Winding Down in GTO

As our last week in Guanajuato begins, it couldn’t be more perfect to have some of the girls’ (and our) besties come to visit. We’re hitting all of our favorite spots in town. Check out this crew. #squadgoals #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents #wombtotombfriends #futuresobright

As an adventure draws to a close, it’s hard not to let your mind wander to the next thing; It’s one of the perks and curses of living the way we do.
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So even as we do a victory lap around Guanajuato and get a chance to show it off to visiting friends, my evening Googles are of van designs in anticipation of our week of vanlife in Utah with our nomadic breeder crew and walks around town pay special attention to the awesome collection of “rat bikes” and small displacement models not available in the US as I get excited about a dualsport and a vintage rally I’m signed up for this Spring.
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#nomadproblems #bikesofguanajuato #shinything!

“I’m just gonna run down to the market” has kind of a different meaning in Guanajuato. #mercadohidalgo #guanajuato #arechickenfeetgoodtoeat

Sad goodbyes after rocking GTO all week with this posse. #nostatueleftunclimbed #noicecreamleftuneaten
#sisterhoodofthetravelingparents

For our last dinner in the Jardin de la Union, we gathered friends visiting from home, new friends who had moved from that home to here and even newer friends we wouldn’t have met if we hadn’t come here. Over the trumpets of the mariachi bands, we talked about kids, travel and life, while the 6 girls ran circles in the bandstand in the center of the garden.
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I’m sure our friends from home wish we would stay in one place for longer. And maybe our new expat friends wish we would... well... stay in one place for longer. But we’ve learned a little about ourselves from this adventure; that while we do want to slow our travel down, to really get a chance to come to know a place and immerse ourselves and the kids in a culture, I don’t think we’re “expat people.” There’s just too much we love about our time at home, not to mention too many other places we want to go, to just pick one. Lucky for us, we always feel supported, if not fully understood, by the people around us.
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On the night of my 46th birthday (how the &@%^* did *that* happen?), I sit here knowing that, in addition to couple duffel bags full of clothes (plus an extra one we had to pick up this evening for the trinkets for the travel shelf back home) stacked up around me, I really have everything I need right here. We make our decisions together, and for now, we’ve decided we’ve had the experience we set out to have, and it’s time to change the scene.
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Tomorrow, we’re generally headed for some downtime at home, though not before a rendezvous with some equally indecisive and unpredictable families who I’m sure frustrate their friends and families just as much as we do.
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#familytravel #travelwithkids #worldschool #worldschooling #downhillto50

Oh, come on. It’s not like I was gonna be able to save them from this polar bear. Figured I should at least #gramit. Check out today’s stories for some video of this really cool interactive screen. #picsoritdidnthappen #houstonsciencemuseum #homeschool #roadschool

[sound up] Air travel with kids can be terrifying. #travelwithkids #familytravel #itshowweroll #youseemerollin