Major Life Changes and Planning the Trip of a Lifetime

Hello again lovely readers.  Life since returning from Peru has seemed somewhat surreal.  I feel like there is so much to say, and I have no idea how to begin.  So I am just going to jump right in.

First of all, I got married!  I am beyond elated.  I have a new last name and a wonderful husband who has promised to stick it out with me until the very end.  What more could you ask for?  We had an amazing celebration and party to celebrate the start of our lives together with our family and friends, as you can see in the pictures below:

My, rather "our," second major life event is that I gave my notice at work, we decided to not renew our lease in our current apartment, and we're moving to the Windy City!  Chicago - watch out!  DC has been fun but we're both ready for a change of scene.  I find myself browsing the Internet for new places to live in Lakeview/Wrigelyville and getting really jazzed.  It's so exciting and I cannot wait to be back in the Midwest.

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And finally, for our third major life event - our honeymoon.  Mike and I wanted something adventurous.  After discussing what places involve taking insanely long flights to reach, destinations that require a bunch of vaccinations, and what kind of trip would be difficult to have small children tagging along on, we made our choice.  South Africa.

  

I've been fascinated with all of Africa for as long as I can remember.  When I was little, my dad went to both South Africa and Namibia twice on safari.  My father and I watched Meryl Streep and Robert Redford fall in love with East British Africa as the backdrop of Out of Africa and Michael Caine fight in Zulu.  In the 8th grade, he encouraged me to do a science fair research report on the Bongo.  I got an A+ in case you were curious.  Studying French also peaked my interest in many countries that were once under French rule.  There has been no shortage of influence on me, and it is mainly due to my father.

Meryl Streep & Robert Redford in Out of Africa
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Michael Caine in Zulu
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Looking back on my wedding planning process, I think we picked the photographer first, then the venue, then the travel agent who was going to create this amazing honeymoon for us.  Now, I know travel agents are becoming a thing of the past, but I would have gone crazy with planning had it not been for Go2Africa.  When we first contacted them, Mike and I ran off a laundry list of everything we wanted to do on our trip.  Then we were given a price.  I felt as though I had the wind knocked out of me, especially when I was told we needed to hire a private jet to get to one of the places we listed!  That part of the initial plan isn't happening.

The wonderful people who put together our trip gave us great suggestions on how to save money, how much time to spend in one place, and creating the perfect trip for us.  We also don't have to worry about road transfers because they took care of all that as well.  And if we need help while we're there, they have a number we can call and they are at our disposal.  While I love planning my own trips, I have to say, this has been a very nice change of pace.

We're going for three weeks and we're going to be going just about everywhere.  We're hitting up Cape Town, Wine Country, Kruger National Park, and the Kwa Zulu-Natal Coast.  You might be wondering how all this is possible.  Mike and I decided to forgo the traditional wedding registry and instead created a honeymoon registry on Honeyfund.  It was a fun experience writing up each part of our trip and having our friends and family contribute to it.  With each event and activity, I will be thinking of the people who helped make it possible.  At first, there seemed to be some backlash from people who thought it was tacky, but then those people seemed to really get into it!  And everyone who knows us knows that we are avid travelers, so it was perfect for us.

  

I will try to post updates as frequently as I can.  But who knows how reliable the Internet will be where we're staying.  If anything, I'll try to get up pictures.  I can't wait!!