Travel Blog

July 15th

Nairobi, Kenya

In terms of travel blogs, this may end up being rather short.  Even though the distance is long, the travel time is so much shorter than our previous 2 month road trip across the US.

So far we we took six hours to drive from Waxhaw, NC to AIM headquarters in Peachtree City, GA.  We rented a car to get the family to GA and some good friends of ours, whom we have known since Spokane, were gracious enough to load up their truck with all our stuff and drive with us.  We had some final meetings on Wednesday morning and then, after a send-off lunch, spent some time with our friends at the Atlanta Aquarium which was a really fun way to celebrate all that God has done and to end off our time in America.  

We are so grateful for the Burn’s help as it would have been much more challenging to make the trip without them, but it was also great to be able to spend our last few days in the US with some good friends.  They were a great help when we suddenly had to repack almost all our bags hours before leaving to the airport after we found out the scale we had initially used read around 4 lbs lower than actual.

We then made it to the Atlanta Airport with all our bags and the check-in process and getting through security went better than we had expected.  It was still a lot trying to board an aircraft with four young kids, two of whom weren’t able to help at all, and all the carry-on bags, personal items, and a car seat.  Hopefully we can improve on the process next time and also reduce the amount of stuff we are carrying with us.  

As I write this, we are three hours away from Paris and have been in the air for about four and a half hours into our flight.  The older kids are finally asleep, but I doubt it’s restful based on their sleeping positions, except for maybe Evan.  I doubt the adults are going to get much rest, if any, especially Liz who struggles to sleep in a seated position. 

We have a short layover in Paris which, if we have a few minutes at the gate is when I plan to upload this post, if not you will be posted once I get a chance in Kenya.  France is about the half way point of the trip, so hopefully the rest goes reasonably well and we get through the airport and customs smoothly on the other side…

Well, here is the continuation of the story as we have already been in Kenya a few days. We made it safely to Nairobi after about 20 hours of traveling. Amazingly all of our bags made it through the first time. We made it through immigration and customs without any difficulties, other than the time it took to collect all the luggage. We then got driven to our hotel/conference centre where we will be staying for the next few weeks for some cultural, language, and other training. We got to the hotel around midnight which has actually helped a little with getting over jet lag as we slept late into the next morning. We’ve started settling in well and figuring out how to get around. We have some shops about a 30 to 40 minute walk away and we can catch Ubers here as well.

It sounds like our housing situation after ABO (Africa Based Orientation) has changed due to some outside construction happening so we may end up in temporary housing longer than we anticipated. God has been teaching us to be flexible and to take things as they come and I guess the training is not over yet! We are excited to see what comes next and will try to post a few more updates here as things progress.

August 8th

JAARS, NC

We have finally arrived at our new home at JAARS, NC. It has been an amazing time traveling and visiting friends but we are very excited to be unpacking and setting up our own home after living out of a suitcase for over two months. We are currently in the process of unpacking and settling in, getting all our paperwork in order, and getting ready for me (Baden) to start working in the aviation department on the 12th. Liz has also been setting up meetings with midwives and making plans for the arrival of our new baby in November!

Day #20-21 (July 9TH- 10TH)

Akron, OH – East Bern, NY

We have finally arrived at Kyle and Shannon’s (Baden’s brothers) house where we will be staying for the next few weeks. It is so nice to be able to unpack the car and be able to leave it unpacked for a while. Our route from Akron to East Bern took us right past Niagara Falls, which we had never seen, so we had to take advantage of the opportunity to stop and see it. It was beautiful sight and a wonderful place to stretch the legs after almost five hours of driving.

We also decided to get one more video of the girls during the second half of the drive, please note that this is already many hours into the trip and they still don’t stop moving! I (Baden) will be catching a flight to Chicago, IL next weekend after which I have the privilege of representing Moody at the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, WI. I am so blessed to have this opportunity as it is said to be the largest airshow in the world and one that every aviation enthusiast should try attend at least once in their life.

Day #16-19 (July 4TH- 8TH)

St. Louis, MO – Akron, OH

After a wonderful time with friends watching the fireworks in St. Louis area, we decided to take it a little slower and break up the eight hour drive to Akron and do it over two days (can you tell we are getting a little tired of the long days traveling?)

