Dearest readers, 
               You were probably expecting a long and detailed paragraph about my departure the day I arrived in the Netherlands on  July 5th. But there wasn’t one, because I personally didn’t think there was anything special about the departure.  The day we left was July 4, and we were staying at a friends house in San Jose. I walked in the Bay Lands with him in the morning and then we went to a independence day block party in San Jose. That night he drove us to the airport. I didn’t cry when we left like I thought I would, and when I got of the plane in Amsterdam, I looked like a  train wreck   (as usual) and I met my grandparents at the airport, which is great. They gave us welcome flowers and showered us in hugs and kisses. But, this whole experience was normal. Nothing was different from just going on vacation. That really changed  perspective on the trip, because now the trip feels more like an extended vacation.

Bon Voyage,
Liv the Explorer

1 month before departure:

I have finally begun packing a little less than a month before my departure. On  Saturday, June 6, I sorted out all my clothing. In the end, I will have only ONE carry-on suitcase for all my stuff. (Of course I get the biggest one!) I brought more than that to my three day overnight trip with my class! Let me tell you this in advance, I am a VERY sentimental  person. I wear less that half of the clothes in my closet. But every single t-shirt, or pair of shorts bring back great memories. So you can understand why it would be  hard for me to pick which clothes to keep and which clothes to give away. I haven't sorted my closet in years, and  I found all kinds of different style clothing in my closet. Ranging anything from bright pink shirts  that say 'princess' on them, to  Barcelona   soccer jerseys. It was very difficult, but in the end I  only kept the  clothes that I  actually wear.  Now closet is a fourth of its original size and it mostly consist of 10 soccer jerseys, 3 leggings, 5 soccer shorts, 2 jeans,  3 jean shorts, 15 t-shirts, socks and under  garments, and I still have to  narrow it down to about two weeks worth of clothes.  I also sorted out my old dolls, which I am planning to give to my  neighbor, and my old toys which I am giving away to goodwill.

2 weeks before departure:

This weekend, I  packed all most all my belongings into 10 boxes.  I had boxes and boxes of junk in my room. Not to mention my desk drawers. (That's were things go to die.)  Now my entire room is bare. No more posters on my walls, no more books in my closets, nothing. The process of sorting through my stuff was long and treacherous . My parents had to bribe me  by paying me  $2 an hour to get me to co-operate and pack my stuff. I started with the book closet . The hardest task of packing my room.  Just so that you know, I'm a bookworm. I love to read, and my book closet  was full and there were books piled on either side of it. In the end, I gave away maybe 10 books, and I still have about 50+ left which I packed into  4 boxes. After I sorted my books, it was time to sort my junk closet. I ended up throwing away most of it considering over half of its contents were math homework from 1st-5th grade that I never did. After the junk closet, It was time for  the desk of doom. The drawers were stuffed to the brim with unfinished art projects, pencils, pens, crayons, markers and little "chatchkez" from birthday party  goodie-bags. The entire process of packing my room took about 7 hours.  Minus the time I was just sitting in my room playing with the old stuff I found that I thought I lost.  As I said earlier, my room is now as bare as an apple tree in the winter, and I can never find anything because it's all  in boxes. Well, at least I am almost ready to leave. We depart in  10 days.

Adios Amigos!
Liv the Explorer

My mom has  always wanted to travel the world.  She has been talking about traveling for a year as a family for as long as I can remember . But I never thought we would actually go.  I was mistaken.  In the beginning of my fifth grade school year,  my parents announced that next year, we would be going on a family sabbatical. On first thought, I was very excited.  Traveling the world for a year and being home-schooled means no homework!!!! And I would be visiting all kinds of interesting places that I always wanted to see. What's better then that? Then, it started to sink in. It would also mean a year away from my friends, and I would probably have to leave my cat Cookie with a different family for the year. 

Over the course of the past year, I have had ups and downs in which I am excited for the trip, and I'm not. It will go something like, "I can't wait to see a bunch of ancient ruins in Greece! " to "I don't want to go, I will miss the first school dance!" But in the end, it's not my choice whether or not we go.  Now, only 7  weeks away from the departure, we already have somebody who will rent our house while we are gone and we have  bought the first few flight tickets. The time has gone so fast! Before  I know it I will be packing my stuff and saying goodbye to my friends. 

I will be very sad to leave my home and my friends behind, but I am excited to go on the trip. I will write all about it on this blog. I am also planning on writing a memoir with my mom.  I know it will be amazing because my wonderful 5th grade teachers taught my class how to write memoirs. On the subject of my 5th grade teachers, I would like to dedicate this blog to them because they helped me expand my writing skills and they inspired me to record my journey.     Anyway, keep reading my blog later this year to find out more about my travels.

Bon Voyage!
Liv the Explorer