So far, it's been a lot of getting ready

Well, finally, here we are.

After years of dreaming and planning, and months of execution, we are now finally in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I think we started the dreaming phase 7 or 8 years ago, using our vacations to go check out Spanish-speaking countries so that when the kids were out of the house we could go live there for a while. It felt like we entered the planning phase three years ago when we first visited Oaxaca, because when soon after that I went to work for JPMorgan Chase I gave my new manager the date: October, 2014. And the execution phase started in earnest about a year ago when we reminded our managers that, whether we would have jobs when we got back or not, we were going. But it really started to get real last spring when we bought one-way tickets to Mexico!

I don't mean to complain. It's been a great experience already, in every phase of the process. It was good for our marriage to plan the great escape and work on it together. I think it's been good for our kids to see us doing such an unusual thing. It was good therapy to go through all of our stuff and sort it (toss/give away, store, take along) multiple times until what was left could fit in our checked bags and carry-ons. It has been a great challenge for me to try to learn Spanish, but I hear it is good for old brains to learn new things. Still, I swear I felt travel-weary by the time our friend Dave Buck dropped us off at the airport!

So, if any of you are thinking of taking 6 months off to go live in a foreign country, I just want to warn you - you are in for a LOT of getting ready!