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  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    11
    Day 41

    Goodbye and thank you Galapagos!

    February 8, 2023 in Ecuador

    If someone had asked me a couple months ago whether I would be willing to jump into the ocean knowing I may see hammerhead sharks swimming near by - it would respond With a HECK NO! And guess what - we ALL did it!

    San Cristobal island is the oldest Galapagos Island and has exceeded our expectations!Seriously EVERY SINGLE DAY has been a new adventure.

    -We went snorkeling at the famous Kicker Rock where we saw hammerheads, sea lions, sea turtles, and loads of fish in water so deep, you couldn’t see the bottom. It was Katie’s favorite (she was crazy brave because it was intimidating!)!! Then there was Maddie - who We could barely keep contained on the surface - she kept saying “can I please dive down?!!” We wouldn’t be surprised if a PADI scuba diving class is in her future.

    -We got to JUMP into the middle of the ocean when a pod of dolphins were swimming by our boat.

    -We got to really spend amazing family time with Jenny which was almost unreal because of our location!

    -We finally got to see the election results for the country after weeks of rallies and parades and friendly Brian got to meet the new leader of San Cristobal and take a selfie with him.

    -We watched the sunset on multiple days with sea lions just chilling nearby on the beach. We even saw one roll down the beach all the way to the water 🤣

    - Yesterday we decided that we would “try” one last beach called Loberia that we could snorkel at - Oh my gosh - it was the most amazing experience I think any of us have had. Swimming alongside sea lions and sea turtles in shallow safe waters…we swam next to them! It was so amazing!!!❤️

    Maddie says the Galapagos is like a place you could only see in a movie and that Rupert (the baby sea lion thst the girls named that came up to Maddie when we first arrived) was her favorite.

    Katie says she loved the snorkeling at Kicker Rock with all the wildlife. Amazing!

    Off to LA - in the middle of a 29 hours of travel time with less than an hour of sleep. We’re all exhausted so hopefully this post makes some sense! We had to say goodbye to Jenny this morning, which was sad, but we’re hoping we can convince her to join us on another leg of this trip!    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    1111
    Day 34

    Galapagos now please!

    February 1, 2023 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    After our wonderful week in Cuenca, Ecuador, we took an all day harrowing car ride to the city of Guayaquil, our last mainland stop before our flight to Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. The day included Cajas National Park (a national park up at 14000 feet where we hiked in beautiful mountains pushed up by techtonic plates, with clear blue lagoons nestled within). This was followed by 3 hours of driving along the side of the Andes mountains as we descending back to sea level.

    During this time, we encountered a fairly recent enormous land slide (7 months ago) that took out the main road (already fairly treacherous looking) and basically required the roads be rerouted along a very steep and narrow slope with no guardrail. To boot, add in the crazy fog, rain that leaked through on to Brian’s and my heads in the car and I’ll just say I was questioning my choices for all of us in the subsequent hour or two. In addition to all of that, apparently Guayaquil is a big cartel hub and the news was filled with assasination footage captured on security cameras.

    After a quick flight from Guayaquil to Santa Cruz Island, our next leg of our adventure awaited! 💕

    —————

    What was the 4 Sellers traveling …is now 5. Meeting up with auntie Gigi has been such an easy transition (for us at least - she has to put up with a lot more than we do)!

    Oh Santa Cruz, Galapagos - similar to your wild and diverse landscape, we have been enamored by the unreal wildlife! We’ve seen marine iguanas swimming between us at Tortuga Bay, sea lions chillin on benches sleeping, 10-20 black tipped reef sharks right next to the pier, giant tortoises fighting for dominance (check out the picture Katie took!), and enormous pelicans diving into the water right next to us to eat some delicious fish.

    There is so much to see and learn - Charles Darwin was here about 200 years ago, studying adaptation and natural selection: How the iguanas now swim like sea lions, the birds have adapted their beaks to better survive the varying landscape, and giant tortoises can raise up their legs and necks and now have the ability to eat leaves higher up on bushes, similar to the idea behind the giraffe’s neck.

    The girls have loved seeing all these incredible animals and landscapes. I’ve never seen their faces with so many surprised “O” shaped mouth expressions with all the animals everywhere! It’s been fun to watch through their eyes!

