The route

When we found out we were moving to Turkey Rebekah and I started talking about driving.
"It's crazy, right?"
"Yeah, it's crazy."

"But we're doing it, right?"
"Oh yeah, we kinda have to."

When it comes down to it, both Bek and I are adventurers at heart, and we're trying to raise boys who are courageous, outgoing, lovers of learning, selfless and up for anything, and this trip seems like a great opportunity to practice those traits.

So here the plan:

Day 1, we all get on a plane in Terceira and fly to Lisbon. Pick up the van from the port, drive to an apartment in the city and get organized for the trip!

Day 2, drive from Lisbon to Madrid. Hit up the Temple of Debod and the adjacent park.

Day 3, drive from Madrid to Barcelona. Catch the Font Majic at dusk.
Day 4, day in Barcelona. We'd like to see La Sagrada Familia, the Christopher Columbus Monument, and the Castell de Montjuic/Olympic Park 

Day 5, drive from Barcelona to Avignon, France with a pit stop at Carcassone. Hope to see some lavender fields in bloom!

Day 6, drive from Avignon to Camp Darby(near Pisa).
Day 7, visit the Leaning Tower for obligatory tourist photos, and rest!

Day 8, drive from Camp Darby to Roma!
Day 9 and 10, see Rome! We're planning a private tour for families to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatino Hill, some Roman Gladiator school, and Underground Rome tour with the USO, and lots of pizza and gelato!

Day 11, drive to Naples, visit Pompeii/Vesuvius

Day 12, drive to Brindisi, load on a ferry, depart at 8pm. We have two adjacent cabins for the night!
Day 13, arrive in Patras, Greece at 1pm and drive 3 hours to Athens.

Day 14, see Athens! Ancient Greece with a travel guide, Hellenic Children's Museum

Day 15, drive from Athens to Thessaloniki

Day 16, drive from Thessaloniki to Istanbul

Day 17, drive from Istanbul to Ankara

Day 18, drive from Ankara to Adana and our new home!

That's the abbreviated plan! I get exhausted just thinking about it! We have lodging(mostly through Airbnb) through Rome, tickets for the plane and ferry, and we're working our way through the last of the little stuff.

We're excited to continue to share this journey with you, and hope you enjoy following along with us!

Have a "must-see" in one of our stops, or want to tell us how crazy we are? Leave it in the comments!