Month #5 - Jan's Homesickness & Yemi's Fernweh

Taking it all in...
Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

Jan managed to leave an all-you-can-eat BBQ hungry because she passed so much of her food through the fence to the stray dogs lining the sidewalk in Iguazu, Argentina. She has a way of adopting stray dogs in each town. When they see her coming down the street, they run to her to see what leftovers she has secured. As happy as she is to put food in a stray dog's belly, the truth is that she is really missing our four-legged boys. While she is truly enjoying our travels, she has finally reached the point where she can't wait to get back home where she has no leg room in bed, is awakened at 6:30am to a cold nose reminding her it's breakfast time, and has a daily two mile walk scheduled, rain or shine.

Yemi is another story. "Fernweh" is how Yemi describes it. It's a word he learned while living in Germany that has no direct translation to English but is essentially the opposite of homesick. His only concern during our final weeks is that we live each moment to the fullest. He doesn't want to find himself sitting at his work desk four months from now wishing he had taken more advantage of each of our days on the road. He could easily travel another 3+ months by his estimate before he has a desire to return home.

We have started talking to recruiters in hopes of getting some job leads before we return to the States, but it's almost impossible to secure interviews without being there so we are just doing our best to network. We are also starting to organize things like short term health coverage and temporary housing. We plan to have everything done soon so that we can just enjoy the last month. It's going to fly by!

Oh, what a feeling, out on the run
Drinking up the rain, soaking up the sun
Laughing a little bit more with every mile. 
Oh, what a freedom, like your sailing the wind
Not looking back, not forgetting where I've been,
Smiling as I watch the years roll by. 
...
I'm learning how to take it day by day...
On my highway. 

-On My Highway by Jason Aldean

We love the motto on this t-shirt!