We’ve spent the last few days with Kyle, Joanna, and their son Judah who was enjoying the noisy company. While we were with them I (Baden) had the pleasant surprise of finding out that one of my classmates lives in the same area and we got to see them for a few hours as well. Kyle was a student of mine for one of the semesters that I was flight instructing at Moody and we are very exited to have them looking into joining AIM Air and potentially serving with us in years to come.

We are remaining within an hour of Akron to visit Gordon, another friend who was a student at Moody (Biblical Studies) and lived with me in SHBC’s mission house when I first moved to Spokane. He has since graduated and from Moody Chicago and we have the privilege of hearing him preach at church this coming Sunday. The girls were very excited to discover that you could find full fields of fireflies in this area!

From here we start the final drive NE to my brother’s house in Upstate NY, so it might be a couple more days before we post again. It has been such a wonderful, encouraging, and even refreshing trip so far. We are really looking forward to settling down in one spot for a few week and I think we will be really ready to unpack and settle back into a normal routine by the time we get to JAARS on August 8th.

Day #13-16 (July 1ST-4TH)

Abilene, KS – St. Louis, MO

Thank you all for your prayers, Anna recovered quickly and everyone else has stayed healthy.  We had a wonderful time in Kansas with Aaron and Katie.  Aaron was a missionary kid in Mozambique with me growing up and it has been so wonderful to stay in touch and see how the Lord has continued to work in our lives.

These past few days have been spent in the Saint Louis area with Taylor and Moriah.  Taylor was my private pilot flight instructor and their family have been a big encouragement to us over the years.  We are also very blessed to be able to celebrate the 4^th of July with them, even though Taylor is out flying for the airlines where he is now working.  The kids connected almost immediately, and we know it will be hard for them to leave tomorrow as we start heading towards Ohio.

As someone who is of European and British descent, grew up in Mozambique as a South African, but now hold American citizenship, the 4^th of July is a bit of a strange celebration.  I completely support the independence of the U.S. and believe it was the right course of action, but I don’t know if I will ever fully grasp the all out patriotism with flags, clothing, and lots and lots of fireworks.  I really enjoy seeing all of that but will always see it from an outsider’s perspective.  Our kids on the other hand love it and are trying to embrace it as much as they can.  Even Evan had a blast waiving his little flag at the 4^th of July parade!

Happy 4^th to you all! (Especially if you are American)

Day #8-12 (June 27TH-30TH)

Houston, TX – Abilene, KS

We had a wonderful few days in Houston visiting Liz’s aunt and cousins.  It has been great catching up after not seeing some of them since 2019! For one of the afternoons we got to take the kids to a children’s museum, which they really enjoyed. Evan was fascinated by the model police car and ambulance.

Yesterday we made it up into Oklahoma after taking a short (1 Hour) detour to visit some friends who have opened a coffee shop in a little town called Bridgeport, TX.  It isn’t on a major route but, if you every get close, stop in at Blessed Bru Coffee and say hi.  They are a great couple who love the Lord and love people.

As we write this, we have just pulled into Wichita, KS.  You may be with the many who are realizing that we are not on a direct route to North Carolina, and you would be very correct with that assumption.  Some of my best memories growing up were times on the road with my family and of the people we got to meet along the way.  People and relationships are very important to me, and I am so thankful that God allowed me to marry someone with the same priorities.

Between Elizabeth and I, we are blessed to know many people spread out across the U.S. and decided that, since our entire lives are very portable right now, it would be the perfect opportunity to visit people as we make the move to the East Coast.  From Kansas we will continue driving Northeast in order to make it to upstate New York by mid-July.  We have a few more stops along the way and will continue to keep you posted as to how things are going.  

One prayer request is that the girls have a slight cold and Anna has lost a lot of her voice.  Please pray for a quick recovery and that the rest of us would be able to stay rested and healthy.

Day #6/7 (June 25/26)

Abilene, TX – Houston, TX

We have shown you a bit of what the kids do while we drive now you might wonder, what do Baden and Liz do on the road? Well Baden is the primary driver, in fact he has done all of the driving so far on our trip. Once he asked me to drive for a bit but a few minutes later decided he wasn’t too tired anymore. So that leaves me in charge of playing music and audio books, distributing snacks, and I also do some reading and lots of knitting and crochet for our new baby. If you don’t know the gender yet zoom in on the bump picture and check out the color of the booties 🙂

These past few days we have been in the Houston TX area and we will stay here for most of this week visiting friends and family. We got to go to Galveston beach today and the kids loved the waves. I (a born and raised Pacific Northwesterner) was amazed by how warm the water was, and Baden who grew up on the Indian ocean was so happy to finally have warm water again! (If you find the booties a bit hard to see, they are pink!)

