After a coupla months on the road — by train to the Big Apple, D.C., and Miami and then on to a wildly adventurous road trip across Panama and Costa Rica — my thoughts are a jumble: sad to have left it all behind, happy to be home, but mostly grateful to have shared some seriously kickass life experiences with two kids who are both young enough to still kind've enjoy their parents’ company and old enough to really get how fortunate they are.
Top 5? Yikes. New York City was definitely up there. So too was the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, the wildlife, the snorkeling, the houseboat on the Panama Canal, and that fiery Colombian-bred horse I was so lucky to ride in the Panamanian highlands.
Certainly there were times when it all seemed a bit much (the death-wish-having bus drivers, the steamy border crossings on foot, the 24/7 close quarters, our own dodgy hygiene) but what I know for sure is that the most precious gift of all was the time we spent together.
In fact, packing up to leave our digs in Montezuma I started boo-hoo'ing like the big fat baby I truly am, not just because I hated to leave the magnificent view and the super-comfy all-day hammock, but also because I’ll never get that kind of time back with my girls.
So while the end of something brilliant is perhaps cause to mourn, the fact that it happened at all is something to celebrate. And that’s just what I’ll do.
So until next time … buy the book! And happy travels!
