Happy Holidays from Cambodia!

<3 Jeff, Christina, & Anchovie

Christina

2015 has been nothing short of a wild adventure! I begun the year with a bang - by this I mean 10 weeks of the most intense studying that I have ever endured (about 1000 hours in front of the books). I took both my Basic Science and Clinical Medicine board exams in February and finished up school feeling like I really knew my stuff! (Just in time to leave medicine for a full year... what timing!).

Then March happened! As you all know, Jeff and I have been on the road traveling around the world for a full year. We have since spent time exploring 27 countries on 5 different continents. For the purpose of this short blip, it's really hard to even touch upon this adventure, but it has certainly been incredible, personally challenging and life-changing.

Effectively, this year I have taken a step back from traditional education and allowed life to educate me. Through a purposely diverse array of experiences (minimalist living, farming, painting, hiking, photography, cooking, hitch-hiking, couch surfing, car repairing, manual driving, house constructing, african dancing, border crossing, night-bus sleeping and much more), I have tested my limits (patience, flexibility, compassion, humor, etc.) and redefined my values (purpose, altruism, spirituality, sense of self, etc.).

My greatest pleasure this year has been transforming our approach to travel from "tourism" to a "community, experiences and values" centered journey. This change has led me from facing a deep (and terrifying) purposelessness to giving me a constant sense of fulfillment and growth on this journey.

I can't wait to come home and discuss all of this in more detail with each and every one of you (or at least anyone that is interested!) However, for now, I wanted to say that if anything I am finding myself to be more appreciative of the love, support, and vibrancy that each of my friends and family bring to my life. So thank you for being wonderful and I wish you the best, brightest, most joyful (and also possibly a reflective) holiday season. Kisses!

Jeff

If you have been receiving our newsletters, you might know that this has surely been quite a different year than the usual, but let’s dive right in!

2015 started out as usual in NYC, working at Carrot. Over time I have transitioned from working on projects for clients to working on internal tools that we use to build websites, and this year I focused almost exclusively on tools. Last holiday break, I had just started working on a brand new version of the tool we use at Carrot to build all our websites called “Roots”, and after months of hard work we finally finished and released it this year. This probably doesn’t mean much to most people, but you can check out the little website I made for it here. I drew the background by hand! Since then it has become a lot more popular, with thousands of builds per day. It’s also open source, which means it’s free for everyone to use and enjoy.

In March we left for the year-long trip we had been planning for so long. I can’t even describe how I excited I was and still am for this. You can check out our itinerary here if you haven’t seen it. We’re now about 10 months into the trip, and truly it has completely shifted the way I think about life. When you travel, you see so many different cultures and people doing things a different way than you are used to. This makes you really think about the way you are used to doing things, and whether it’s the best way for you. For me, this was a process of reconsidering just about all of my values, and has been incredible. There has been so much going on in my brain I decided to write about it, and have been pouring hours of time into writing on a new blog called Pragmatic Life. It has been a fantastic process for me to write and share this with others.

If you want more about my inner thoughts and values, check our Pragmatic Life. For more about specific details of our trip, sign up for the newsletter. But I’m out of space here, so I just want to wish everyone an incredible holiday season and to always be learning and growing!

Anchovie

Hi everyone! Greetings from Boston! Jeff and Christina have been off traveling the world, so I have been having an adventure of my own! I have been living with Jeff's parents and enjoying exploring a new environment and home. Jeff and Christina really love me, but living here has been super wonderful too!

I have been really working on my health and my figure, eating fresh veggies at least every other day (Thanks Ms. Escalante!). I also have been working out on my new long "bunny run" that spans the entire length of the Escalante home. Coming from a tiny NYC studio apartment, this is pretty much the luxury life! Lily, Jeff's sister, also loves to bring me outside on my leash and lets me run all around their grassy backyard. The exercise has been amazing!

Sometimes I miss Jeff and Christina, so I make sure to Skype with them at least every 1-2 weeks. It's nice to hear their voices and tell them I love them. Being with a new family this year and missing my own parents has really made me reflect on the importance of the loved ones in your life! It really makes this holiday card even more special! So I just wanted to say, "Enjoy your holidays and make sure to nuzzle your loves ones with your nose every chance you get!"