About Us
We are Peter, Laura, Oliver and Henry Jalbert from Marblehead, Massachusetts. This is our blog to share with you our adventures as we travel around the world!Many folks have asked how we decided to do this. We feel that our stars were aligned in order for us to have this opportunity.Peter was about to start his own venture after working for another company for 20+ years, and while he was readying to start this venture, we had time to consider the possibility of traveling to countries that would otherwise be difficult and unaffordable to visit on a 2 or 3 week vacation. With some luck, we felt we could take some time off and resume Peter’s business plan upon our return. We were motivated to investigate the possibility because of the increasing awareness of folks our age getting ill and folks at the age we want to retire not being able to enjoy retirement due to illness or other circumstances. The urgency to fulfill desires while we are young and healthy weighed heavy on our minds.
The children were at a good age (ages 6 & 7) to travel where they are mobile enough, have good endurance, enthusiastic, easier to homeschool and they still want to hang with their folks!
Laura decided to leave the company that she had worked at for 12 years to take advantage of this opportunity and was lucky enough to have their support.
The other major hurdles was airfare costs and our house. After some research, we found that that airfare was more affordable than we anticipated and we were fortunate enough to have friends who were happy to move from their smaller apartment into our home with each family benefitting! The 11 month schedule was good for both of us – as if it was meant to be.
All of the other considerations are detailed on the Preparations page. One by one, we found solutions to what were originally obstacles. After turning over each rock, we found ourselves with fewer and fewer reasons to not go. We had accomplished the critical piece which was research.
Traveling around the world may seem, at first glance, out of reach. Our current lives are so entwined with our current environment, rituals, creature comforts, work and social activities that we often just dream about extensive traveling. Often, there are circumstances that prevent us from tearing ourselves away from that complex nest. For us, there just happened to be a rare opening where major considerations turned out to be aimed in our favor. We are thankful for that happenstance and we hope to make the best of it.
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Jalbert Family Adventure 
Great blog! Congratulations! Keep it on!
Kind regards,
George
Comment by George— August 30, 2008 #