Our Trip Home

Most expats that only make it to their home country yearly (or less) will tell you those trips are hardly relaxing.  It's often a marathon of trying to see as many people as possible, eating everything you've been missing and running errands.  You collapse onto the airplane wishing you had a holiday from your holiday.

To make things even more interesting, my family and Joe's family live a mere 1300 kilometres from each other - too far to drive with very limited time yet still at least 2 flights and a half day of travel via air.  It's always a dilemma.  How do we get to see both sides equally, still having time to visit friends and other cities we enjoy while battling jet lag and now with a baby who generally detests his car seat? This year, I proposed something different.

My family ended up renting a lovely vacation home in Kelowna, a gorgeous little city in the Okanagan Valley which also happens to be in the same province as Joe's parents.  It was win-win.  The St Johns holidayed together, we finally made it to Joe's hometown (our first time in 2 years) and we didn't have to traipse across three provinces.  The trip was so much more relaxed for Joe and I too.  We felt like we vacationed, not just visited and having my family with us in Kelowna also meant that we could sneak away here and there for some time, just the two of us (yay grandparents!)  I wish we could have added an extra week onto both sides of the trip but I suppose that is always the case - the time goes far too fast.

Around Here: Summer Travel Plans

Well, sorry for the radio silence around these parts.  If you were picturing a sleep deprived new Mom struggling to string more than a few words together let alone a blogpost, you were partially right.  But lately, there's been a little more sleep (yay) and a lot of just regular life around here.  We've been finding our groove, settling into a schedule and when I'm not chasing Jasper around, I'm putting my feet up and enjoying some mindless entertainment (read: TV.)

This week we're preparing for travel!  Jasper is about to make his third trip to the motherland.  I'm so excited for our family to see him - he has changed so much since we were home in March and he's so fun now!  That being said, I'm a little nervous about the long flight.  While Jasper is no rookie (he's taken something like 17 flights,) he is now so much more active and we all know there's not a lot of room to spare in economy seats.  Along with his increased mobility, he's also much more aware of the world which is usually pretty fun but a bit of a nightmare when he needs to sleep anywhere other than a dark room.  If there's something going on around him, he wants in on it.  Keep us and our fellow passengers in your thoughts on Friday.

We are spending a week in a holiday home, complete with a pool, in British Columbia's Okanagan.  Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-thirties, we'll be surrounded by wineries, orchards, a lake, and my immediate family.  It couldn't be more perfect.  Afterwards, the three of us will spend a weekend on the outskirts of Vancouver with Joe's family before flying North to Joe's hometown for the remaining week.

We've just started thinking about our final big trip of the year which we're hoping to plan around Jasper's first birthday at the beginning of October.  The South of France is in the lead (we're undecided between inland Provence or Côte d'Azur.)  But, there are so many places that have popped up from Iceland to Malta.  I'm more keen to find some sunshine before the long, dark, Norwegian winter sets in.  We'll have about 6 days - any suggestions or thoughts?

Tell me, what are you looking forward to this summer?

(While I likely won't be blogging in July, you're welcome to follow along on Instagram.)