4:00am Adventure day 1!

Forgive me if this post rambles a bit- it's 4am and Tyler and I are already awake (our flight is 12 hours from now).  We are awake because we are excited, we are nervous, we are ready to go and possibly because we had a little too much fun at our send off/son's 7th birthday party last night.  I think it is fitting in this first post to acknowledge our amazing, amazing friends and family.  We could not have asked for a more loving conclusion to our time in Denver.  Thank you to each and every one of you- whether we saw you at the party or in the few weeks before our departure.  We are blessed.

What is this adventure?
About 9 months ago...pretty ironic that this crazy idea has the same gestational period as a baby...we decided as a family to embark on a travel adventure.  The plan has taken many forms during that time- driving to and through Mexico, Central and South America, volunteering on a Chilean ranch, working during the wine grape harvest and festivals in Argentina- all of these were wonderful ideas (and could actually happen) however, the most compelling idea for adventure has us taking to the seas.
Short version:
At 3:45pm today we will be flying to Fort Lauderdale in order to buy a 27-37 foot boat and sail the Caribbean for the next 6-10 months.  If we fair well, we will make it to Belize or as far as the Panama Canal.  This is stage 1 of what we hope will be a new part of our lives that includes living and working abroad.

Why?
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It    

Traveling and living in different countries has always been an important part of who I am and who Tyler is (Cyrus and Zander have no choice right now).  Some of our friends may not know this about us because we have spent the last 9 years in Denver, CO.  Don't get me wrong, Denver has done a great deal for us- it is where our son was born, where we bought, fixed, and sold our first house, where both Tyler and I have advanced our careers.  We woke up 9 months ago, however, to the realization that we were moving further and further away from what we valued most- family, travel, adventure- and inching ever closer to a routine of working 50-60 hours a week, digging a gigantic debt hole and ignoring each other. 
So- we sold our house (an adventure in itself), paid (most of) our debt and here we sit- now 5am with one way tickets to Florida.  I'm not sure how this adventure will end, but I know that we've taken the most important step already- now we just have to keep moving "boldly in the direction of our dreams."