Home Sweet Home (Kinda)

Home Sweet Home (Kinda)Well I said that I would be writing more in the last blog, and unfortunately that hasn’t been happening too often. Oh well, all we can do is be better moving forward!

After Prague we took a 24 train ride down the Gradac, Croatia. We got a small AirBNB right off of the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We spent a week relaxing and staring in awe at the beauty of Gods creation. The water was crystal clear, the weather was perfect, and if I can say so myself, the company was quite nice!

After our week of kicking back the Gradac we flew to London, where we have been for about a week and will be here until the end of May. We rented a nice Airbnb that we have to ourselves and we get to have a little home for awhile. We got to join and gym, attend a Hillsong church, and make some friends in our short little time here. 

We are loving everything about London so far as well. The people, culture, food, and accents (duh) are all so fun to be a part of. It is also a treat to be able to have conversations with everyone again! 

We plan on living here for another month, and then it’s off to Dublin to meet my parents! We look forward to getting the chance to live like a local and get a feel for life here in London, but still seeing everything there is to see like a tourist. 🙂
Please continue to pray for us to be safe, stay committed to what we set out to do, and continue our lives living within God’s plan for us!

The Past Month

Wow! I didn’t realize that is has been a month since we have las blogged. I apologize for not writing this sooner and keeping you up to date on our travels and experiences. 
The last month has been the best part of our voyage so far. First off, Nicole came and visited us in Austria and we had a blast. We got to explore Salzburg, Munich and Vienna together, sing along to the sound of music tour, go to an amusement park, do some hikes, and simply relax with some company. 
After that we bolted down to Athens, Greece to meet Our friends Joe and Sanaa. Together with them we visited the ancient ruins of Greece including the Acropolis, Temple of Athena, and The Temple of Poseidon. We all sat in wonder looking at the ruins and living in the vibrant Greek culture. And yes, the Gyros were awesome.
The four of us then hopped onto a puddle-jumper plane over to Venice, Italy. There we got to wander the canals, eat way too much pizza and pasta, and take a gondola ride. Venice was amazing and truly a unique experience to visit. No cars, narrow alleys and streets everywhere, tons of people, creates a culture that I doubt we will find elsewhere. These are just brief synopsis’ of our time there, as describing everything we took in would be impossible. Both places created a sense of Wonder and we are so thankful to have visited there. 
We loved having the three of you visit and we can’t wait to catch up when we return home!
After Venice Katherine and I took off to Ljubljana, Slovenia for some R&R. We rented a little car, drove through the beautiful mountains and gorges, took some naps, and rejuvenated for the next leg of our journey. We are now off to Budapest to have some nice Mineral baths and see what Hungary is all about!
Please pray for us that we stay focused on achieving our goals, and that God would provide insight into our future. We have been talking and praying a lot about careers, family, etc. so any prayers for us would be widely accepted and appreciated. If there is anything we can do for any of you please let us know! 

Moving forward

We are headed to Germany after a week in a Belgium, Amsterdam, and Denmark. We are going at a pretty fast pace, as we are trying to see as much as we can in our limited time! After this month we are going to slow down a little bit and take more time places so we can get refreshed. Traveling this much is like a full time job, and surviving without all of the typical amenities we have is more difficult than it seems sometimes!
Top three things we miss:

1. Our bed. I would kill for 1 night in our own bed right about now. 

2. RUNZA. Enough said. 

3. Family and friends. We miss hanging out with all of you and living life together!

Luckily we have 3 friends coming to visit us this month! We couldn’t be more excited to have some company to explore with. Pray for safe travels, easy communication, and a time of relaxation and joy. 

Other than that, not much new to report! Katherine is missing all of her kids she is normally around. She is really wanting to be a mommy right now but is focusing on staying in God’s will for our lives for this year. Please pray for peace and wisdom about that for us. Also please continue to pray for opportunity to connect with people, discernment for us, and ways we can bless people. 

Travel Tips #1

A lot of people ask us How we are able to travel the world together for an entire year. This blog is going to explain just a few parts of that, and if you have any questions or comments about the details feel free to contact us! These are just four very basic steps, obviously a lot more detail and planning go into it but this is a good place to start. Steps:

1. Get out of debt. Completely

2. Have a plan/purpose

3. Deal hunt

4. Live without luxury

Step 1: The very first thing you need to have in order to travel for a year is money. Duh. In order to aggressively save enough to do it, getting out of debt is the key. It is impossible to save money if you have to pay credit cards, student loans, car payments, etc. each month of your life. Getting FREE from debt is the key, not only for traveling but for financial success in your life. 
Katherine and I were blessed to go through Financial Peace University, taught by Dave Ramsey. He teaches a radical way of living, free of debt, which after you take the class appears as common sense. When you don’t have to give all your money away, you can actually live your life how you choose. I’ll get off my soapbox here but this is something that I am very passionate about so if anyone has any questions at all, please contact us and we would love to be a resource. 

