If you're here, you probably know what this is all about, but here's a  summary: Nearly four years ago, in 2020, Nicole and I sold the business we had been running for the previous 14 years with the intention of returning to education. Prior to taking over the business, and before we had started a family, we had always wanted to live (and possibly teach) abroad; as we navigated the sale of the business amidst the Covid pandemic, we set our sites on making that dream come true (now with our two kids along for the ride). Things seemed to be lining up; I was offered a one-year, temporary position at the Jefferson County Open School, an amazing progressive public school in Lakewood, not far from our home in Golden, Co. What's even better is that both of our kids started at Open that same year (Miles was actually enrolled before I even applied for the position there). The temporary position was perfect, as it would give us the time to get our visa (we had decided on moving to Spain), get the kids enrolled in a school, secure a residence for the year, etc. Sadly, we also lost both of our dogs within the year, but this also made leaving even more viable. Then, in the spring of '22, our plans changed. Our kids were happier at Open than they had ever been in school before and suddenly were very resistant to leaving. Right around this same time, I was offered to extend my position at Open for another two years, created by pandemic relief funds. Needless to say, we stayed. The kids grew in their confidence and joy at school, I was able to invest further into the Open School community (in addition to teaching English, I was also able to open a school-based bike shop, which has been super fun), and Nicole also joined the staff at Open. It was an amazing couple of years of growth for all of us.

But the funding that kept me around for another two years ended at the conclusion of the 23-24 school year. A longtime English teacher at Open had shared his intent to retire at the end of this (24-25) school year, so anything I did during this school year was likely (hopefully) temporary. Sometime in early 2024, our son Miles mentioned that maybe this would be a good opportunity for us to revisit traveling abroad (both he and Carter were much more comfortable and confident in their friendships and identities at school). While Nicole loved her position, extended travel with Miles and Carter was a long held dream, so she made the difficult decision to leave her lovely students and team in pursuit of this opportunity. Both kids were still a little reticent about going to school in a foreign country, and, of course, we had just added a new furry friend to the family only months before. Carter suggested maybe we embark on the adventure for just half a year, which seemed agreeable to all. Both kids were able to complete the first half of their school years, Nicole and I worked as subs, and we departed from Colorado on January 3rd, due to return at the end of June. 

One hiccup that arose from committing to only 6 months of travel was that we couldn't qualify for a long-term visa in Spain (or anywhere in the Schengen area), and we are subsequently limited to 90 days in the region. So, we pivoted again. Spanish acquisition is a big draw for everyone in the family, so we chose to spend our first six weeks in Central America between Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. We will arrive in Spain in the middle of February and have secured housing for our first month in Granada, the same town where we were planning to live those few years ago. From there, we have some ideas and a couple of commitments in various places, but we otherwise plan to figure it out as we go.