We’ve been home sweet home for more than a month now.
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We’re back in our house in Ottawa, Canada and back to our pre-travel life.
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Hints of fall and the end of our endless summer are everywhere. There are fresh apples at the market, a few leaves on our maple tree out front have lost their green, and school busses have joined the traffic. The mornings and evenings are getting cooler as summer winds down—our first tastes of frigid air in more than a year. Soon, our sun-kissed hair will darken, we’ll have to give up the comfort of flip flops, and L, who travelled the world for a year with a single pair of shorts, will have to put on pants.

​But the season isn't the only change...

I love this photo.

It pretty much sums up this year for LJ: new friends, the beach and soccer.

Recently, the kid had her last soccer experience of our world trip. She attended a camp with the Valley District Soccer Association. We've spent the last month with my parents in rural Nova Scotia. There aren't many kids around so the camp not only let her play her favourite sport, but also provided some much-needed kid time.

​If you’ve followed our stories, you’ll know that soccer ended up playing a big part in our year-long, around the world adventure.

​Okay, how about I answer some big, sort of awkward questions about our one-year trip around the world...
 
Many people have asked these questions and I’m sure there are a few more who’ve been wondering but feel weird about asking.

First, no, we didn't get major diarrhea.

Second, yes, we did get head lice.

Third, let's talk money.

We’re on our way home.
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I’m in a hotel in Niagara Falls. Neither L nor I had ever seen the falls until yesterday. The three of us spent the evening watching them while fireworks lit up the sky.

​Today, we're hanging out in the room for a while to watch the Canada vs. Netherlands women's soccer game. LJ is very excited to see two of her favourite players face off on the field.

This year, amongst all the amazing moments, it's often the simple ones that stay with me. Those moments of connection – to people, cultures, each other.

It’s after dark and we’re whizzing around Bangkok in the back of a tuk tuk after a long day of exploring.

​We’ve been in the city for just two days and will leave tomorrow morning.

“Mom, are we almost home?” asks a very sleepy LJ as she leans into me.

​“Soon, sweetheart.”

The highs and lows of long-term travel with kids

We had a great two-weeks in Bali, spending Christmas and New Years in Ubud, a town in the island's uplands.

It was strange and a bit difficult to be away from friends and family, but we managed to make the holidays very special and certainly memorable.
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LJ actually picked this destination. ​We let her chose between Sri Lanka or Bali and she opted for the latter. We even let her pick our Airbnb (after I came out with four suitable and affordable options). She loved having a big say in our adventure and she made a great choice.

We spend a lot of time at playgrounds. 

LJ loves to be outside, run, climb, hang, play soccer and meet other kids.

Playgrounds let her do it all…for free!

This world is full of cool playgrounds and discovering them has been a really fun part of travelling and exploring cities. So often we use them to take a break, motivate LJ to keep walking and even to give L and me some time to ourselves. It’s also so interesting to see the different approaches that cultures, communities and cities take to play spaces.