First Post of 2015

Winter is dismal in the UK, I suppose as it is in most anywhere you might be reading our blog from.  It usually rains 20+ days during the month, and it is rare to see the sun.  That's probably why our blog posts really tail off after Christmas until the sun starts to show up again.

We have been keeping our simple family blog since 2006.  On average, we have the fewest posts in February.  It looks like this year is no different than the average:

In more interesting news, we were able to explore Lanzarote this month with a cheap EasyJet flight.  What an amazing place.  It is a strange volcanic wasteland combined with some incredible beaches transformed into a full tropical paradise by a bunch of smart and creative entrepreneurs.

One of the most amazing sites is the Timanfaya National Park.  The park is basically miles of dried toxic lava that extends well beyond the line of sight.  There is no vegetation, only a couple roads, and little resemblance of life outside of tourists:


This picture from the bus gives a little context on the size of the volcano craters.  Notice the line of cars in the background that are waiting to get into the park:



The best part of an international assignment is amazing opportunities to experience other cultures and places in the world, that would otherwise be unreachable.

For now, it is back to reality of all the difficulties and challenges that daily life in a foreign world can bring:)

Oh, and by the way, in case you are wondering where Lanzarote is, here's a quick geography tip thanks to Google.  It is 11 times closer to the coast of Africa than it is to Spain, even though it continues to be governed as a Spanish Island:

2014 in Review

Thanks to all of our special friends and family who helped make 2014 an incredible year.  Here's a short video to summarize the year.

2014 In Review from Josh Anderson on Vimeo.

And the links to the previous four years: 

2013 in Review

2012 in Review

2011 in Review

2010 in Review

All the best to you and your family this holiday season!  Have a Happy New Year!

Christmas in Chester 2014

We were lucky enough to spend Christmas with Grandma Pam again this year. We always have so much fun together! Highlights include: Last day of school before break, Christmas baking, 'Frozen' tie blanket making, Lantern Magic at Chester Zoo, Snow White Pantomime, hot dogs at Costco, and Christmas with the Liverpool Philharmonic. It was a quick 9 days and I think we wore Grandma out to exhaustion,  but many lasting memories were made. Here are a few moments captured on camera:

The Berkowitz's Visit

We were so excited to finally host the Berkowitz family here in Chester. They have been a bit busy since we moved over: New baby, MBA, and two new careers! Now that all of that excitement has settled, it was the perfect time for them to visit. We enjoyed fish-n-chips (a few times), Christmas markets in Chester and London, Thanksgiving celebration, and a 7th birthday party. It was so much fun! We were so sad to see them go, but their sweet dog Mini was excited to have them back. Thanks for making the trek over. We love and miss you so much!!

A few more Italy highlights

The Cinque Terra is one of the most beautiful places we've visited yet. I just hope that someday we get to return.

We have had an amazing year of life changing travel - all at a fraction of the cost it would have been if we never made the move.

Living as an expat is not easy.  It's not all glory and wonderfully beautiful pictures.  We haven't posted all the challenges, difficulties, and frustrations which equal the number of incredible experiences.  Some of the simple daily activities require so much extra work.  For example, it is hard to transfer money internationally between banks, mailing a package cost 4x, getting your drivers license takes two tries if you are male, and learning the workplace legal requirements requires reprogramming on all levels.

Although, it is probably not different than living anywhere in many regards: life is what you make of it.  It depends on your outlook, your lens, the perspective of which you appreciate the gifts you have been given.

We didn't plan to move to England, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity.  Our eyes have been opened to appreciate experiences and differences that we didn't know before.  We are continually thankful for the learning opportunity, but miss our family incredibly.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Italian Oddities

This week's visit to Italy helped us reflect on some of the cultural differences between living in the US and abroad.

We found many interesting things in Italy:

1. When you receive change back after paying, it is always placed on the counter (not in your hand).

2. Italians smoke a lot.  We got pummeled with second hand smoke:

3. In Rome it appears that you can park just about anywhere...check out a few of the worst parking offenders that we saw:

4. In addition, Italian drivers are crazy.  There is not much use of signals or traffic laws, but extensive use of the horn.  Despite that, there are more fatalities/100,000 cars in the US than in Italy:

Here are a few other interesting comparisons that may be surprising from a few countries that we have visited:

Beer is expensive in Norway!

Gas is way cheap in the US:

Actually, everything is expensive in Norway:

Trip 25: Rome

Day 1 = 3 miles walking

Day 2 = 6 miles walking

Day 3 = 12 miles walking?  I hope the girls are up for this?!

We were so lucky to have a tour guide of Ancient Rome today.  Despite crazy crowds, we saw the best of Ancient Rome and piled on a few steps along the way.

Here are a two picture highlights:

When in Rome...

Go explore and walk until your feet hurt!

Daddy/Daughter Exploring in Chester

Q: What do you do when Mom and Mara go to a birthday party without you?
A: Go explore Chester with an extra camera:)

We explored the Roman Gardens, Grosvenor Park, the church ruins, and the River Dee...

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Trip 24: Lake District (England's "Best View")

To celebrate Mara's 4th birthday, we hit the road to meet up with some American friends in the Lake Distri ct.  We were blessed with incredible weather, great company, and the opportunity to explore some fantastic landscapes.

We found the English equivalent of Yosemite, only it seems like most Brits must not know about it because there were only about 20 other people around.  Maybe it is because you need to drive for 65 minutes down crazy roads fighting sheep, cows, and a few other vehicles on one-way roads like this:

Lake District Drive

The view of Wastwater Lake was unreal.  Check this out...We had no idea that England was so beautiful!