This year feels different, but similar. Not sure why I’m surprised because Peru is a different country. We’re traveling with different people and our timeline is different.

We loved everything about Guatemala (with the exception of Mr. Saver having to depart after two weeks). We loved our living situation, we loved the people and the food, we loved the school and camp options to choose from. There was a time during our planning for this year I really wanted to go back to Guatemala. It was an ever constant, left brain/right brain battle between adventure and comfort. Exploring a new place or going back to one we knew.

I spend a lot of time thinking about investigating the right location. My checklist includes:

• School and camp opportunities.
• Overall safety. Civil unrest? I do pay attention to government sites, but truthfully don’t always follow guidance. I dig deeper into blogs, local sites and resources to get a better feel.
• Transportation. Do we need a car or can we walk and use public transportation?
• Is the internet reliable? Yes, it’s still possible for a bad connection. I need to work a portion of our trip, so reliable wifi is super important.
• Community. I spend a lot of time spent on Facebook. Central and South America are very Facebook orientated. Where are the cities we want to spend time in and do they have a built-in community?
• Climate. Is it too cold or hot? There is a deep desire for Arizona summers to be a thing of our past. Playing outside, having space to roam free and use their imagination.
• Is it somewhere we want to spend quality time in?
• Mr. Saver’s favorite topic – cost. How expensive is the destination? Can we live frugally without sacrificing safety or experience? Most of the justification for these summers away is if we stayed home, the cost of summer camp is the same as our travel.

There are lots of moving parts, but I love puzzles. I love the dig of learning about the location, the community and the many options before I ever set foot on the ground. I want to feel as if I’ve already lived there and have a ‘filing cabinet’ of ideas. I often change my mind a time or two. I’ll book something and then cancel as I continue to build the plan. I make a big effort to make friends and have resources. Living local is important and the locals always have the best recommendations.

Selfishly I began thinking about this summer in September/October 2024. I think about S&S junior and if he’ll have a friend. I think about my need to work remotely and for him to be occupied and fulfilled. I knew the Riley family, our summer buddies last year, had different ideas and meeting up with them was unlikely. I started to talk to other families, mainly school families whose children also attend the dual-language school, who had expressed interest in our Guatemala adventure. I started to plant the seed and see if the desire was more of a facade than an action. Leaving for the summer isn’t an option for everyone and traveling to Central and South America isn’t for everyone either. And anyone who has traveled with others know that group travel also has its set up stressors. Let’s just be honest, not everyone jives the same while traveling.

Where would we go!? Who would we go with?! And how would it stack up to last year’s magical adventure?

Cheers!