We're in ..... Italy!

Yup, we've got a plan. And it's Italy. For now.

Christmas Eve, arriving to a lit up tree and presents.

But first, briefly- we had a really nice Christmas with the family on the farm we've gotten to know so well over the past few months. There was even another WWOOFer there that made Christmas Eve and Christmas Day just really special. Then - the house and apartments we were staying in were full! Booked through the whole Christmas vacation. So we had to get outta there. But due to the amazing generosity of our amazing hosts, we got to escape to their cabin in the mountains for 10 days.

The 'Alm' (or small cabin) we got to stay at with a view of the mountains.

It was just the mini vacation and family time we needed. We even got to go skiing/snowboarding one more time before heading to Italy. And "why Italy?" you might ask...

On the lift going up for a long run down - everyone did so great this time with perfecting snowboarding and skiing!

Well, we had yet another WWOOFing farm cancel on us - totally last minute! - and were forced to test our resilience, flexibility, trust and patience, once again, and search for new options. We were having so many difficulties finding a WWOOFing farm in the winter, and to host such a big family, that we decided to expand our possibilities and register with Workaway as well.

We had to dig out the fire pit- but it was worth it!

Workaway is another organization that acts as a portal for connecting hosts with travelers that want to enjoy a cultural exchange and also work/help out in some way in exchange for room and board. It's obviously not exclusively organic farms like WWOOFing. But you can search/filter for farms.... or house sitting... or to live and work on a boat! And much more - check it out if you don't know it already: https://www.workaway.info/

So, we started from scratch and searched, and filtered and read and read and read, and started to write some interesting places... trying to make our way, bit by bit, to Spain.

We want to learn Spanish. Have for a while. And since everything was speaking against us going to Greece, we decided to change course. Completely.

We have a really cool place to work and be at, in the middle of Italy, for the month of January. Then a possibility in France for February... and by March we should be in Spain.

The large headphones probably contributed to why the drive went so peacefully...

The cottage where we're staying and working in Italy.

The drive (9 hours!) from Austria to Italy couldn't have gone more smoothly. We arrived after dark and basically just settled in, ate a frozen pizza we had gotten at the store (lets hope our pizza eating experience while in Italy only improves from there) and crashed. The next morning we got to take it easy, unpack and meet our lovely host and get to know the grounds and jobs to be done. It's gorgeous here! When we arrived in the dark we really had no idea of the beauty that was surrounding us.

Swings! Just down the hill from where our room is.

The work sounds like it will be more relaxed and offer us a variety of different things to do. And we'll have more family time. We might go on an overnight hike, check out the nearby city of Assisi and, of course, have pizza at a really good pizzeria!

Finally! A different culture, language, even the landscape and plants are a bit different.... this is what we wanted when traveling with our kids! Going to the store and having to find out what the word for 'butter' is. Seeing new types of plants and experiencing a different climate than at home. Learning how to say 'Hello' and 'Thank you' (at least!) so we can greet others and be polite in stores. Explaining to the kids, but really also learning ourselves and together, how the cultures are different and why.

And- you won't believe it- after almost a whole year, to the day, we heard back from the USCIS (the first department that is processing our Green Card application for my husband)!!!! Apparently, things are moving along and the next department is taking on our case (I think it goes through three departments in total) so soon we get to turn in more paperwork and pay more fees. Which means we are, literally, one step closer to traveling to America. I have no idea how thing will go from here... but, as always, we'll keep you posted.

Introducing Remus: the cat at our new Workaway- who the kids are already in love with and likes to come inside for cuddles and to be pet.