Sometimes when I think about spending 3 months in France, I wonder if it will be enough time. Enough to take in all the places we want to see. Enough for the kids to learn a little French.

Other times it seems like too much. When will the first bout of homesickness hit? How will we fill our time and make the most out of this trip? How will the kids and I deal with being away from Nole for 2 months and away from our other friends and family for 3 months?

Nole playing Go Fish with the kids before bed last night.

The kids are excited and show no signs of hesitance or worry but then when you’re a kid, you don’t have the same sense of time as an adult. “Three months” means nothing to Nova who can’t really grasp time beyond a week.

Nova (age 4): You said we were going to France tomorrow and now it’s tomorrow.

Me: Yep! We are leaving today! We are taking a bus to Chicago then an airplane to London.

Nova: But you said we are going to France, not London!

Me: We take another plane from London to Paris.

Nova: Oh, good.

Me: Do you know how long we will be in France?

Nova: One night?

Me: Lots and lots of nights.

Nova: Oh. I’m going to miss our kitties!

Also worth considering is how technology has changed. We can Skype with our kitties (and with Nole too). The last time I was in France, I used a long-distance calling card from a landline to make quick calls home. When I got home, I took my film to 1hr photo and we spent the day looking at my pictures. Now we can text, call, video chat, and share pictures daily. Will these things make the distance easier? Only time will tell.