One Foot Out the Door, By Kelly Moad
To say moving to a foreign country in the middle of a global pandemic is an adventure, is quite the understatement. We are not new to foreign travel or even foreign living. I wouldn’t say we’re pros compared to many families we’ve met, but we are experienced and adventurous and up for the task. Buuuut…throw in this little thing called Covid and well, things got a little trickier. We got assigned to the US Embassy in Israel as my husband would be working with the Israeli Defense Forces, helping maintain a positive relationship between our countries’ militaries. That’s the job, in a nutshell, but moving to Israel with our family of five and two labradors sounded like the adventure we always wanted for our crew. Close to everything European and Middle Eastern, hop on a plane and see so many parts of the world, learn some magnificent history, make memories, and punch more pins in our family travel map.
Though the obstacles of Covid hindered us a bit, I’d say we’ve been very successful in our mission and it is nearly complete. We have been on many vacations near and far, we’ve boarded many planes and trains and automobiles, we’ve worn many covid masks, we’ve taken too many PCR tests (our youngest has a running tally close to 100, and he’s only 9 years old), and we’ve taken many pictures and videos to document our adventures abroad. There have been many tears of happiness, sadness, frustration, and fear, but I wouldn’t give any of it back because we, as a family, have learned so much, seen so many awesome sights, and met some amazing people that have helped us to grow culturally. What more could you ask for for your children?
Our most recent adventure took us to a place where we now have one foot out the door. My husband just returned from flying our fur-babies home to the beach. Texas and Knight, our yellow and black labs, made the long trip back to the States as our first step in the moving home process. They were so excited to return to Grandma and PawPaw’s house. It’s familiar and comfortable – who doesn’t love life at the beach? Back here in Israel, we have a couple more trips planned to round out our time before we cross the big pond once more. The packers come soon to load our big stuff on the slow boat back home. The kids will finish school and we’ll say our goodbyes to this chapter in our book. It’s been trying, but it’s been great.
Until next time, adventure awaits…
[Apr-5-2022]
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Beautiful adventures precious family Best wishes, The Coles
Don’t worry, we’ll take care of the fur babies. Can’t wait to have our ENTIRE family back in the States. Wishing you safe travels and more joyous vacations.