Anticipation, It's Making Me Wait!

I can't wait to go on the trip. It is going to be really fun. Things are pretty cozy here in the nest (at the Natural History Museum in Ottawa). Brendan

Prologue

When Deb and Joe met in 1994, Deb had just returned from a year traveling abroad (her 4th world backpacking adventure). She loves to travel. For the next 13 years, while raising Ryan and Brendan, she would enjoy shorter trips to Europe, Eastern Canada, America, the Caribbean mixed with annual visits to the cottage at Long Lake. In the back of her mind, though, she knew that she would one day lead the family on its own world journey. In 2008, we decided that a 5-month duration would be possible occurring between the boys’ hockey seasons, include their Summer holidays, and would be arranged through leave-without-pay provisions at Deb’s school board and Joe’s government job. Deb scoured the Internet, travel agents and friends and proposed an itinerary. The theme would be to teach the boys about distant cultures that would otherwise be absent from their teachings. We left with hope that our boys would learn how very fortunate we are – living in a peaceful country, always having plenty to eat, and being guaranteed an education. We hope that our boys learn that they have a responsibility to ‘give back’ throughout their lives.

The Kuffner family was to embark on a 2-month African adventure, followed by 3-months in Asia. What follows is that story.