Chad and I are off for a 6 month trip through Central America on January 4th! We have a couple more weeks of work and then a week at home to get things in order. There is still so much to do. Chad has been working in Fort McMurray for the past three months doing 12 hour shifts for 24 days in a row with only 4 days off in between! He is more than ready for this trip to begin. We fly into Cancun first and we think we'll hit up the beaches for a few days and then start the trek south. We planned on taking buses until we reached Colombia but recently discovered that you can't actually reach Colombia from Panama by bus because there is a massive National Park between the two countries that I have heard is difficult to pass through even with 4x4's. So that was an interesting little piece of news. There are other ways however and a four day sailing trip from Panama to Catagena, Colombia sounds pretty sweet to me! We haven't made too many plans for our trip because on our last long trip to South America we found that making plans as you go and as you talk to other travelers is much better than trying to stick to an itinerary.
Being away for so long has its challenges, which are mostly dealing with life back home. Our house is going to be empty so we are planning on moving a few things out and trying to empty the deep freeze. We are super lucky that my parents are going to look after our dog and our cat. They too are off on an adventure this winter. They are spending Christmas and New Years in Bali, Indonesia with my Grandma at her house there.
Packing my bag is going to be another challenge. My packing list so far has to be reduced by half. I have to keep telling myself that I do not need to bring 4 pairs of shoes. In South America I had to resort to sneakily putting my purchased items into Chad's bag because mine was beyond full even before we left. I think he will be on the lookout this time so I am going to have to make some sacrifices. No hair straightener, no hair conditioner (its gonna be Pert Plus two in one for these cats), and I'm even going to have to live without my huge bottle of coco-butter hand lotion!
We plan on blogging when we can to keep family and friends updated and to help with planning any rendezvous that may be on the agenda! Meet us in Costa Rica in perhaps?
