August 11

Travel Jitters

I leave August 23rd on my next adventure.

Like the proverbial cold feet before a wedding, I seem to get travel jitters in the weeks just before I go somewhere. It’s not the nervous excitement felt while looking forward to a vacation, and it’s not like the necessary preparations for a business trip you have to go on. This is a trip that I chose to go on when an opportunity made my heart speed up, something that I used money out of our family’s budget for, an indulgence that I might be horribly unprepared for that sometimes inspires a feeling of OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING? Continue reading

Category: budget, Mexico, Minimalism, Travel | 4 Comments on Travel Jitters
June 20

Adventures With Rental Cars In Mexico

I’m going to be back in Mexico this August for a Blogging Boot Camp with Marginal Boundaries in Palenque, then staying on for the TBEX Travel Blogging Conference in Cancun. In between I’m going to be researching in Cozumel in preparation for our move there next year. With all this moving around I considered renting a car, but previous experience makes me more inclined to take my chances on the bus. Continue reading

Category: Mexico, Travel | 6 Comments on Adventures With Rental Cars In Mexico
June 9

How I “Made” My Kids Love Water

It’s summer again, and the city pool is open and filled with splashing kids. Next to me is a mom wrestling a panicked child who seems convinced that she is trying to drown him; he is screaming, terrified, and refusing to get even one toe in the water. She finally lets him go and he runs away.

My kids are the opposite. They’re under the water more than they are above it, Continue reading

Category: Family, Kids, Mexico | 2 Comments on How I “Made” My Kids Love Water
May 26

A Cozumel Review

Jason and I first visited the island of Cozumel in 2012 as part of a mission trip group with Friends of Cozumel. After we came back I wrote a trip review for Independent Traveler complete with hotel, restaurant, grocery stores and entertainment information, as well as our first drift diving experience.  I rediscovered it today-talk about nostalgia! Continue reading

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May 15

Financial Leap of Faith

exchange rate

Do you believe in fate? I went to a birthday party for a friend’s child over the weekend and I think I met the people who are going to buy our house next year.

Our house is right where she wants to be. She already knows two of our neighbors Continue reading

Category: budget, Family, Iowa, Mexico, Travel | 3 Comments on Financial Leap of Faith
May 10

Bringing Healthy Travel Habits Home

Mexico

When I travel I walk everywhere, I snorkel for hours, I bicycle and climb and spend every minute of the day exploring. I eat lots of ceviche and fresh fruit, and I drink tons of water. I always lose weight, and I feel stronger.

Then I come home and fall back into the same sedentary habits Continue reading

Category: Family, Fitness, Health, Mexico, Peru, Travel | 2 Comments on Bringing Healthy Travel Habits Home
May 2

Making Summer Family Travel Plans

Our first day in Cozumel with the kids last year.
Our first day in Cozumel with the kids last year.

I’m trying to nail down what we can and can’t do this summer while the kids are out of school. Road trips around the Midwest are pretty easy and cheap because we can usually stay with someone. Jason and I want to try sailing lessons at a local lake, and there will be lots of camping and canoeing. What we all really want, though, is the ocean. Continue reading

Category: Family, Kids, Mexico, Travel | 2 Comments on Making Summer Family Travel Plans
April 8

“Why Are You Moving to Mexico?”

where is cozumel
In case you don’t know where Cozumel is

I moved to Iowa in 1995 intending to stay about 6 months. Almost 20 years later, tired of the bitter winters and endless corn I’m soooo ready to go, but we’re still not quite ready to leave yet.  I promised my oldest that she could finish high school here. So as I countdown her final year I am preparing to make a big move. My husband and I decided that instead of simply moving to the coast next summer we will be taking our children to the island of Cozumel, Mexico not for vacation but for a year of living another life.

This decision didn’t happen overnight Continue reading

Category: Family, Health, Kids, Mexico, Travel | 4 Comments on “Why Are You Moving to Mexico?”