    We’ve loved Santa Cruz Island but I am really looking forward to our next stop: San Cristobal island, the oldest inhabited Galapagos island, tomorrow for our last bit of Ecuadorian and South American adventure! Two hour boat ride first thing in the morning - I’ve heard it can be really choppy so we’ll see how it goes!    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    Day 29

    BINGO in Cuenca, Ecuador

    January 27, 2023 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Yep, we feel like we’ve won the jackpot here in Cuenca. We’re staying right near the center of town (which is up at around 8400 feet) - with almost daily festivals, hearing music till late outside as well as the bells of the old cathedral next our hotel ring at 6:37 am 72 times in a row. We have seen amazing Incan ruins in town and also experienced a spiritual purification at the local market, with very strong smelling flowers and liquid/oils and a raw egg being rubbed on us. And then both girls won $8 at an expat hangout bingo day! Who says what a “typical” Ecuadorian experience while traveling should be - right?

    One of the dilemmas while traveling with kids for this amount of time and moving around so much is that they miss their friends back home and at their age, friends are their whole world. So before coming to Cuenca, I joined a Facebook group for expats (no- we’re not moving - there is just a huge expat community here because it’s awesome and super cheap with good healthcare, and I needed some info). I wrote to some expat families and one American family that lives in Cuenca responded (yay!), telling us about Bingo at a sports bar in town - which has turned into a wonderful new friendship and connection point for all of us. We have played bingo, gone to their house, and hung out at a local park with them. The kids had a blast - and so did us grownups!

    We’re more than halfway through our week in Cuenca. Who knew that Ecuador would be so amazing and diverse in its landscape and overall feel! On Sunday, we head to Cajas National Park and then Guayaquil, our jumping off point to the Galapagos! We get to finally see Jenny (Brian’s sis) on Monday and spend a week together in the Galapagos! Yay! Let the adventures continue! Hope you are all happy, healthy, and safe! ❤️    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    111
    Day 23

    Baños de Aqua Santa

    January 21, 2023 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    We are currently in a smaller Ecuadorian town called Baños de Aqua Santa, in a valley surrounded by lush green mountains and volcanoes (dormant fortunately!). It’s beautiful here and the people have been extremely kind and genuine.

    We’ve loved it here! Our hotel is awesome, food outstanding (anyone want a tomahawk steak? Arepas? Empanadas with chocolate and banana? 🥰) and we have all stepped out of our comfort zones!! We have been so impressed with all the new activities and foods the girls are trying.

    In the last two days, we have gone to a local thermal bath/pool house. The girls jumped right in and had a blast. We’ve gone on two very small but extremely high up cable cars across a very wide and deep valley with a river very far below us. They rocked it. We went right next to an enormous waterfall. They then proceeded to do the “flight of the condor” - where we strapped into a secure swing and we got launched off a ramp that swung over the edge of a cliff!! Have I mentioned the rivers and valleys way below us? The girls and I went on “The Beauty” which forced me to hold in a few choice words. I thought it felt huge. However, Brian, chose “The Beast” which was much bigger. He didn’t hold in his choice words🤣! So much fun!

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Maddie wants to move up to the “Beast” soon. You can hear her in the video scream “This is awesome!” ❤️

    Today we are taking it easy. Katie has yet another cold. We also have the girls math tutor, Alex, today via zoom. Worldschooling has been an interesting and challenging yet rewarding experience so far. The girls are learning so much about these various cultures. I’m still scrambling trying to figure how to help them learn without using up an entire travel pack for all their school supplies.

    We are currently packing, getting ready to head to Cuenca tomorrow, where we’ll be staying for a week. It’s a colonial town about 7 hours south of here and is supposed to be a great place to stay awhile and also explore! I’m planning on taking the girls to get a traditional spiritual cleansing with egg (!) at a local market in Cuenca. Should be exciting!

    Hope you are all having a great weekend!    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    111
    Day 20

    Hi from Ecuador, South America!

    January 18, 2023 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Hi everyone! We arrived in Quito, Ecuador about 3 days ago at midnight via Panama. We were exhausted! However, Brian and I watched the flight status to see exactly when we were crossing over the equator with bated breath since neither of us have ever travelled to the Southern Hemisphere. So exciting!