Step 2: Have a plan and purpose. For some people, traveling simply to see the world is enough for them. For us, we needed to have a greater PURPOSE in what we were doing. Luckily the Lord provided that purpose which is a year to read His Word, grow in intimacy with one another, grow in wisdom, and explore the world. We are not just wandering around the world to see cool things, we are pursuing God and each other every day in order to grow into who He wants us to be. This purpose keeps us going and breathes life into our trip and what we do each and every day. 

Step 3: Finding deals. Lucky for me I have a wife that is an excellent deal finder. She spends time finding good deals on everything that we do so that we are able to survive out here. This is a key because you have to be frugal in order to live without an income for an extended period of time. This goes for flights, trains, food, places to stay, etc. every way you can squeeze money out of the day, you have to be willing to do. 

Step 4: Ditching luxuries. This is hard, and you don’t have to be crazy about it, but you have to let go of simple luxuries that are easy to spend money on, Starbucks (Or as I like to call it, FiveBucks), fast food, nail salons, expensive clothes, you get the picture. If you give up these things, you can save more, which is what this is mostly about anyways. You have to sacrifice in order to get things in this life. I believe that God designed it that way so that we can EARN things. 

I’ll leave you with this, our memory verse of the week:

“No discipline seems present at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” 

Hebrews 12:11

It is important to stay disciplined through the tough times to achieve what you have set out to.

-Austin and Katherine 

Faithfulness

Well, it’s that time again when we’re on a 10+ hour train to the next place with tons of time to think and write. I am beginning to look forward to these times to spend time with peace and quiet, pop in my headphones with some Mumford, and spend some time writing and studying. (Yes, Mumford and Sons is my writing music..for those more spiritual than that, don’t judge me ;))

As we toured the last two places, Nice and Milan, we feel like The Lord has been telling us to be faithful to Him. We are reading about Moses and Joshua in Numbers and God BLESSES those who are 100% faithful to Him and His promises. 

One of His promises to us is that He is going to take care of us and guide us on this adventure. We have bumped into some issues the past few weeks and we are having to trust God and know that He WILL provide and that He takes care of His children. Emotionally, we are really starting to feel the gravity of 1 year of travel. 1 year is a LONG time. We have been gone 7 weeks now, and we still have 45 to go… that’s a long time to travel, be alone, and stay focused on the goals and the purpose of our voyage. 

Saying that, don’t worry, nothing bad happened or anything. We are fine we are just having to rely on a God and His promises right now! We are praying for opportunity to show His love everywhere, meet people, and be a blessing. 

We finished exploring Nice which we LOVED. The water is a beautiful blue and the culture is vibrant and fun. We can see the beauty of creation and Gods passion that He put into the world as we see more and more of it. We also got to visit Milan and spend Kats 23rd birthday here! We found in Milan that the pizza is unbelievably good, the stores are wildly expensive, and the city is always humming. Yesterday we got to explore 3 little, quaint cities around Lake Como for Katherine’s birthday. We loved seeing all of the houses in the mountains looking over the water, taking ferry rides, and accidentally getting on the wrong train (whoops). It turned out okay though as we got to spend extra time up in the mountains over looking the deep blue lake. Here, people were kind and fun and we really enjoyed seeing a small glimpse of Italy. 

Now we are off to spend a few days in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. After that we travel for a week in Germany and then have some visitors! This next month we have 3 friends coming to visit us and we couldn’t be more excited to spend some time with them. 

Have an awesome week everyone, looking forward to hearing from you! I am going to post another blog in the next 24-48 hours talking about the logistics of taking a trip like this. So many people have asked how we are able to do this and we are going to share what we did just so people can see that it’s possible and hopefully get a few travel tips!

-A&K

Lisbon & España

Lisbon, and España
Lisbon:
– We connected with our Airbnb hosts, Rui and Lily. They invited us in for a lunch when we arrived, told us all about the city, and invited us to a concert for their band. They were a huge blessing to us and we are so thankful

– We got haircuts and manicures in Lisbon, connecting with a family from Nepal. We are grateful for their skills and their friendship

– We explored BEAUTIFUL Sintra, Portugal. It is an absolute fairytale. It is a old city on a mountain at the most Western point of Europe. The castles that are built there are breath taking, one of our favorite places yet!

Madrid

– The architecture and history here was beautiful. We simply walked around the city for three days straight and we weren’t the least bit bored.

