It’s about 9:30 pm on a Sunday night. I still have about three sets of photos from Guatemala (months ago!) that I still haven’t shared. Honestly, not a day goes by where I don’t wish I was exploring there.  ut life has been good– and busy, and I’ve traveled two other beautiful places since then, so I really can’t (and I’m not) complaining.

I’m currently exhausted. And maybe fighting something. But I can never tell anymore– is it a mild allergy to mangoes or my dog? Or maybe there is something going around? Or maybe it was touching one too many germy things while traveling. Tonight I am home. Last night I slept at a friends. If you’re following me on Instagram, you know I rented out our house on Airbnb “just to see what it’s like” and filled up the calendar for an entire month in three days time. I was’t expecting that. I thought for sure we’d have a weekend or two booked up, but since I didn’t publicly announce anything, I expected it to be mostly crickets. I was so wrong, haha.

Maybe I would have better prepared if I had known– considering I’m now at a loss of what the plan is for housing and for the dog… but I’ll figure it out. For now, we’re staying a few blocks away at a friends house for a little while. Then who knows, haha. Cliche, but I rarely (never) have regrets. This is just another opportunity for another amazing learning experience, right? Right.


Things have been good. A little chaotic, but good. For a minute I thought, man, maybe I shouldn’t have done this Airbnb thing, but the feeling quickly dissipated… and I went back to thinking, “this will be a good experience.” I think it will be. Breaking old habits, living on less needs, finding new adventures in town, just all of it. Sometimes I like to think that my positivity rubs off in Marlowe. That she’s excited about so many things… because I’m excited. But then sometimes I think, maybe thats how we all should be, and I just haven’t really lost that childlike awe too much. You know? That I do get excited by tiny frogs, interesting flowers, or trying new things. (yes, my mind went to tiny frogs, haha). There’s so much negativity in the world and I want her to always keep that positive light. It’s hard when we come across negative people– or I guess, it’s not hard, but it is a good learning lesson for her. She can see that we can choose to be happy and kind or negative and harsh– and happy is a much better way to live— finding joy in simple every day pleasures is best.

I’m hoping to take a bit of money we earn from this experience to travel somewhere far with Marlowe. She’s asking for South Africa. But I have Asian on my mind. We’ll see where this year takes us. I’m just so grateful to have a kid who so willingly and happily down sizes her material things– who see’s that things can be fun or useful, but understands the importance of finding joys outside of that. It’s not always easy. There are times when I see things that I feel like I want or would enjoy having– but I know that I do not need– that I should just keep walking or scrolling. We’re human. We want things and yearn for things. But she understands things at six that some people may never fully understand. And I’m proud of her for that. I’m grateful for her for that.

grateful for this kid too ^ it’s nice to have friends that share so much of my values and brain. 






Marlowe and I are having a date tomorrow. To be completely honest, her and I have special dates all the time— but we never really call it anything. But over the past few months I’ve put more pressure on her and alex to spend more alone time together– to get out and adventure just the two of them. We put a name or title on it… calling it her daddy daughter dates.” And while I have alone time with her every single day, it doesn’t seems as spectacular without the title. So I promised her that tomorrow, on her day off, her and I could do something special. Anything she wants. I’m looking forward to it— I’m just hoping she doesn’t choose iceskating, haha. I think the iceskating dates are better reserved for her and Alex πŸ˜‰


Anyway we’re good, happy, and healthy here. And we’re excited for our next adventure… even if it’s right in our own town and lacking our own bed πŸ™‚

I hope you guys all had an amazing week. Marlowe and I have been back in Florida for about 2-3 days and it feels like a year and an hour at the same time. πŸ™‚ Looking forward to spending some quiet, easy time with her– walking through the neighborhood, maybe watching some documentaries, workbooks, whatever. Happy holiday weekend, friends! Have a great week!

4 Comments

  1. Definitely appreciate your musings on positive thinking + energy. It's not always practical or easy, but I think overall, you're better off directing your energies + efforts into a MORE positive atmosphere than a NEGATIVE one, that's for sure! These photos are lovely! I hope that when I have a child/children that they will also have my exploratory drive, too.

    / Maria