We are moving from Kansas to California, and have a six-week trip to Peru planned in between. I didn’t plan things this way on purpose, but this is how they worked out.
Getting out of the house and on the road was a bit more challenging this time than it has been in the past. The reason for this is that we moved out of our house just before traveling. It sounds a bit crazy, but, in retrospect, I can say that it was a good idea.
Since I have to move to California this summer and we also want to go to Peru, we decided to move out of our house in Kansas, go to Peru, and have our stuff shipped to California so that it is waiting for us when we get there. (This last bit is a good thing as the movers can take up to three weeks to get our stuff from Kansas to California.)
The movers came to our house on Thursday, packed our things, and, by Friday afternoon, drove off with nearly all of our belongings loaded onto a truck. Before they came, I had to pack for Peru – to make sure they didn’t take the things we needed to Peru with them.
When the movers drove off, everything remaining in our house to fit into three categories – 1) stuff we were taking to Peru; 2) stuff we were planning to get rid of; and 3) stuff that we would put in our car and drive to California. This made getting packed fairly easy.
The hard part was getting all of the extra junk out of our house and cleaning the house up so that the renters could move in once we vacated. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday cleaning up and fixing things around the house. My husband, Nando, was still fixing things on Monday morning, even though we were supposed to leave for the airport at 10am. When he suggested he would try and re-install the gutter, I had to draw the line. With an old house built in 1910, there is always something else to fix. We had to leave good enough alone and make our way to the airport.
Despite what you might expect with us simultaneously pulling off a cross-country move and an international trip for a family of five, things went remarkably smoothly. We left for the airport an hour later than planned, but that worked out fine, as I had planned on arriving an hour earlier than we needed to – just in case.
One of the things that made this trip relatively easy is that we packed as lightly as we could. My goal was for us to travel to Peru for six weeks with the same amount of luggage as we took to Hawaii for five weeks – a carry on suitcase and a backpack each. However, that was not as easy for Peru, in part because we will be in cool Lima, cold Cuzco, and hot Piura. In addition, we also like to take our own towels and toiletries to Peru, and I needed to take a few items for my research. So, we took our carry on suitcases and backpacks, in addition to two other items – Nando took his large backpacker backpack and I took a medium-sized suitcase. Still, that amount of stuff was manageable.
We got to the airport, checked in, and got on our plane to Chicago. At O’Hare, we treated ourselves to a tasty meal at Macaroni grill before boarding our flight to Miami. In the past few years, US airports increasingly have decent restaurants. I find you pay just a bit more, but the food is much better than the typical fast food places in the food court. We shared a pizza, lasagna, and fried calamari. The food was great, the kids were happy, and we paid about the same amount we would have paid had we eaten in the food court. Plus, we got table service and could relax during our two-hour layover.
The flight to Miami was a bit delayed, and the kids got a bit rowdy on the plane as we waited 20 minutes on the plane for takeoff. But, it was nothing too outrageous and the other passengers were fairly forgiving. As I write this, we are still on the plane to Miami, where I hope we will have time to stop at the delicious Cuban restaurant in the Miami airport – La Carreta. (Update: The food was indeed delicious and the kids loved it!)
Our flight from Miami to Lima leaves a midnight and arrives at 4:30am. We will be exhausted tomorrow, but I am sure the kids will spend the day running around and playing with their cousins, and especially their cousins’ pets. The twins are 11 and my younger daughter is 8. We haven’t been to Peru as a family since 2007, but they remember our last trip well and are excited about what awaits us.
We ended up having to take a roundabout route to Peru because we are travelling with frequent flyer miles. Frequent flyer miles are great because you travel practically for free, but it is very hard to get the dates and schedules that you want. We were lucky to get dates that worked for us. And, when you have a family of five – getting free tickets to Peru is a major deal!
Despite the last-minute rush and the long trip to Peru, I am excited about returning to Peru, and especially to Cuzco. Cuzco is amazingly beautiful and full of colors. I am so excited about the pictures I will take. I am also super excited about seeing friends and family and just chilling out for a while. I will have some work to do while I am in Peru, but will be there long enough that I will also have plenty of time to enjoy my stay. I almost can’t believe that when I wake up, I’ll be in Peru!
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