For those of you reading these blog posts for the last 11 months: thanks! All good things must end, though.

I suspect this will be the last travel-related blog from us. Starting in about September, I’ll refresh the look and feel of the site and turn it towards marketing and academic content. So, just to warn you: the cute pictures and kid blogs will end (although I will find a way to keep all the trip content tucked away somewhere on the site).

Speaking of cute pictures…

We ended our crazy, wonderful year with a few days in Bruges. If you’ve seen the movie “In Bruges” you know that some people may find it a little boring. We did not. We had a great stay there, just wandering the canal streets and cute alleys. We also went to a very interesting style of history museum, Historium, complete with a virtual reality trip back to the medieval times. Oh, and I did I mention that Belgium has great beer?

Bruges is a place I would love to return to: for the food, the atmosphere, the beer, the cycling opportunities, the beer…

I’ve been delaying writing this final blog for several reasons. First, it’s hard to figure out how to sum up our year (more on that below). Second, the Semester at Sea students have done such an incredible job posting short videos of their experiences that a combination of old school words and still pictures just doesn’t seem sufficient. And finally, because I’ve been reading some of the travel blogs from some of the excellent writers that were on the ship with us, and again, I feel completely inadequate! But alas, I will try to describe the past year. I will try and avoid words such as “best,” “worst,” and “favourite,” as those words don’t do justice to any of the experiences. Here goes:

Our year can best be imagined as a series of waves that sometimes overlapped, and sometimes crashed into one another. When two positive waves, such as those created by new friends and fantastically interesting experiences, collided, it created almost pure joy. One example would be my very vivid memory of driving in the rain in Vietnam, having experienced Hanoi and Halong Bay, and watching Joe play a new “game” with his friend Summer Genovese. The game was who could do the best work in long division problems! As I said: pure joy.

When two negative waves, such as those created by extreme uncertainty and high stress, collided, it created misery. Mid-December, as we were temporarily homeless, terrified by the seeming indifference of the Indian visa authorities as they told us our visas wouldn’t be ready in time (they were), and leaving a bunch of my “trip clothes” behind in my sister’s (sold and about to be packed up) house, was a very bad time. But our friends and families came to the rescue; perhaps they don’t even realize how much. So thank you Nick and Lauren Teevan, Matt Thomson and Allison Johnson, and Doug and Joan Cotte. Your assistance last year got us through a very bad time.

The year itself came in three chunks, of course: Sedona Arizona, Semester at Sea, and Europe. For two thirds of those chunks, the kids were alone with Dan and I. That was a challenge for them, so we were thrilled that they connected with a great group of “ship kids” as we sailed around the world. In addition, Joe’s “big sisters” Ashleigh and Panache, and Jack’s “big brother” Jared, were an awesome addition to the family. And Jazmine, who we all adored. For all of us, I think Semester at Sea was the “main course” of the year, for many reasons. Europe presented challenges (constant movement, lots of planning, trying to find family rooms and food kids would eat) but also cultural touchstone moments, for all of us.

Travel is intimidating, humbling, and fantastic. I know the boys have imprinted experiences (good and bad) that won’t leave them, for better or worse, ever. Eleven months, 19 countries, many more cities. Planes, trains, buses, cars, ships, and some boats… When can we do it again?