Valencia

– Our favorite little city so far. It was like a “mini-Florida”, that was clean and not crowded. 

– We spent a day at the beach and walked all over creation enjoying their culture and food. They have THE BEST Caesar salads and Ice cream we have ever had. 

Barcelona

– We had a low key time in Barcelona, seeing the sights at our own pace and taking in the nightlife. We definitely can’t keep up with the locals but we still had a good time. Their sangria was to die for. 

– It was nice to relax together and take a few slow days, traveling at our pace is tiring and more work than what one may think. We walked over 60 miles the past 7 days so our train ride is actually quite nice today. 

Nice, France and Milan, Italy are next on the docket for Valentine’s Day and Katherine’s birthday. Pray that we are safe and discerning, pray for encounters between us and other people, pray for revival in our world. 

-A&K

Travel Update!

We have done a lot since we last updated everyone! I apologize for being tardy on this blog, we are shooting to do it each week so I will stay more on top of it in the upcoming months. After Paris we went to Switzerland. Our lodging was mainly in small towns outside of the city and up in the mountains. The first spot we stayed was Ruschegg, and it was a a small village outside of Bern. The town was beautiful and peaceful and it was a nice couple days for us to relax and lay low after a few busy weeks. We then traveled up to Schangnau, a small town in the Swiss Alps and the views were unbelievable. We just sat outside and stared out at the mountains in Aawe of creation. I could stay there forever and not get tired of the views. 

After Schangnau we went up to Lucerne, and went up to Mount Rigi to a mineral baths. This was by far our favorite day in Switzerland. The spa was an indoor outdoor spa 1500 meters above sea level. So we got to sit above the clouds, in a spa, and stare out at the Swiss Alps. The serenity and beauty there is beyond description. It was crafted to perfection by our God and seeing His work is beautiful. 

The next day we got to spend time with Kylie and DJ, Kat’s sister and brother in law. They took time out of their vacation to spend time with us and explore the beautiful and historic city of Lucerne. We were so blessed to have some English conversations and cheeseburgers with them. We love you guys!!!

After Switzerland we got on a 35 hour train ride (No that’s not a typo) to Porto, Portugal. Once we made it here we got to enjoy 55 degree weather and the beautiful city of Porto. This place is historic and is off the radar from most tourists. The food is great, beaches are beautiful, and the historic places are immaculate. We saw a church that was covered with over 400kg of gold leaf on the inside. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed but it was a sight to be seen. 

In Porto, Katherine booked a great Airbnb which was a “Bed n Bike”. So we got to take the bikes and ride around the city and beach, it was a fun change of pace for us and we really enjoyed it. We are now off to Lisbon, Portugal. After that we will be heading to Spain to see Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona. 

I know all I just threw at you was a lot of “updates” but know that The Lord is working in our hearts here. We are growing closer to Him and he is challenging us to be Disciplined on our time with him, our diets and fitness, and with our relationship. Please pray for us to remain disciplined and to continue to live in his will. Pray for encounters with people that we can bless and encourage. 

Hope all is well back home! We are constantly thinking about all of you. 

-A&K

Across the pond

“Il n’y a qu’ un bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé.” – Georges Sand.    “There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.”

This blog is two part, the first part was written when flying from LA to Paris. Second part was after our time in Paris on our way to Bern, Switzerland. 

It’s currently 2:15 am California time, 4:15 Omaha time as we fly across the ocean heading to Paris for the beginning of our journey. I can’t sleep, not sure if it’s me being anxious, the uncomfortable plane, if God wants me to sit by the window and look out at his world, or a mixture of all 3. Nonetheless as I sit here and stare out, he reminds me of how we arrived here – following His call with reckless abandon. 

Now, traveling the world together because God tells you isn’t the hardest cross to bear and I know that, but it is what we were told to do, and it’s not an easy thing to do either. So in that sense I am reminded of our commitment and I am proud of us. It also reminds me the amazing rewards He provides if we simply trust His plan and what He has given us instead of trying to do it ourselves and that’s where I want to encourage all of you. If you spend time in reverence to God, giving yourself fully to Jesus, the rewards are amazing. The FREEDOM that is given is beyond explanation. Freedoms from guilt, worry, shame, anything in the past, any sin. Living in that is the most fun, freeing, and exciting way to live. In reverence to someone greater, serving others around you, and loving people. 

If our generation can learn that, we will change this world. It’s not through our corrupted government that the world will be fixed. It’s not through education reform. It’s through people surrendering to Jesus, loving each other and living for Him, that the world will change. 

