It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. If you watched our last video, then you know Eric’s mom passed away. But even though Eric flew out suddenly, leaving me (Brittany) and Caspian in Ecuador for an unknown amount of time, circumstances couldn’t have been engineered much better.
Originally, we were going to stay in Cuenca for two weeks. But we loved it so much that we ended up staying a full month. With our extended time in the city, we built a community that provided support and comfort during our family’s time of loss.
In this video, you’ll get to experience the most beautiful city we saw in the whole country of Ecuador. We think you’ll love seeing the architecture, central river, activities, and more. We even take a bus ride outside the city to hike at El Cajas National Park with friends.
Watch now:
This was a sad and stressful time for our family. While Eric was 7,000 miles away, dealing with his mom’s affairs as an only child, I was constantly on the phone with him, then making separate phone calls and arrangements to help out. There was an undercurrent of shock and just-getting-by.
There’s one specific shot in this video where the three of us are seated on a sight-seeing bus, something we’d wanted to do in Cuenca, but didn’t get to until Eric returned from Seattle. Even though Eric is smiling, I can see the grief on his face.
It was a hard time. And we were disappointed because we genuinely adored Cuenca, but circumstances overshadowed the joy of being there.
I say this because we want to be transparent about our drive around the world. In this video, our goal is to give credit to a magical city we came to love. It isn’t the place to talk about our personal pain. But I want to mention it here for you–a reminder for us all to not assume what people are going through. <3
What’s new?
If you missed the memo, we came back to the U.S. for Eric’s mom’s memorial service and Christmas with my side of the family. We left Orlando and spent a week driving to Texas, reconnecting with friends along the way.
We got to Austin today, where we’ll celebrate Caspian’s 7th birthday with his grandparents. Eric and I lived in Austin before we started traveling full-time in 2014 and Caspian was born here. It’s probably the closest thing we have to a hometown, though our ties grow thinner each year we’re away.
Thanks for being part of our adventure.
-B
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