Happy Holidays!!

Written by Bessie about United States. Feelin' excited

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and soon enough, Happy New Year!
Us and Dad & Linda's Tree

In lieu of holiday cards this year, we’re cutting down our carbon footprint by sending an e-happy holidays wish to you (and/or we just never got around to putting something together, and this take less postage). Either way you read it, Happy Holidays to you and yours. We’re thinking about you this holiday season!

Kyle and I are eagerly awaiting January 30th, the day we use our one-way tickets to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Saying that we have one-way tickets doesn’t get old. It’s so exhilarating and exciting. Ok, ok, maybe a bit unbelievable and a touch overwhelming, but most of all, yippee ki-yah exciting.

We’re announcing (drum roll please) our new travel website: www.bessieandkyle.com. Kyle’s been busily working the past many months putting together a super rad site that will meet all our expectations to relay our crazy and exciting stories. (Parent figures, read: safe and level-headed reflections from cautious travelers.)

Kyle hates to brag, so I’ll do it for him. Here are some of the things our website will do:
- We’ll blog about what we’re up to and post pictures along with them
- You’ll be able to post comments back about what we write
- Find our blogs listed chronologically by month, by click on a country name or by clicking on a tag based on topic.
- Once we start taking gobs of pictures, albums will be posted on Flickr.
- Eventually, we’ll have maps so that you can see visually where we are and what we’re talking about, courtesy of Google Maps.

We're glad to be sharing with you all. Happy Holidays!

Bessie & Kyle Crum

« Looking ahead to new beginnings

Open letter to my car »

December 25, 2007 Dan Dana: Susan and I are excited to experience your trip along with you via your blog. As we've discussed, I traveled much of the same territory by land you are planning to visit (Mexico and Central America, to Panama) in 1966-1970 in a much more primitive fashion (often hitchhiking), and have returned to spots on your projected Latin American itinerary several times since (Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia). So, I have a visual image of where you'll be (although long before American chain fast-food restaurants found their way there!).

I admire and applaud your adventurousness. I believe you are living out a dream of many people who have never gotten a round tuit, and who will read your blog with a complex mixture of envy, regret, vicarious pleasure, and, of course, happiness for you.

btw, Susan and I plan to be in Costa Rica mid-November 2008 for a couple of weeks -- see you there??

December 25, 2007 Kyle: Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm sure our trip will be many things, most of which I probably can't describe until they happen. We'll definitely have to compare experiences and see how much things have changed in the past 35 years, or how they haven't changed, which may be the case in many areas.

It's hard to tell where we will be and when we will be there, but Costa Rica is a distinct possibility, especially considering the fact that we might be in El Salvador for a while volunteering (it's a long story, maybe for another post...hopefully I haven't let the cat out of the bag).

December 27, 2007 Kristine: I am so excited for you two! I am definitely going to come down to join you at some point in the next year. I just filled out my passport application today (34 years old and never had a passport..... sigh). I wasn't smart enough, like you two, to do this while you are still young and fresh, but I think when I hit 50 and all my kids are gone, I'll be "gone" too! :)

I'm so very proud of you two and can't wait to live vicariously through your journeys.

Love,
Big Sis

December 27, 2007 Kyle: It would be awesome if you could come down and visit at some point. We will make sure to translate everything incorrectly for you :)

Also, try not to live vicariously through us when we have some sort of intestinal disease. Live vicariously through the fun stuff.

January 03, 2008 Bessie: Woohoo passports and visitors!! Then we wouldn't have to be the only white people on the beach. :) And of course, we'd love to have you.