Long Time No Post

For those of you who have been following along on our adventure, you may have noticed that we fell off the map a little since our time in Nepal. No blog and very few Instagram posts. Well, as we head into our last few nights in Colombia, we are here to assure you that we are alive and well.

Following our time in Nepal, we made our way back home for a three week visit, before we headed back out for the last leg of our trip. Our time at home was wonderful. We got to attend an amazing wedding, share meals with friends, spend time with family, play some hockey, and attend, what we hope is, the 1st annual Harvest Party & Pie Contest. Its hard to truly express how much we missed the craziness we call our family and friends. Nothing fills you up quite like it ... well, except maybe taste testing 10 plus homemade pies!

Then on October 21st, full of love and pie, we got on a flight to Colombia to spend the last two months of our Epic Adventure living with Colter's dad, Don. Right about now, if you're thinking, "Wait... I am pretty sure I have met Colter's, and I could have sworn he is from Canada... you are not wrong. He is. Until about a year and half ago, Don was living in Sooke.

Several years ago, Colter went with his dad and sister on a trip to Panama. They had an amazing time, exploring the beautiful country together. Ultimately, Don was infected with the latin america travel bug. And we don't mean a crazy amoeba that launches you through a sweaty weeklong bought of bathroom visits. We mean the type of bug that finds its way into one's mind and causes them to rethink their entire retirement plan. A number of trips South and a few years later, Don sold everything he owned (including his house in Sooke) and moved down to Colombia to retire. He bought an unfinished house in the hills outside of Medellin and has been finishing it for the past year and half. And that house has been our home for the last two months.

So what have we been up to in Colombia? Great question. Well, we have really been enjoying not having to re-pack our backpacks every two days. Having a home base, space to relax and curl up with popcorn and a movie has been a nice change of pace. It has been great to get to know Don's life down here a bit... his friends, his neighbourhood, the local market. We have gone has some great day trips and have enjoyed expoloring Medellin.

The highlight of our time down here is probably the 10 days we spent on the coast. We found the beach, swam in the Carribean, and truly relaxed. The first half of our time away was spent in Rodadero (a little beach town outside of Santa Marta) and Cartagena. Then we made our way to spend five nights on a little piece of paradice, Providencia. A small Colombian, Carribean island. We spent our days riding our little moto around the island, checking out beaches, and fighting off mosquitos (note to self, if you travel in South America, bring a mosquito net for sleeping). It was the perfect place to celebrate the passing of another year - Colter's 32nd birthday and our 2nd wedding anniversary. And wow - what a year it has been! We have had career changes, completed a master's degree, moved, travelled the world, and grown so much, both individually and as a couple. Bring on the next year of adventures!

At this point you're probably thinking, "Okay, well that accounts for about 15 days of your 60 days there. What else have you been up to? The truth is, we have been using our time down here reset and restart, before we head "back to reality", as they say. And we have a lot of time to talk about what that reality might look like for us. Travelling through numerous, non-English speaking countries, has a way of opening up those converstations. Having pressure and stress free time to have some big converstations, has been one of the privileges of this trip.

As you can imagine, one of the conversations we kept coming back to was, "What are we going to do for work?". We need to replensih our bank account somehow! Naturally, this conversation spiralled in many directions, but ulitmately we ended up having four major conversations: What does our ideal life look like? How much money do we need to fund that life? How can redefine our definition of success? How do we make it happen?

To spare you the details of each converstaion, we'll just cut to the chase. Colter has always wanted to build something of his own, so that's what we are doing. We are taking this opportunity to see if we can build the life we want. One where we fill our time with work we are passionate about, focus on our mental and physical health, priortized friends and family, and march towards our own definition of success. That's not to say that this was an easy decision or one we haven't questioned. It's scary and risky, but when it comes down to it, if not now then when? Life isn't waiting for any of us.

So ... that is what we have been doing down here. We have converted Don's second floor into an office. Covered the walls in sticky notes. And started building an app. It has been the perfect place to test out our plan. We have been enjoying days full of work we are passionate about, yoga challenges, walks in the mountains, and coffee. So much coffee.

We feel so fortunate that we are able to go on this new journey together. And we can't wait to get home to Vicotira. But first, Maui...