by Addie Pascal

“Even as I write this, it feels almost too good to be true.

Since my first international trip barely across the border into Mexico as a naive college student hell bent on changing the world in 5 days, I’ve had “the bug.” The bug to travel. There’s something invigorating, refreshing, and soul-filling about carrying all you own in a bag or two and heading out into the great wide world, half on a mission toward self-discovery, the other half intent on learning how others do this crazy thing we call life. And one hundred percent in search of adventures that simply cannot be planned.

When Ben worked a sabbatical into his terms of call nearly 5 years ago, we had a newborn baby fresh out of the NICU. I did not have the emotional or mental capacity to even fathom what that meant or what it would look like. I could see no further than the next feeding, the next diaper change. Yet here we are. Five years later, with a fully potty-trained baby capable of eating his own food who goes to school, skis blues, and rides his bike nearly 6 miles without even thinking about it. Plus another sweet addition, 4 years old and not far behind her “big” brother (though she is taller than him, and probably always will be because #habeshabeauty). And a delightful old soul of a 9-year-old, wise beyond her years and a gift from heaven to her mother, who would not be able to cope otherwise.

We are standing on the brink of Ben’s first sabbatical. What a sabbatical it has turned into!…”

Read the full blog here! Follow along with the Pascals’ adventures by checking addiepascal.com throughout their Sabbatical journey.