Todd:  After 16 years at my current job, I am looking forward to breaking some routines.   Everything about this trip scares me:  driving on the left, exchange rates, airport security, unknown cell connectivity and big, crowded tourist areas.

Victoria:  I love to travel, organize, and make lists, and I am our family’s official photographer.  One of my goals for this trip is to show the girls that the world is a big place, with many cultures, religions, traditions and ecosystems, but at the same time, it’s a very small place where our actions can have an impact and where people are intrinsically the same (everyone loves, laughs, cries, plays, etc.).  I am going to try to take pictures of the Milky Way, bioluminescence in Thailand, and the Loch Ness monster.  I will also learn to order hazelnut ice cream in as many countries as possible.

Lucy:  I am 9 years old, and I am in the 4th grade.  I will be turning 10 in Spain.  My favorite subjects are art, science and reading, and I like poetry.  My favorite food is rice.  I am excited about the trip because I will taste different types of ice cream, and I will see different animals.  I am also looking forward to the Fairy Tale Route in Germany, and I can’t wait to stay in the Von Trapp Villa in Salzburg.

Natalie:  I am 8 years old, and I am in 2nd grade.  My favorite colors are gray and blue, and I like art, music and library.  My favorite animal is a monkey.  I hope we see some in Thailand and Japan.  I am looking forward to seeing cool fish in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, walking on the Great Wall of China and having lunch in the Eiffel Tower.  My monkey Jo-Jo will be joining us on the trip.  

Jo-Jo:  I am a monkey, and I am also 8 years old.  I love Natalie more than anything.  My only goal for this trip is to make it back home safely.