Bon Voyage!

Cynthia and I moved to Ecuador almost five years ago with exotic travel plans. In fact, lowering our living expenses so we could travel more was one of our motivations for moving abroad in the first place.

Since arriving in Cuenca in 2010 we've gotten to see a lot of our new country, but a major change in our lives caused a redirection of our international destinations.

Grandchildren.

You see, when we got here we had none--now we have four, all three years old or less.

So our "exotic travel" for the past few years has been to North Carolina and New Jersey. Please understand I'm not complaining. We love those grandbabies with all our hearts, so much so that we gladly spend as much time with them as possible during these irreplaceable early years.

But tomorrow we are expanding our horizons southward as we embark on an awesome trip just for us. We'll spend four days of discovery in Santiago, Chile (we're staying in an amazing 25th floor apartment overlooking the city), a day imbibing in the nearby wine country, then two days at a beachfront villa in Vina del Mar before boarding a cruise ship for a two week journey around the tip of South America that ends in Buenos Aires. We'll steak, Malbec, and tango our way through that amazing city for a whole week before returning home.

Along the way we'll visit the Chilean lake district, explore parts of Patagonia,trek in a gorgeous forest reserve, take a boat trip to see all sorts of wildlife, pass through the Magellan strait and "Glacier Alley," and bounce through wilderness in a 4X4 to hang out with king penguins.

About twenty friends and colleagues from here in Cuenca will be aboard for what promises to be the trip of a lifetime. I look forward to sharing the journey with you perhaps along the way and for sure when we get back.

In our International Living presentations I always quote Henry David Thoreau: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

Brothers and sisters, we're doing just that.

Ciao!