A Lesson in Traveling Less

In March 2014 I wrote about one of my biggest fears: Staying Put

My heart longs for new experiences. My taste buds crave flavors I’ve never tasted, those that I can only get half way around the world. My feet itch to walk new paths and for sand between my toes. My eyes seek new landscapes and sunsets. I lust after travel photos of places I have yet to be. I long for the feeling right before take off when you know you are leaving one destination only to step off the plane in a new city. Staying put isn’t in my blood.

2014 was a lesson in staying put.

It’s no secret you haven’t seen weekly updates of us jet setting around the world. This year we were blessed with our biggest adventure yet, and it has surpassed every ‘once in a lifetime’ experience to date.

In June Lottie Rose was born. She rocked our world.

The exhaustion we felt as new parents far surpassed any 15 hour jet lag across time zones, and the joy we experienced trumped snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands.

You would think being comfortable with the unknown and new situations through our travels, would somehow translate into raising a baby… or at least I thought so. I swore we would be back on the go again at 3 months… max 6 months, but then something happened…my mindset shifted.

All I could think about was cuddling my baby girl. I wasn’t dreaming about what city was next, or what bucket list item I would conquer. If I’m being honest, I shocked myself.

I never thought someone would be able to get these wandering feet to sit still, but she did.

She taught me to love staying put.

When she was 8 weeks old we took her on her first roadtrip to Florida and drove 16 hours in a car with a newborn, a lot of people told us we were crazy. She slept the entire way… well she pooped the entire way also – but overall the trip was perfect. Don’t get me started on how different traveling with a baby is (I’ll leave that for future blog posts), we were no longer on our schedule, we were on hers.

At 3 months we took her on her first flight, back to Florida to visit friends and Josh was speaking at a conference in Tampa. I was terrified as I boarded the plane, only because of the glares I was getting that said “please don’t sit next to me with your baby”. I could feel every sigh of relief as I walked past each row, and they knew they didn’t have to share a seat with the baby on the plane. We got lucky, we were surrounded by wonderful mothers, fathers and grandparents who supported us and loved on Lottie! It probably helped that she didn’t let out a peep the entire trip.

We announced back in March we would be staying put for a while, and a year ago we had no idea what we were in for.

I’ve loved being in the same place, surrounded by friends and family who give me strength. I’ve enjoyed having my routines back, and my apartment with all of my favorite things. Yes, this is coming from the girl who got rid of all of her things (and that felt good too at the time).

I’ve learned there is a time and a place for everything, and everything in moderation. You do what is best for you, in the stage of life you’re in now. You don’t stop dreaming or planning for the what’s next, but be present, and love the life that you are living at this moment.

Josh and I are still working from home and are still planning out our next trips. Now that Lottie is older we are going further and for longer periods of time. We are excited to go again, but we also have loved learning the value in staying put.