As I reread what I wrote Saturday night, I can tell you that doing this without spending time with Jesus will not be fun. We have had a couple days where reading our Bible and praying haven’t been our top priority, and those days were frustrating and hard for us. We found ourselves down and not excited about what lies ahead. But, the other side, when we read our bible and got our perspective right, it changed our attitude and our trip. Those days were fun, and we became excited about the days ahead. We were able to see through the lens that God created and see all of His beautiful creation. This is hard for us, we are all alone, surviving day by day in places we don’t know, unable to communicate, and trying to still be a light for Jesus. That is our full time job this year and if we try to do it by ourselves we will fail. 

Anyways, Paris was pretty fun. The architecture that is in the city is absolutely beautiful including the Eiffel Tower, Norte dame, Louvre, etc. There is so much history and culture there that is intriguing to observe. Also, the baguettes, crepes, and espresso are all amazing. I wish we had espresso after every meal in Omaha, it makes everything better :). We also got to go to Disneyland Paris, which was incredible. The wonder that is built into the fabric of Disneyland is so fun to be a part of. There really is some sort of magic there. Katherine also conquered her fear of roller coasters and rode 3 of them with me. Proud of you babe! 

Now we are off to Switzerland to enjoy the mountains and spend a day with Katherine’s sister and her husband, Kylie and DJ. If you all could pray for our safety, focus on Jesus, and for opportunities to do His work, we would love that. If there is any way we can pray for any of you or be a resource, please reach out! We love you all. 

-Austin and Katherine 

Wonder

4 days into our trip and California has shown us nothing but wonder. From the people to the places and activities, it is incredible.

Wednesday we flew into Sacramento and met our first host, Nancy. She was very sweet and informative and was the perfect first person for us to connect with. After touring through old town Sacramento Thursday we caught a Megabus over to San Francisco. Everyone always shared their horror experiences with Megabus but ours was awesome. It was cheap, easy to use, and the bus ride was great!

Friday was a day to remember. We woke up early and did a 6 mile walk through downtown San Francisco and tried to take in everything. The view of the bay, pier 39, clam chowder at fisherman’s wharf, trollies, curvy roads, Chinatown, and Katherine going total fan girl when we visited the house that full house was filmed in. Watching the hustle and bustle of the city along with all of the sights was an amazing experience, for lack of a better term. 

Saturday, a rainy and foggy Saturday I should note, we got to rent a car and explore the beauty that lays outside of the city. We started by driving through San Francisco and going to the Golden Gate Bridge to take in the scene. Remember how I said it was rainy? Well when you have a rainy day and a massive bay, that results in really high winds around the bridge for our picturesque scene. We ended up with a broken umbrella that almost knocked us both over, wet hair, and some funny pictures. Despite the wind and rain, we laughed really hard and made fun out of it none the less!

After our ‘experience’ at the Golden Gate Bridge we took the winding road up the mountain to explore Muir Woods. This area is a beautiful forest with giant redwood trees that are protected and preserved by The City. There is no good way to describe what it is like walking under a canopy of 200 foot trees, but we can tell you that is amazing. It was one of our favorite moments walking under the trees, listening to the rain, and seeing Gods creation. We were reminded of his beautiful creative hand and His mighty power. 

Next is LA, off to see the Stars, Hollywood, Beverley hills and the beaches. Pray for our safety, and that we would be a light in the darkness wherever we go. We pray for all of you reading that The Lord would fall afresh on you today and bless you with his peace and love. 

Happy Saturday

–A&K

Away we go

Yesterday was tough. Saying goodbye to our friends and family for a year isn’t an easy thing to do. These are the people that have raised us, loved us, and inspired us for the last 22 years of our lives. For that, we thank you. Without you we wouldn’t be who we are or able to take an adventure of a lifetime. Thank you for helping us to dream, to love, and to live this crazy life that we are gifted. 

That being said, today is one of the most exciting days of our lives. We take off on our journey to go explore, see people, places, and find a deeper and greater relationship with our Lord and King. Today marks the beginning of the next step of our lives, together. 

As I stared out the plane window we first said goodbye to Omaha, our home. We won’t be back for an entire year, which is crazy! I’m thankful for the people and places that have raised us and created us. The second thing I see is a clean slate, a blank canvas. About 15 minutes into our flight i looked out and the clouds were dense and pure white. The Lord told me that this is your canvas for 2017. Blank, clean, free. He is telling us that He is going to show Himself to us. Give us opportunities. Paint a crazy, yet magnificent picture that will shape us for the rest of our lives. For this, I am also thankful. 

God you are good, you’re the reason, and thank you for this dream we get to live and share with everyone we know. Now we are off to Cali to explore some sunshine and NBA basketball!

We will write soon, until then, with love 

–Austin and Katherine