Countdown

8 days to go and we are swinging between emotions, excitement mixed with fear mixed with sadness. I am amazed by how well Sam is able to cope with the stress of leaving friends and family and how he is able to completely trust us as we take him out of his comfort zone and launch him into the big wild world!

At first I was worried about this swinging between emotions and wondered if we were doing the right thing but I realise that this is just another step towards the journey, learning that the difficult things in life can be overcome and that we grow the most through these experiences. These lessons were the very reason i wanted to take Sam on the trip and I truly hope it will be a great experience for him.

The other day Sam looked a bit down and I asked him what the problem was, 'I just wish everyone would stop asking me about the bloody trip' he said. Of course everyone can see what a great opportunity for him it is, his friends can't believe he has a year off school to travel the world and most adults can see how much he will learn from this year away, so of course everyone asks him about it... but for Sam it's a reality and the reality is that it's scary and exciting and sad and all these emotions rolled into one can be overwhelming for a 34 year old, let alone a 12 year old.

And so we head towards departure, me questioning the wisdom of the whole thing and afraid that Sam will burst into tears any moment, Sam reassuring me that he's not about to burst into tears and could he just get back to watching his programme and Will digging himself out of a pile of work... Hopefully the next update will be from the comfort of a hammock on a sunny beach!

Since when was this ever a good idea??

Aaaaaaargh....the stress has finally hit! We have moved into our temporary accommodation and stored furniture in about 4 different locations, we head to Italy for my sisters wedding in 3 days and I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Will is stressed, I'm stressed, Sam is calm... this had better all bloody be worth it!

The tickets are booked and paid for... the route is planned (ish)... work is finished and the house is being packed up as I type... there's no backing out now. We have books for schooling (but how we use them is yet to be decided) so as you can see the preparations are under way but it all feels a bit up in the air. I guess this is the time to let go of control and allow things to just flow in a zen type way (2 sessions of yoga this week I think!)

Our current route includes 3 months in Central and South America, 3 months in New Zealand, 3 months in Australia and 3 months in Indonesia.

Everyone asks if Sam is excited, but it's hard to say. I have asked him many times how he is feeling and his usual answer is nervous and excited which I guess is the perfect mix (more excited than nervous apparently). He's obviously not looking forward to saying goodbye to family and friends and especially his Dad but he knows this will be a great year (and a year out of school kind of overshadows all the bad stuff). 12 is a funny age because he has just done his first year at secondary school and feels grown up but isn't quite emotionally ready for the responsibilities of grown up stuff so we will see how this year progresses, I have a feeling we will take away a boy and bring back a man but we'll see.