June 3, 2016 

It's hard to decide what to do first when you are talking about storing your home here in America, what to pack, what you need and covering all legalities.  This is not a two week vacation but a take our time and explore Europe adventure.

First, thing will be getting our passports, we have never had them so I will get my husbands first then mine.  You hear  scary stories about the hassle involved in getting a passport and most important the picture.  I am very photogenic and my husband is great at his photos, so I will practice with getting his first.  

Sometimes it is easiest to go to the horses mouth, so I searched U.S. passport applications and came up with this link: 

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/apply.html. 

Read through this website first, it walks you through the whole process from eligibility, to photos then submission.  After determining eligibility with three basic questions it will then prompt you to select the type of passport that you need.  I selected the Passport book $110.00 which would be for international travel.  The other two selections would be for travel for a Mexico, Canada or close to these areas.  The third selection is for both choices, it costs $140 to cover all the bases, but we are only going to Europe.  We selected the standard processing and delivery which was no extra costs, the total in all came to $135.00 (execution fee, you think that they could come up with a better term than execution) which is payable at acceptance facility.

You are then walked through all of the acceptable documents that you will need for your application.   Also you are given very specific dimensions for your photo if you choose to do it yourself.  You do have the choice to use your drivers license photo. No thank you for mine - I look like no sleep, bad food and too much teaching got a hold of me.

You can then fill out the form on your computer or print it out and hand fill it in.  I will let my computer do the typing.  This is a very easy form because they walk you through everything.  Know that you need to know your parents date of birth and where they were born.  After you complete it you will be prompted to print it out, and they will tell you where to take it, what you need and how much it will costs - Easy!

Hope this helps!!!

Have a fantastic Friday and Weekend!

Alicia

June 1st it starts!!!!

At 11:12 p.m. on 11/7/2015  we are now 18 months 24 days 00 hours 17 minutes and 58 seconds from leaving on our adventure!  Scared yes!  Excited - yes! Who the heck are we?  We have been married for 36 years and have always been there for our kids, they are all almost grown and we will now be venturing out to something so much out of our comfort zone that is will be crazy.  I'm a born and raised Texas girl and Jim is a Coast Guard traveling kid so this is going to be amazing. 

On our blog we will write about what we are doing to get ready for this and put our checklists and every other list, obstacle, learning lesson and adventure, so you can follow along.  There should be many laughs along the away!

This is some of our wonderful Texas scenery we will be leaving (Big Bend), but hey we will embrace the Dolomites and the Austrian Alps! 

Stay tuned and please share your advice with us!

Blessings!

Jim and Alicia