Nobody believes me when I say that the 80 days thing is a coincidence. But it is.
We leave the day after Isabel's last exam and return the day before the first full day of school. 80 days.
Actually from take off to touch down at Winnipeg International is 79 days and 20 hours, but door to door from our house... precisely 80 days.

And a bit about the backstory. In 1993 after three years in veterinary practice Lorraine and I quit our jobs and backpacked around the world for eight months, doing everything from living in a cave in Greece (a very nice cave mind you) to camel trekking across the Rajastani desert to celebrating Christmas in Hong Kong to island hopping in Thailand to volcano climbing in Indonesia to living with a family in Samoa to... well, the list does go on and on. Everyone said, "Wow, that was the trip of a lifetime!" To which we responded, "Nooo! It can't be the only time we do that! It just can't be." We swore we would do something similar again when we had kids. It's 22 years later. Isabel is 13. Alexander is 10.
It's time.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Day 63 The Voyeurs of Hartham Road

AirBnB has been a fantastic experience. We are now in our sixth rental house or flat on this trip and we have yet to be disappointed. It's hard to imagine what the appeal of a hotel is. Is it the much smaller space? Is it the fact that you usually have to share a room with your kids? Is it the fact that you have to eat every meal in a restaurant? Is it the absence of a garden or patio with a view or other appealing private outdoor space? Is it the higher prices? Is it the generic may-as-well-be-in-Kansas style? You hotel goers, which is it? (People used to mention room service, but now with restaurant delivery services that is less of a factor). In any case, I love AirBnB (and similar such as VRBO).

The previous five rentals were all either investment properties the owners had clearly set up solely for the purposes of renting out and never lived in themselves or were second holiday homes rented out when they didn't need them. This house, the owner calls it a "maisonnette" -  the bottom two floors of a classic London row house with a large garden in back, is the first actual family home we've rented. Will and his family are away on vacation, but this is where they normally live. It feels... odd. Personal photos everywhere on the walls, personal mail delivered to the door, hairbrushes in the bathroom, closets full of clothing... We're looking after their cats as well. It's a strangely voyeuristic sensation. It's a fabulous spot though and we quickly got over the strangeness, but sometimes I do marvel at the ways of the modern world.

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