The first and hardest steps of pre-departure preparation have been 1) purging our home, 2) listing our many responsibilities and accounts to settle up, and 3) preparing our hearts to say "so-long" to many dear friends whom we will miss sorely. The busy-ness of logistics planning helps to keep the sadness of goodbyes at bay, though we have all had moments of melancholy. Our past weeks have focused on: Schooling options for the kids - online high schools and home school curriculum Finding the right language school and volunteer opportunities for our first month in Ecuador Getting our house ready to rent out Completing work commitments Hiring a student intern for Carrie's business Switching healthcare insurance, car insurance, and visa cards Getting new passports for the kids Updating our computer and camera equipment for maximum mobility Researching Ecuador and Peru - making contact with friends of friends The work continues on all of those fronts. We will buy airline tickets soon for