We are officially 125 days away from the start of our year‑long global sabbatical with our kids — and life is busier than ever.
How Is It Already April?
This stretch of the year is always busy for us, but this spring feels especially packed. I’m deep into the Girl Guides planning and execution for end year meetings, special events and camp. And Justin is busy with his volunteering at our local free public tax clinic. Add in workouts, regular life logistics, and family time, and our calendar is… full.
Between all of that, it might seem like sabbatical planning would slow down. But surprisingly, we’re still making solid progress — sometimes in big leaps, sometimes in small, quiet steps.
One of the most timely things I completed recently was my emergency first aid certification. I originally did it for Guides, but the timing couldn’t have been better with our trip coming up.
It definitely made me rethink what we want to carry with us for emergencies while travelling — what’s practical, what’s realistic, and what’s worth the space and weight. It’s one of those behind‑the‑scenes preparations that doesn’t look exciting on Instagram, but feels wildly important.
We’ve also been checking off items that have lived on our shopping wish list for a long time. Rather than panic‑buy everything at once, we’ve been waiting patiently and picking things up as sales come along. Our most recent purchases have been:
Family matching light-weight fleece sweaters
Shorts and pants that can handle a year of wear
Finalizing which shoes will actually earn a spot
Testing out an AeroPress coffee maker, trying to decide if it’s going to make it on our packing list
At this point, all of our flights and accommodations are booked through December, which is a big milestone. So far we’re up to 18 different accommodations and 12 flights.
We’re currently deep in planning the Japan portion of the trip — including Christmas in Japan, which we are incredibly excited about. This leg is a bit more complex because extended family will be joining us for two weeks, which means more coordination, more questions, and more “how do we fit everything in?” conversations.
And of course, not everything goes smoothly.
We’ve already had to deal with a flight cancellation, and not the convenient “we’ve rebooked you on a later flight” type. This was a full “we are no longer flying this route due to current world affairs.”
So we’ve adjusted — booked into a nearby airport instead, and shifted plans accordingly. It’s a reminder that flexibility isn’t a nice‑to‑have skill for this trip; it’s going to be essential.
Closer to home, we’re finalizing plans for our house while we’re away. Our goal is to have someone renting the space — not so much as an income source, but to keep an eye on things and make sure the house stays lived‑in.
It’s one of those practical decisions that makes the trip feel very real: we won’t just be leaving for a while — we’re handing the keys over.
What little free time we have has been spent doing some aggressive spring cleaning. We’ve been challenging what we want to keep, what we want to store, and what we’re ready to let go of before being away for a year. We’ll have storage space available in the house, but this feels like a good opportunity to pare things down properly. Just this month alone, three large boxes have gone to donations — and it turns out decluttering feels even better when it’s tied to a big adventure.
One final win: Isabel’s passport has been renewed, and now all passports are valid for the duration of the trip.
Her first passport was issued back when she couldn’t lift her own head and this one shows a real kid. Time flies! We’re all pretty excited to see what stamps we’ll collect in the new passports.
What’s Next:
As much as we’ve crossed off already, the checklist reminds us that the next few months are where things really start to ramp up.
Over the coming months, our focus will shift to:
Logistics at home
Finalizing plans for the house and renter
Confirming snow removal arrangements and general home maintenance
Getting the house into a truly “ready to leave” state
Prepping the van for storage while we’re away
Paperwork and practicalities
Double‑checking driver’s license and car insurance expiry dates
Getting an international driver’s license (which only lasts a year — timing matters here)
Travel vaccine and medications
Travel insurance, eye and dental appointments
Setting up mail forwarding and renewing library cards for digital access while abroad
Planning the remaining legs
We need to finish up our plans for Japan, and then get ready to start digging deeper into New Zealand and Australia
Finalizing transportation, accommodations, and route logic for the final months
Identifying what’s still missing from our packing list
Making final gear decisions
Testing out our packing plans to make sure everything can fit
Education prep
Talking with teachers and getting their input on what we should focus on for next year
Sorting out homeschool plans and high level topics we want to start with
Our checklist keeps getting longer and shorter at the same time — tasks sliding from “someday” to “done,” with new ones constantly popping up behind them.
Life is busy and chaotic but even in the middle of all our day to day stuff, we’re still progressing our travel plans. Only 125 days to go.