    Here’s the thing, while writing this, a light bulb just went off - I just realized that when I was a little kid, I went to Bali, Indonesia, and I literally JUST NOW looked at a world map and guess what - Southern Hemisphere! 🤣 Neither of us had been to South America before so who cares, I’m still excited!!

    I’m not going to lie - Quito was a bit much for us. 😳

    Traveling together as a family is a unique experience. We are learning that we just can’t push too much and this is especially the case in a big city with an altitude around 9,000 ft. Walking up 3 steps made us winded like we had just sprinted a mile. I, in particular, dealt with a throbbing headache on day 1. While walking around, when we were two blocks (SO close!) to the historical center of Quito with is a UNESCO heritage site, I could tell some of us were on the verge of tears.

    I later heard “Mom, I want to go back to Costa Rica - I don’t want to see anymore drunk men. I don’t like it here”. We will see so much during these 6 months - we just needed to go back to the hotel and relax.

    While there have been challenges (a couple of letdowns occurring here including with me), we did two really amazing things in Quito. We did go to the Equator or “el Mitad del Mundo,” where we jumped back and forth between Northern and Southern Hemisphere. That was fun as you can see from pictures and Katie’s video that we included. 😂 We also went on a cable car up to 13,000 feet which gave us a panoramic view of all of Quito! Stunning!

    Yesterday we hopped in a transport and are now in Baños del Aqua Santo or Baños, which is a town nestled in a valley with mountains and the largest (dormant) volcano in Ecuador just outside our window. It’s quieter here (I hear chickens rather than buses and horns outside my window). I feel my shoulders relaxing and that I can breathe a bit better (less stress and lower altitude)! There are apparently hot springs 5 minutes away which we’ll learn about TODAY and we’ll be headed to a very high swing on top of one of previously noted mountains nearby. We are also going to be starting our studies of the Galápagos - because we’ll be there in just under two weeks. Jenny, Brian’s sis, is meeting us there and we can’t wait!

    Goodbye all - hope you are having a great week. You’ll hear from us soon!! ❤️    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    Day 17

    Goodbye Costa Rica!

    January 15, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 82 °F

    This week has been one of the most beautiful albeit challenging experiences we’ve had as a family. Last night as Maddie and I went out to the local market, she said “I love it here. I don’t want to leave.” Ah what that does to a mama’s heart who questioned whether a homestay would be too challenging and different. ❤️ I’m actually almost teary eyed thinking about leaving Quepos, Costa Rica and our new Costa Rican family to head to Ecuador.

    In one week:
    — the girls have learned to easily navigate themselves on the public bus and can get themselves to and from our homestay to the bus station and all the way to Manuel Antonio Spanish school.

    — we have truly embraced the meaning behind “Pura Vida” (it’s good/pure life) 💕

    — the girls have opened their minds and have given their all with an intensive kid’s Spanish class while I had to laugh my way through mistakes I made trying to have conversations in Spanish with my Spanish teacher who became a fake hospice patient and family for my learning enjoyment.

    — Brian got to thoroughly enjoy being out taking video and photos in this stunning landscape.

    — we have experienced the BEST home cooked Costa Rican food gracias a Francisca(!!) - lucky us. As the kids have said, “Sorry mom - but when you try, it just isn’t the same” - uh yes I agree!

    — we got to learn first hand about the beautifully diverse wildlife here - from two toed blond nocturnal, omnivorous sloths versus three toes grey vegetarian diurnal sloth, to VERY loud red macaws, monkeys everywhere overhead, to iguanas eating flowers in trees at the beach overhead(never expected to see that!)

    - we have learned that we LOVE seeing this through the eyes of our children: the mind expanding experiences, the beauty, and even the hardship - because from hardship there is growth. We have seen so much and I’m so grateful.

    — !! I have learned that packing and doing laundry for 4 is way stinkin harder than when I travelled independently or when it was just Brian and I. Home/worldschooling books, sheer volume of technology/chargers, masks and JUST SO MUCH stuff. It’s ridiculous. I’ve done laundry 3 times this week. Francisca saw me and said “la Vida de una mama” - we both smiled and sighed. It’s beautiful and exhausting.

    Thank you Costa Rica. Sad to leave but on to Ecuador!!! Time to pull out our pants and jackets!

    Pura Vida!!    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    21
    Day 13

    Happy 14th Anniversary from Quepos!

