This is one of those questions we get a lot. I understand why. Not everyone will take a trip like ours in their lifetime and it would make things so much easier if you had a list of must visits that you could start with. But the truth is there isn’t one stop on our trip that I would sacrifice for the others. Each of the stops gave us something different, for sure. China, which was so hard at times, was also so incredible at others.

 

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Walking and Talking in China

 

 

And then there’s Portugal that stole my heart from the moment we saw it from the back of a motorcycle in Lisbon.

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And India whose soul is in the eyes of everyone you meet and where you can’t help but be swept away.

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And Egypt and New Zealand and Kenya and …you get the point.

And so you can imagine how difficult it is for us to pick one place over all the others.

Correction: You can imagine how difficult it is for three of us to pick one place over all the others.  Cameron has no trouble whatsoever.

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From the moment he got there, he’s known. And despite the amazing adventures he has experienced in other countries, despite high flying balloon adventures, and pyramid climbing and cooking classes and french pastries , he hasn’t wavered.

The spot: Alberta.

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Yup. That Alberta.  The one in his home country of Canada. And the third stop on our trip.

The only word I can use to describe him when he was there is euphoric. It was the stop that made him feel like a “big boy” whether he was riding a horse all by himself or cheering at the Stampede.

 

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I tell you this because I think so many people are hung up on the reasons they can’t do a trip around the world. They tell me how amazing a trip around the world must be for my children and they lament the fact that it may not be something they can give their own. They spout off lists of places that are “too far away” and forget that it’s not the place but the experience in it that matters.

I want you to understand that while I am so glad and feel so fortunate to have been able to show my kids so much. I’m also very aware of how the smallest actions closer to home can have a big impact. How exposure can help a child who thinks he’s so very small, find himself .

So thanks Alberta, for showing Cameron where his heart is. In your mountains, on your trails and with a horse named Chip.

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