Livin' the Dream

We are in a strange position right now. Well, a few strange positions, really. The holding patterns for the foreign service and the adoption are a bit strange. Really, our entire lifestyle is a bit strange. Strange, but also interesting - and one that we have chosen to continue.

Living abroad is a good life in many ways, especially for families who like to travel. We are not so likely to jump around the world with our 3 kids in tow if we settle in the state somewhere. But as it is, we've traveled much of China, we're building our list of Southeast Asia, and we've hopped over to Dubai as well. Dave is now in Morocco, where the girls and I do not plan to join him - two 9 hour flights in a row is simply too much to ask. But I admit to being jealous about the stamps he's building in his passport. He's also spent time in South Korea recently, and there's talk about Barcelona. He's been asked to lead a training session over Chinese New Year in Goa, India. That means free flight, per diem for food, and lodging in the resort hotel for at least a few days. Of course, we'd have to cover the other 4 tickets for the family to join him, but we are now looking at spending a week on the beach for essentially the cost of airfare - and that at a discount, with Dave flying for free. And not just the beach, the Indian beach. Imagine, warm water, beautiful landscape, and Indian food all the time.

That this is wildly exciting to me begins to explain why we want to remain expats for the near future. But the change in fortune to a world traveling husband comes with its costs as well. Lilly got a bike for Christmas, and learned to ride it this afternoon. Dave will watch the video when he returns from Morocco. I'm excited that I just taught her how to ride her bike, and found it thrilling to experience it with her - but I know how sad Dave is to miss this milestone, and that she wished he were there with her.

The good news is that we're building a much larger library of family videos! Even so, we're really hoping for a call to the May class of the Foreign Service. Let those exotic travels come as a family, one country every few years or so.