Every year around this time I get a little nostalgic. No it’s not due to March Madness or the announcement of the new line up of Dancing With the Stars, it’s because it was March of 2006 when Hud, my pregnant wife Stephanie and me returned from a 11 month tour of Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.
Work transfer you ask? Nope. We both quit our jobs, sold our house, piled our wares into storage and jumped on a plane. Obviously there was more thought put into it than the last sentence would indicate. It started as a late night what the hell are we doing with our lives conversation and snowballed into are we really doing this?
At the core of the decision, as with most decisions, both then and now, was our son(pluralized now, at the time it was just Hud). He was just under two when the conversation started. Both my wife and me were working 50 hours a week and basically letting a wonderful caregiver raise our son. The 90 minutes a weeknight and weekends were just not cutting it as relatively new parents. Add to the equation my job boredom, Steph’s job indifference, the heating up of the housing market and our inability to accept the stereotypical staged life we were supposed to live and the decision was made, we were going to break free.
Now I could write forever about the wonders of what we saw and did on this trip, that part of the earth is truly beautiful, both the people and the land.
But what we, as parents, remember the most about this trip was the value of time.
For almost one year, we spent 24 hours a day, seven days a week with our son Hud. He turned from wee toddler in our arms to leg interweaving little man. Everyday we rolled over and he was there, inevitably in our bed because of the randomness of the 15 or 16 places we stayed over the duration. And everyday we asked him what he wanted to do today. And we did it. It was magical.
Being back for this long it almost seems like a dream. And it was a fantasy life, we know that now being back, both working, starved for time with our kids, bearing down now to pay for the things that are important both short and long term.
We think about going back, returning to Waiheke Island, perhaps our favourite place on the whole trip.
But we also accept it may not be in the cards. Sometimes when you come home, you stay home.
We took more than 4000 pictures during that adventure, yet we still only need to look at Hud and the aptly named Tasman, who was conceived on the South Island of New Zealand, to remind us that it is all about the value of the time we spend with them.
We no longer take that for granted.
I’m a little envious also. And thinking about doing something similar. New Zealand is high on my bucket list.
Come now Sara – who says it has to be in a bed?
J.
God – I seethe with jealousy at this trip AND at your balls to do it! How freaking amazing. Seriously, so many people would want to do this and never have the guts. I may just have to follow in your footsteps (without the knocking up part….ummm how did that happen with Hud in your bed? Just saying…:)).