    January 11, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 81 °F

    We’re into our 3rd day here in Quepos, Costa Rica at our wonderful homestay with Francisca and Joaquin and taking classes at the Manuel Antonio Spanish school. It also happens to be our 14th wedding anniversary today 🥰 so guess what - we’re going to some salsa/Latin dance class tonight with teacher from our Spanish school! 😎

    It’s been a wonderful albeit challenging week. The homestay is an amazing experience and Francisca’s generosity, kindness, and cooking are phenomenal! It’s just either crazy hot both inside and outside, interspersed with crazy downpours of rain! We’re never sure whether to have bathing suits/sunglasses/sunscreen or raincoats. Pura Vida!

    The kids have gotten to experience so many new things here between learning Spanish for 2 hours every day (at a beautiful outdoor classroom); experiencing traditional Costa Rican food; traveling on the local bus daily to school; seeing monkeys walk along telephone wires literally just over our heads; and learning about the culture and money. But I think so far the most “memorable” moment has been related to Bardo, the caring but “loco” cat (as Francisca calls him).

    Around 2 AM yesterday, Katie came into our room next door saying she was having trouble sleeping without much elaboration. I assumed in my tired state that it was the heat and just being in a new place.

    Oh but I was so wrong. 😳

    First let me say, it turns out Bardo the crazy but caring cat, is named (we believe by her kids) after Bart Simpson - the cartoon character - very appropriate given the cat’s personality. Apparently around 1:30 AM on said evening, Maddie used the restroom and while she went into the bathroom at the end of the hall, Bardo snuck into their room and jumped on Katie’s bottom bunk.

    Bardo then proceeded to meow loudly and rub himself along Katie’s entire body for about 10 minutes, with Maddie trying to shoo him away. Katie of course woke up. Bardo continued to meow and jump between Katie’s bed and under the bed with the kids half liking this game and half trying to get the crazy cat out. After 15 minutes, Bardo suddenly sprinted out of the room.

    Katie then comes in to our room then around 2 AM as I mentioned - but guess who else decided to join us in bed. Yep - you guessed it - BARDO, who meowed and RAN around the bed and flopped down next to me.

    Did I mention I was tired? In my tired state, I had just enough time to think “oh that’s probably ok if…”and then Bardo suddenly launched himself at my leg, which was under the sheets (very tempting I’m sure) and lovingly attacked and bit it. Not hard but very speedy and like I said, his personality matches Bart Simpson well. I yelled “OUCH!” and before I knew it Bardo disappeared.

    In the morning, Bardo was waiting for us right outside our door. Happy, meowing, and rubbing up along our legs like nothing had happened. Ay caramba!

    So girls are in class right now. I’m up next - learning medical terminology in Spanish. It’ll be fun - the teacher and I are going to pretend like he’s sick and I have to ask questions and do an assessment.

    After class we’re headed to a new local beach (water is SO warm here) and we’ll let you know how dance class goes! Fun way to spend our 14th anniversary! Brian and I are looking forward to it!! (Not sure about anyone else but they’ll be troopers!)

    I’m off to Spanish class now!

    Pura Vida! Hope you are all doing well midweek! ❤️    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    221
    Day 10

    Costa Rican Homestay Begins!

    January 8, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    After a week of being spoiled and truly vacationing, this evening we begin our “world school” experience! After a five hour drive where we saw the largest crocodile in a river I never plan to set foot ANYWHERE near, we arrived in Quepos, Costa Rica (town near Manuel Antonio National Park) for a week long homestay with Señora Francisca and Señor Joaquin, a family who has had experience with students and tourists staying with them for almost 15 years. They have a schnauzer pincher mix dog (think pincher face with a teeny little body) named Pekis and orange tabby named Bardo. Girls are happy since they already miss our dogs and gerbils.

    Tomorrow morning, the girls and I will venture on the local bus and start a week of Spanish school. Monday-Friday, the girls will take a 2 hour class together and then I will take a 2 hr medical Spanish class during that time as well. Brian, I’m sure, will be off either creating or editing a video and photos. Speaking of which, today he posted a great video about NYC and our trip there a few weeks ago on YouTube. You can look up Brian Sellers and check out his latest!

