Our Global Journey

 It's been a while! Raising children in a foreign country is amazingly rich with experience, and deep in challenge. We are coming out of hiding after COVID-19 lockdowns, navigating the teenage years, and transitioning to parents of adults. We have so many stories to share - they will come one at a time in the coming months. We now have two adult children living in the USA. Our oldest has graduated from university and is doing a great job adulting. Our second is attending university and loving life as a college student in a big city. Our youngest is in his last year of high school, living with us in Timor-Leste - our next adventure.  Proud parents of our first university graduate! June 2023 Our first day in Timor-Leste - and we still can't get enough of coconuts on the beach. August 2023 One thing we have realized - is that very shortly, we will no longer have children at home. We are almost done with this stage of our life, and soon it will just be the two of us living togethe...

It started out as a perfect evening.  We took a crazy dirt road with huge divots to a private beach on Kapchagay Lake in Kazakhstan.  We all pitched our tents and started enjoying the calm waters of the evening.  We were camping with some French families that we had become good friends with as our children all went to school together in Almaty.  It was almost like glass, and the temperature was perfect.  The kids were paddle boarding, digging sand pits, and the adults had fun wading in the water.  Tents lined up for our perfect evening. What a great way to learn how to paddle board - on perfectly calm water! There was barbeques lamp chops, chicken, salads, French cheese, and mojitos to go around.  After the campfire, laughs, and good stories, we all retreated to our tents to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the lake. Campfires, games, stories and good food for a great, unsuspecting evening! About 2 AM we were all suddenly woken up...

We spent two summers in Clare, Nova Scotia and adored our time there.  Clare is a French speaking region of Nova Scotia, and has a very unique culture.   One of our favorite things to do was go to the local Friday night Lobster feast every week!  One of the local fishermen would bring in lobster that they caught that day and cook it up, right there on the beach.  They would sell whole lobsters for $20 CDN, along with rolls and of course some melted butter.    We would bring our own sides and bottle of wine, and then sit on a blanket or picnic table on grass overlooking the beach, enjoying local bands, and the sunset over the ocean. The local baker was there selling homemade desserts, so the evening always ended extra sweet. Audra's parents even came for a visit all the way from California - and the drove in an RV! They said the lobster was worth the drive.  :)  Be sure and check out our new instagram page!  #fiv...

Check out our new Instagram account!  We will be posting our best pictures that highlights our adventures, local culture, food, nature, beauty and excitement for travel!  Follow us and subscribe to our blog for future posts. #fivetraveling #ourglobaljourney

Lora made a video of our summer in England, Scotland, Wales, California, Idaho, Utah and Guyana. Enjoy!  

The Global Field Program through Miami University is a master's program that changes attitudes and behaviors towards our Earth. It promotes a love of this planet, its systems and processes, its species and resources, its ecosystems and interactions, and the Homo sapiens who have the responsibility of using it sustainably. The amazing Kaiteur Falls. I have seen the beauty of this Earth, and I have the responsibility to bring it to others, show them how fragile it is, and inspire them to save it.  A momma spider monkey looking down from above.  A beautiful species hidden deep in the rainforest and affected by humans' excessive need for their home which provides resources that we throw away after one use.  This is Junior. A vibrant young Makushi who lives in Surama, Guyana. He shared his knowledge of the rainforest with us as one of our guides. He even taught us traditional practices, such as making this arrow for hunting.   The Makushi culture was stifled throug...

Hi again,  This is Adeline, I almost forgot about our first trip to Kyrgyzstan. What a beauty, a Camel. We didn't expect to see these on the side of the road. Our friend told us she has never seen a Camel on the side of the road in Kyrgyzstan. They were super cool to see.  This is us going to see the Seven Oxen. We didn't see seven alright, but we sure enjoyed going to visit. The legend is from far away someone thought they were oxen, but when they found it, it was just a red beautiful rock.  Us making a wall hanging out of felt. All they use to stick it together is soap and water. I really enjoyed kicking it. That's right I said kicking it. When we were all finished it looked AWESOME!!!  Thats all. Hope to see you on our next global journey! 

Hi again, It's the family's little blogger again, Adeline. Sorry it took so long. India  One of the coolest things we saw on our trip was a leopard. These magnificent creatures are one of the most rarest things to see in the world. What's the story? We heard these calls that the animals make when they see a tiger or a leopard. So the guards heard one and we started going up on a hill , on a safari one evening. Soon we parked in the middle of these stairs to hike up to this statue. All the sudden the guards are running up and they turn back and start yelling " LEOPARD, LEOPARD!" So we all start rushing up there and it was right there. Super cool right.  So this is another one of our must sees, The TajMahal. It looks like its fully white, but actually when you get up close it's a one of a kind. The inside is beautiful, too.  Make sure to wear booties and take no photos. Last, but never least is the Lotus temple. It is so gorg...

Keith made a great video that documented our family summer vacation in England, California and Paris.  Check it out!

Our school, Almaty International School, had a promotional video made last year, and guess who it features!  Audra and Adeline are both in it!  Check it out!  www.qsi.org

I went to Baja, Mexico this summer as I am pursuing my Master's in Biology through the Global Field Program at Miami University. The experience was so much more than just a course.  It was so much more than just academic.  It was so much more than just ecotourism.  It was so much more than just field work. It was so much more than I ever thought it would be.  I discovered pieces of myself in Baja.  It's no secret that I love science and I love to travel.  So I knew this Master's program was perfect for me!  What I didn't bank on was looking deep into myself, honestly, without judgement, and being able to fight through the cloudiness to discover where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. This if Rafael.  I get tears in my eyes every time I look at this picture.  He has a way of looking deep into your soul and telling you more about yourself than you thought was possible for a stranger to know.  "You were born somebody."  This...

Paris - je t'adore.  We had the great chance to go to Paris on our way back to Almaty this August.  Audra has been there before, and even did a semester abroad when she was 19.  It was great to be back.  It reminded me of how much I love all things French.  :)  We met Paris in the rain.  Fresh off the plane, we cleaned up at the hotel and then went into the city.  We got some baguette sandwiches at a local boulangerie and ate them at the park behind Notre Dame.  The bridge of locks symbolizing love.  Behind us is Notre Dame's flying buttresses.   We waited in a horrendously long line to get in, and it poured.  But man was it worth it!  The line went fast, and the inside of Notre Dame is breath taking.  It is very rare to see Notre Dame without scaffolding!  We were so lucky to see it in its entirety.  Breathtaking.  The inside is surprisingly peaceful after the crazy crowds outside. ...