Margot's Artwork for sale Sunday, August 14th - Samples

 

   "Brick Head"  24" x 18", Acrylic  and mixed media on canvas   $165

 "Sweet Dreams"  Acrylic and Paper on Board 

 "The Present"  Acrylic and hand made paper on Board

"Francis's Canaries in the Coal Mine"  Acrylic and Handmade Paper on Board

"Angelita"  Travel photos from Spain and Italy, 2005

"I loved visiting Denise and Joe! They gave me lots and lots of biscuits! David and Kristen let me chase them around! Sara-the-other-dog shared her kibble with me! But where's my souvenier t-shirt?" 

One of the key steps in arranging our trip was renting out our house while we traveled. Friends helped out by taking digital pics of our house (thanks Kathleen!) and posting the images on our simple web page (gracias, Jack!) at http://home.earthlink.net/~ginjerales 

Life in Valencia was simpler... we enjoyed walking and riding bikes for our daily errands and routines, something that's harder to figure out in our busy lives here in Shoreline / Seattle . Here, we drive a lovely old Mercedes on Biodiesel, and I'm considering saving up for an e-bike... Linus missed having his wide circle of friends around, as we all did, but we also enjoyed the luxury of spending lots of time with the friends we made in Valencia. 

Whooee! Here we are in Venice, living my dream-come-true. We've just rescheduled our tickets to Vernaza, since the 24 hour rail strike popped up suddenly. Our change in plans allowed us an extra day in this unbelievably beautiful city, unique in all the world, and the added adventure of a journey on the night train. Travel teaches flexibility, resiliance, and how to attract opportunities when plans change suddenly. 

Create Your Own Sabbatical

Every Journey Begins in Your Imagination

Mark and I began imagining our trip back to Spain as soon as we returned from our year in Barcelona, in 1986. We imagined living overseas with our child, introducing him or her to the Spanish language and culture, and all the adventures we could have together. About 18 years later, we realized our son Linus would be graduating from High School in a few years, and if we were going to live this dream, we'd better get moving! So we began by imagining how we might make it happen. We had shared our idea with friends and family for several years, and were always met with encouragement (thanks, friends and family!).

Next we set a time frame that might work: 6 months. Long enough, we hoped, to get a good taste of the culture, set up a home base, and travel to Italy and Portugal, 2 countries we had never visited before and always dreamed of seeing.

Leaves of Absence: We approached our respective employers with our plan, and they essentially gave us the green light. My job was not guaranteed for my return, but we mutually agreed that my return the following school year would be mutually desirable (I teach art at Chrysalis School in Woodinville). I would leave after the first semester, creating extra work and challenges for the folks who schedule my students and classes. I appreciated the support, graciousness and extra efforts involved in allowing me this unpaid leave.

Mark's employer at Historic Seattle was very enthusiastic about the trip, and offered as much vacation pay as possible to support our adventure. We had been saving for over a year, beginning with a chunk of money we set aside when we refinanced our home. Although we didn't do very exacting calculations, we had a rough idea of how far the money would go, and how much it cost to live in Spain. We used a number of books ("Living and Working In Spain") to assist us, plus a very helpful conversation with fellow travelers who were setting up home on Mallorca (gracias, Mandy). We knew prices had risen dramatically since our year in Barcelona, and even since our most recent visit to Spain in 2001, but living expenses were still relatively higher in the US, giving us hope we could make our money stretch for the duration. If necessary, we could supplement it with teaching (at the local American School and local English schools.

We were extremely lucky to find The Tenant from Heaven to rent our house while we traveled. Megan responded to our notice on Craig's List, which we posted in early September. She was living and working in Montana at the time, but planned to relocate to the Seattle area. Our dates matched her needs very well, and we also offered a nice but not too nice fenced yard for her 2 dogs to run around in. Megan provided us with great references, then flew out to meet us before the deal was set, and she continued to be completely on top of every detail once she moved in. Wow.

Every day details: My sister Denise and her husband Joe took care of our dog Ivy while we were gone, and my Dad very generously agreed to sort through the mail we would forward to their address. Mom and Dad kept us posted of any family news, and helped Megan out with anything she needed. Brother-in-law Andy acted as on-call assistance as well, if anything sprung a leak in the house or the car needed starting.

Finances were a big concern. We switched to on-line banking, so Mark could monitor transactions while we lived in Spain, and we invested in a new lap top for this, and for Linus.
I met with his high school counselor to figure out how to maintain his schooling and credits. Jill
directed us to BYU (Brigham Young University) for on-line classes which matched up well with his high school requirement's and I enrolled him before we left.

As you can imagine, there were a thousand other details to take care of, but once the large pieces were in place, the rest flowed pretty smoothly. Passports, visas (we by-passed these, and fortunately, they turned out to be quite unnecessary), connections + assistance from friends in England and Spain, and new Servas friends all fell into place. It takes a lot of support to make any dream come true - thank you friends, visible and invisible, for all your help.

Re-entry: Mark and I knew from our first trip that returning and resettling can be the most challenging part of great adventures. We kept a financial cushion to ease our return, remembering being absolutely broke after the year in Barcelona, and I would have the month of August to help get our household back together. He returned to his job a few days after our plane touched down at SeaTac, while Linus and I moved boxes back in from the studio. Two months later, nearly every box is off the floor and unpacked, and we've given away another 15 bags worth of stuff we don't need, after all (but meanwhile, 3 heavy boxes of stuff we shipped from Spain have arrived to take its place; oh well). And yes, we are at low ebb financially. It was absolutely worth it.

If you have the opportunity to create your own sabbatical, we encourage you to go for it!

Mark and Linus leaning on each other for support... it's tough, living at the beach, but somebody had to do it.