Mark’s Blog

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If The Streets Could Talk: Belfast

Belfast, Northern Ireland. If a city could talk, this one could tell a story. You can feel the animosity and see the wounds of the city: the 45′ peace wall, freedom corner, murals of fallen “soldiers” and the list goes on. You can tell it has tried to move on but Irish people hold tightly to their past. It is very different than Dublin, as the city has adopted more Western building styles. Not sure if it is better, but...

“Get Pissed”; Dublin

Our first country is in the books: Dublin, Ireland. Our first impression of Dublin was during our taxi ride to our Airbnb, I asked the taxi driver, “what’s the top thing we should do here in Dublin during our stay?” Without hesitation, he replied, “Get PISSED!” It was an interesting city but 4 nights was enough. Old, historic, broken down and fuelled by beer. If Brittany ever left me, you’d find me in Dublin drinking and smoking away my sorrows,...

1 month (more accurately 16 days!!!)

I thought I knew stress…stress has been part of my life for so many years, as I kind of just operate in a state of stress: stress of surgeries, stress of changing careers, stress of University, stress of being a parent, stress of living with chronic pain but THIS, this has pushed the limits of my abilities to cope. Kids activities are bonkers right now, it’s crunch time at school, selling our house and allll our possessions, the logistics of...

2 months

Barf. It is actually quite hard to believe we are less than 2 months out. You plan for something for so long (I’m talking years) and its now becoming a reality…I have never been this stressed in my life. So many emotions, despite the logistics and planning to start this journey. I get asked a lot, “So what’s your plan in Dublin? or what activities are you going to do in Germany?” I barely know what I am doing tomorrow...

3 months

89 days…things are sneaking up quickly to us but several big items have been taken care of: house = sold, transportation & accommodations booked until January 2025, and are ducks in a row for travel insurance and the kid’s education plan. More or less our “to-do” list includes: sell the large majority of our possessions and pack away our “to keep” items, then figure out what to do at our locations once we get there. Easy…...