Wandering Footsteps: Wandering the World One Step at a Time » A travel journal following a family on their overland trip around the world.

A BIG Life Update

My blog hasn’t been very active these past few months.

In fact, four months ago, I announced that I’d be taking a semi-break from Wandering Footsteps.  I’d post our summer and fall adventures at a more leisurely pace so that we could focus on family, relaxation and our bus renovations.

That was only half-true.

The full truth is that Bruno and I were turning our focus onto something else – something I wasn’t quite ready to share on the wide world of the web.

Our focus has been on my growing belly.

We are expecting our first baby!!!

Future mamma and papa, taken at the end of September.

Future mamma and papa, taken at the end of September.

A more recent shot.  Look at that belly!

A more recent shot. Look at that belly!

Maybe things make a little bit more sense now; why we sold Totoyaya, our beloved 4WD Land Cruiser, and upgraded to a massive bus; why there hasn’t been much action (or travel!) on the blog; and why I have been totally vague about our upcoming travel plans.

Despite the lack of travel-related excitement, it has been an exciting summer and fall for us, as Bruno and I have experienced our own pregnancy for the first time.  Hearing the heartbeat, feeling the baby’s kicks, watching my belly grow – it’s all been pretty magical, indeed.

Those of you hard-core nomads reading this may be wondering why we haven’t been traveling at all during this special time.  We did travel across Canada through our first trimester (check out my posts on the Prairies, the Canadian Wilderness, whale-watching in Quebec, the Gaspe Peninsula, and the Acadian Peninsula), and I can happily report I was feeling, overall, not too bad.  Tired, for sure, but I was still mostly able to enjoy the places we passed.

We did a bit of travel in the second trimester, too – notably our big three RV road trip, and our trip to France.  I even did my girls’ trip to Barcelona, Carcassonne and Bordeaux at the very beginning of my third trimester!  Go me! J

But, for the most part, we haven’t been on the road, in the way Bruno and I usually are.  The reasons are complex and various, but ultimately, we’ve chosen to take this time to be close to family, get really good, consistent pre-natal care, and enjoy nesting (that last one is just me, haha!).

It

It’s been nice to be close to home to enjoy things like a really nice baby shower!

And to perform in a choir concert a few weeks ago with my lovely mother!

And to perform in a choir concert a few weeks ago with my lovely mother!

Two weeks ago, we moved into a rental home near Antigonish, Nova Scotia.  We chose the little town of Antigonish because we got the opportunity to work with registered midwives based out of the St. Martha’s Regional Hospital (they didn’t have midwives in New Brunswick when I was looking into our options, though they’ve recently begun serving in Frederiction).  We’re over three hours away from my family, but relative to where we could be (Mexico! France! Thailand!), three hours is pretty darn close!

Our tentative plan for the coming several months is this:

  • Spend about four months in this lovely rental home.  Our due date for baby is February 3rd (coming soon!) so we plan to be here both for our baby’s birth and the first several weeks afterwards (time to get a handle on things!)
  • Make visits to both New Brunswick and France in April to show off the newest member of the Caumette/Sears family. Woo hoo!
  • By late-May (cross our fingers!) we’d like to hit the road in our Big Blue Bus, baby in tow. We’d like to spend 5-6 months slowly driving down the eastern seaboard of the United States, spending our summer in the Appalachian Mountains.  We’re going to take our time with this trip, as we’ll have the adjustments of life in a bus with a baby to contend with.  Should make for some interesting blog posts!

Well, that’s us!  It’s a pretty big life update, and is going to certainly change our travels, as well as the content of this blog.  In fact, I have no clue how I will feel about blogging after baby arrives, but my hope is that I’ll still make time for it, though most certainly not on the same weekly basis as I once did.

In the meantime, we’re having quite the cultural experience over here in Nova Scotia.  Bruno is embarking on his first winter ever, we’re living in a country-style home heated principally by wood fire, and we’re making a few baby-friendly changes to the bus (think car seat and baby bed).  In other words, plenty of good blogging material!  Stay tuned!

  • Francine Landry - Hi Brittany,

    Hope Bruno is not finding one of the coldest winter we ever had too difficult to adapt to.

    Your rented house looks charming and will be a nice cosy place to welcome your baby.

    Wishing you all the best in 2018 and a wonderful life as a mother.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - Thank you, Francine! Bruno is dealing surprisingly well with the cold – maybe because our little rental home is just so darn cute! Thank you for the wishes!ReplyCancel

  • Louise & Christophe Surette - FÉLICITATIONS! Un nouveau chapitre dans votre vie! ENJOY every minute!!ReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - Merci! On a une petite nouvelle a annoncer bientot! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Freya Gnerre - Dear Brittany and Bruno, I’m so excited for you and anxiously await Feb. 3rd. And, I do hope when you come down the East Coast that I will see you and meet the new addition Enjoy the holidays and have a very happy, healthy New Year. Much love, FreyaReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - We won’t come into NYC but will definitely be in the area, so let’s try to connect for sure!ReplyCancel

  • Jan Miller - Felicitations et meilleurs vœux pour Noel et la Nouvelle Année, surtout pour février, mois du grand événement!

    JanReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Merci, Jan, et bravo avec ton francais!ReplyCancel

  • Carmen LeBlanc - You might not remember me but I sang in the choir with you this semester. I just found your blog (got the link from your mom) and I’m so excited to read all about your travels and your life! I also added you on Facebook, was hoping to get together and chat sometime as my boyfriend and I are planning a trip to in Africa. It would be so great to hear about different places from someone who has travelled there – extensively apparently! Also can’t wait to read about your adventures as a new mom!ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hi Carmen, thanks a bunch for saying hi on my little blog! 🙂 Of course I remember you, although I guess we didn’t chat too much! Too bad, because I would have LOVED to share some Africa stories and tips! I’m not going to be around Moncton much anymore (apart from Xmas) so face-to-face chatting might be tough, but I would love to connect via FB or email. I’ll send you a little FB note now. 🙂ReplyCancel

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