Day #4/5 (June 22/23)

Amarillo, TX – Coahoma, TX – Abilene, TX

The last few days have been a very nice change of pace after three very long days of driving. We got to stop by Elizabeth’s aunt and cousin’s home in Coahoma and spend the afternoon with them at a wonderful splash pad, especially considering the 100 degree weather (38C). We then continued the journey over to Abilene, TX where we have had the privilege of spending a full day with some good friends of ours who we met in Spokane. We are so blessed to be able to take this journey slow and visit people along the way. We decided to take a video of Evan during this leg of the trip to share a bit of his personality as we continue our journey.

Day #3 (June 21)

Greeley, CO – Amarillo, TX

Today was a pleasant day of driving and we managed to miss the storms which, in true Texas fashion, popped up to the east of us in less than an hour (the picture doesn’t do the double cell justice). We found ourselves driving in the gust front of the storm for the last 30 minutes or so as we arrived in Amarillo.

During my (Baden’s) time in the U.S. I have enchanted many people who have the stereotypical view of Africa and the life I must have come from. The expectation that we all live in mud huts with wild animals constantly wandering by, hiking miles to get our water, and being amazed that I speak English so well…. Now I have to admit that I too find myself falling into some of these expectations as we travel across America. I don’t know quite what I was expecting in Amarillo, but it is much larger than I expected. I realised as we were settling down for the night that a part of this idea came from a game I had played called Read Dead Redemption in which there is a town called Armadillo. I guess I expected to find a much smaller town with some western heritage still visible…. oops.

Day #2 (June 20)

Billings, MT – Greeley, CO

Another 500 miles and another nine hours of traveling and we are happy to share that the people and car are all still holding together well.  The rolling hills of Wyoming really hurt our gas mileage but, other than that, it was a pleasant day on the road.  Below is a short time-lapse of the first part of the trip, there is a lot happening, but I encourage you to enjoy the changing weather and clouds as the video progresses.

Every time we get to a destination Elizabeth and I are exhausted and ready for bed meanwhile the kids are full of energy.  We have got to constantly remind them to quiet down and that others are sleeping.  We have been grateful that the places we have stopped so far have a place where they can get some of the energy out before bed. Tomorrow we are hoping to make it another 450 miles through Colorado and into Texas.

Day #1 (June 19)

Spokane, WA -Billings, MT

The journey has begun. After many goodbyes and many delays, it is finally happening, and in God’s perfect timing. What seemed like delays for us has really been the time God knew we needed to be fully ready. In these past few weeks Baden has learned a lot about automatic transitions and torque converters and had the time to put some much-needed new tires on our vehicle so that driving in the rain is a bit safer. We are also so grateful for the time to say proper goodbyes to friends and family. We have packed up all our possessions into a 4×6 trailer and our car and will be living on the road until early August. 

As we drive today, we are trying to soak up and enjoy all the beauty of the pacific northwest as we know that we will miss this landscape that has been home for us for so long. 

Here is a quick video of our busy kids and what a day in the car looks like for them.

MAY 24TH – JUNE 9TH

We just got back from our first of two long road trips to see friends, say goodbyes, and raise some support. On this trip we stopped in Boise, ID, Salt Lake, UT, Phoenix, AZ, and San Diego, CA. 3600 miles and 72 hours in the car in 2 ½ weeks. It was a wonderful time seeing friends and family and we are so grateful to those who hosted us and spent time with us. 

Our kids are becoming champion road trippers. Not to say they are always happy to get in the car and drive, but when we are in, they do a great job playing and imagining with each other. Snacks are a must and a great motivator to get the kids in the car. 

Now we are back in Spokane for one week to sort out our things and say goodbye as we will be moving to North Carolina for our last phase of training before moving to Kenya next Summer. It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that we aren’t coming back to Spokane until after our first term in Kenya. This has been my and our children’s home for our whole life and Baden’s for 8 years now. We would appreciate your prayers as our family makes all these big transitions.