    I’m not going to lie - it’s crazy hot and for us spoiled Americans, it’s going to be difficult to adjust to no AC here. Fans are blowing at max speed! However the family is so nice. We just ate an amazing pasta dinner thanks to Francisca and Katie finally ate after 3 days of barely eating anything due to a tummy bug. She even said “this is amazing” when we couldn’t get her to eat anything at the resort.

    After dinner, of course we had to play a good old-fashioned-traditional game of Taco, Cat, Goat, cheese, pizza with the German woman who is volunteering here in Costs Rica for a year and staying at the same house. Meanwhile, without any hesitation, the skies unleashed a ferocious downpour only seen in Hollywood movies or Costa Rica.

    Maddie just walked by me and said “I love it here” so I’ll take that as one point for the parents! Here comes that crazy rain again…hope we don’t have that on our way to school tomorrow…but you know what? If we do then we’ll figure it out together. Pura Vida!

    We’ll let you know how Spanish school goes!

    Good night all!
    Heather, Brian, Maddie and Katie    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    5
    2122311
    Day 5

    Volcano! 😲

    January 3, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Hey Peeps - Brian here… So we’d heard that our resort sits at the base of a massive volcano (it’s kinda why we came here), but it had been hiding behind clouds ever since we got here.

    Until Tuesday.

    I’d been waking up early each day to check and see if our “volcano view bungalow” would show anything during the early-morning golden hours, but after three days of nada, I wasn’t expecting much.

    So I was shocked - speechless, actually, which is an uncommon feeling for me - when I pulled back the drapes and saw… Volcán Arenal.

    It was majestic.

    We quickly changed our plans for the day to include a hike around the volcano (unfortunately not to the top of it - they stopped doing that a long time ago) and got some good exercise and learned about how the volcano has shaped the land and the history of this area.

    Then it was “Katie Day,” and she chose to challenge her fears and have us all go on a zip-lining tour. She came into the tour VERY afraid of zipping along at 45 mph a couple hundred feet off the jungle floor… but she did it 9 times and LOVED it. 💪🏻 She then followed it up with a 135-foot rappel down a cliff side. 😲

    Heather and I were SO proud of her for facing her fears, and of Maddie for being nothing but loving, supportive, and encouraging the entire time (not to mention brave in her own right). 🥰

    We met an awesome couple in their 20s on the zip line tour, and they told the girls how cool Heather and I are… so we love them now. 🤣

    We wrapped up the day with some well-deserved volcanic-spring pool time, and a couple fun beverages to boot. Heather’s and mine were more fun than the girls’.

    Today was more chill, with the girls enjoying the pools and me working on photos and a video for my YouTube channel.

    Hope you’re all well, and we’ll chat soon! Pura Vida!    Read more

  • Sellers Round-the-World Trip
    11
    Day 4

    La fortuna - hot springs and sleep

    January 2, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 70 °F

    Happy New Year everyone!

    We’re a few days in on our trip and I keep thinking we MUST have jet leg (I slept right through very loud fireworks on New Year’s Eve - for about 16 hours straight yesterday and there may be some evidence of me taking another several hour nap today). However Costa Rica is only 1 hour behind Virginia! I think we’re starting to relax a bit!

    The hotel where we are staying is a bit of a treat - warm, natural hot springs feed into a pool with swim up bar! We have had our share of Shirley temples and yummy drinks. It’s been raining in a way only found in the movies or in this case, Costa Rica - and the lush landscape is just breathtaking.

    Tonight we ventured into la fortuna town and watched some of the best live music, had some amazing arroz con pollo, and some yummy helado afterwards. There was also a very cute dog trying to get our scraps, who reminded us of one of our dogs we’re already missing back home (thank you Auntie GIGi for taking such good care of them!!).

    Have a wonderful evening and hope everyone is off to a great 2023. I feel my eyes getting heavy again and don’t think it will be tough to drift off here soon to the sound of rain on the roof and nighttime sounds surrounding our bungalow.

    Next week we’ll be headed to some Spanish school and a weeklong home stay in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.

    Before then we’re hoping to do some more relaxing, maybe some zip lining, and hoping to hike up around the base of arenal volcano - problem is it’s been so cloudy we haven’t seen the volcano yet! Our bungalow has a direct view but all we see are clouds! Either way it’s all amazing and we’ll take it as it comes! Pura vida!    Read more

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