The Who, What, Where, When, & Why

Some of you already know a bit about us and/or this trip and its origins.  But for those who don't, here are the basics:

WHO:  We are the Moorhouse family--Bob (41), me/Meghan (36), Emmett (10), and Colin (7).  If you asked us "Where are you from?".....well, that depends.  Bob and I grew up in different parts of Florida and went to different universities in New England.  We met in 1998 in Pensacola, Florida, and got married in 2002.  Since then, we've lived all over the United States because of Bob's work. Emmett was born on the West Coast and Colin was born on the East Coast.  Generally, when we refer to "home" we're thinking of Norfolk, Virginia, USA (a place we lived for 4 years and really love).

For the past 2 years, we've lived in Maastricht, Netherlands.  This area is often called the tri-border region because the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany come together here.  From our house in Maastricht I could walk to 2 different parts of Belgium (French speaking and Flemish speaking), and Germany was about a 25 minute drive away.

Our move to The Netherlands in 2014 meant that we got a "bonus" two years of international travel before departing on our "big" trip.  In just the past 2 years, as a family we've visited 16 different countries!

WHAT:  We are taking a year-long "all around the world" trip.  The term "all around the world" was how Emmett would describe the trip when he was very young, and it's always stuck.  We're not sure we'll make it entirely "all around the world", but we'll at least get pretty close.

WHERE:  We have a general idea of the route we're going to take, though we're excited to have flexibility to adapt our stops as we go.  At this point, our plan is:

Germany, Russia--> July 2016
Mongolia--> August 2016
China--> September 2016
Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia---> October 2016 - January 2017
New Zealand--> February 2017
Australia--> March-April 2017
???--> May 2017
United States --> June 2017

We are traveling along the Trans-Mongolian railroad, which means that we're traveling almost entirely by train from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Beijing, China.  From there, we'll travel through China and Southeast Asia, and then on to Australasia.  We'll then start making our way back to the US, though we're not quite sure by which route or means yet.

WHEN:  Tomorrow (TOMORROW?!?), July 2nd, we depart on this big adventure!  Our end point is Orlando, Florida, in mid-June 2017.

WHY:  I am always planning a trip, whether it is just a day trip a short drive away or this multi-stage, year long trip around the world.  I am fascinated by cultures, languages, and the people who live their lives in different places and different ways than I do.  Bob and I share a love of travel, and our boys have grown up traveling a lot in the US and internationally.

The impetus for this specific trip happened about 8 years ago, when we were living in coastal Oregon.  I read about an Oregon family who had taken their children for a year-long trip around the world, and I remember thinking, "We could do that".....

Bob and I are passionate about travel that's grounded in learning and cross-cultural communication.  We're want to teach our children about the world and the different people who live in it through experience.  We want them to see the world and to understand that not everyone and everything is the same as where we come from.  The biggest "why" for our trip is that we want to experience the diversity that this big world offers.

2016 was always a year that would be transitional for our family.  We've known for a long time that, in this year, Bob would have a career transition that would require our family to move.  So, my thinking went, what if during that transition we took a year to travel and explore before settling down somewhere new?

And so, the inspiration for this trip began.  It took a while to get Bob on board with the idea, and even longer to have the confidence in our dream to start mentioning it to friends and family.  Over time, however, the momentum, savings, and logistics for this trip have come together to make it possible for us to take off on our year-long adventure.......tomorrow!