The Full-Moon Interlude

Upon returning from our adventures in beloved New Zealand, we took a somewhat planned 2 month stint away from our full-moon.  The original plan was to be back in the US for April and to continue our travels in May.  As it turns out, though, it’s very expensive to quit your jobs and travel the world. . . Who knew?  So, we thought we would take advantage of some work Dave was offered in Europe in June, before part III of the Full-Moon.  We’re calling our time in April and May the Full-Moon Interlude. 

April was filled with happy things.  We had birthdays, a marathon, and a wedding. The days in between were filled with lots of time with friends, family, and our favorite puppies.

Then May came.  Hmmm.  All those big events we came home for had passed.  Hmmmm. Everyone went off to work.  We slept in.  We caught up on some of our favorite TV shows.  Honestly, we weren’t feeling like real winners. As Dave likes to put it and joke with my parents, after marrying me, he quit his job, convinced me to quit my job, spent our life savings travelling the world, and moved into his in-laws basement.  Maybe not exactly the partner every parent dreams of for their daughter. ; )

Over the next 2 weeks we poured our time and energy into a very thorough search for the perfect place to eventually call home. It felt kind of good to be so systematic and deliberate, while having a good time with it.  The candidates: Brattleboro, VT ; Portland, ME; Hanover, NH; Portsmouth, NH;  Amherst, MA; Northampton, MA. We spent a day in each town and had an extensive interview protocol for our site visits.  Our favorite question: If your town were to have a statue greeting visitors what would it be of and why?  Included in the visits was a trip to the local bike shop, a search for gluten-free pizza, a sip of the best coffee in town, a stop at the best off-leash dog-walking locale. . .  Very scientific, indeed.  Only two towns survived this crucible. The finalists: Portsmouth, NH and Northampton, MA.  Stay tuned!

After finding our potential perfect places to call home and still several weeks away from Full-Moon Part III, we started feeling a little purposeless down in the basement of 6 Oakwood Rd. 

Amy: “I’m feeling a bit purposeless.  We should either have a baby or train for an Ironman.” 

While the Fongs and Janet were pulling for the baby, our currently unemployed status (and accompanying lack of robust health insurance) along with a little push from our ambitious triathlon friends (TUTTS and ALI ) led us to sign up for our first Iron distance triathlon: Beach 2 Battleship (Wilmington, NC on Oct. 29, 2011).  That kept us busy for a while and will continue to over the next 5 months.  Thanks for helping us find a purpose, friends!

And then, it was time… Off to Europe for a little freelance work in Switzerland, and then on to Italy for the Full Moon Part III. 

Wait, Italy?  You were probably expecting us to be in Croatia.  That was the plan initially.  But somewhere along the way, in Iceland and New Zealand, we got inspired by some cycle-campers.  And that sounded like fun. So we thought we’d cycle-camp through Croatia.  However, it didn’t take much research to learn that neither the roads in Croatia nor its drivers are particularly friendly for cyclists.  So we thought we’d pick a more cycle-friendly country, like Italy, and save Croatia for next time. 

Bongiorno, Italia!  It’s time for the Full Moon, Part III.  Ciao bicis!