How it all started
Dernière mise à jour : 17 déc. 2021
You always think a long sabbatical is something the others do. But one day you have to take a deep breath and admit that you have not had the courage....yet.
As much as we love traveling and discovering old or new places, we've always relied on one, two or rarely three weeks to get away and get a break. Here and there, you hear of families that went on that extended trip, meaning stepping away from work obligations and managing school differently. It usually makes for nice dinner table conversations, and maybe reminds us of stories we've heard or books we've read. Think of the travels of Geneva-born Nicolas Bouvier or Ella Maillart, the books by Amin Maalouf or The art of travel by Alain de Botton. Adventures by explorers, far away in time, maybe too exotic and unreal for us to be able to relate what is possible here and now.
But the reality is that people do do it, and when it happens near you, a little voice starts resonating in your head...
The Mauris family, our trigger
In 2017, we met a fabulous family of four, just like us: Les Mauris. We became friends, and they let us in on a little secret. They had decided to go far away for 6 months, kids out of school. Taking us through the various steps of how they planned it, it became real suddenly. It got us thinking. If they could do it, maybe we could.
It became a project with challenges and potential solutions. That, we know how to tackle.
Our epiphany
We could tell you the story of that magical day walking in the forest behind our home. LIstening to the calming sound of the wind through the trees, it suddenly dawned on us. Life is only worth living if you make your dreams happen.
But that would be a bit cheesy!
What really happened was that we were sitting in front of the fireplace with a nice glass of red (it helps with crazy ideas). We had been awakened by our friend's trip and we decided to have that discussion for real: if we were to do it, how would we go about it. And that is the necessary step. Not talking about if, but start thinking about "how". It becomes a project with challenges and potential solutions. And that, Melissa and I know how to tackle.
A project was born in 2018. The rest is history, albeit with a few hiccups...
