that Jodee and I both love to travel and we don't want to wait until we're older to go to all the places we want to see!  So the kids get to come along for the ride.  :)  But seriously, we don't know what the future holds and we want to enjoy life with our kids now, while we're still healthy and sort of young.  Carpe diem!