THE STORY BEHIND THE QUEST

Hello and Welcome to our Quest Around the World!

I am Gina, the blog author, and am an avid traveler and escape artist! I have been in love with travel all my life! Here is the real story behind my travel obsession and why we are searching for God’s Treasures – I hope you enjoy it!

I was born with a very rare bone disease that affected the growth in my right leg and left arm – leaving them up to 12 inches shorter than the other side. I spent all of my childhood in and out of hospitals to lengthen my leg and fix other ailments associated with my disease. I would spend months and sometimes a year recovering from numerous surgeries, unable to walk and confined to a hospital bed or stuck at home. During these times, I would feel trapped and wanted to be like the other kids who got to run and play outside. Since I couldn’t physically run and play, my imagination would take me places and soon I was escaping on imaginary adventures that sparked my love for travel.

When I was about 10, my doctor told me that with my disease, I had a very high chance of having bone cancer by the time I was 40. At that moment, the clock began ticking in my head and I was on a mission to enjoy my life while I still could!

Not only was I having to deal with the physical pain of my surgeries, the stress of knowing that cancer was looming, and the feeling of being trapped and unable to escape, I also had to deal with the emotional pain of looking very different from everyone else. I would get teased and bullied at school for my strange shoe with a 6 inch “lift” to help me walk and for my short and curved “baby arm.” I would be stared at by strangers, young and old, who would often make faces of disgust as they looked at my scarred and “different” body. And I would be surrounded by everyone, at school and at home, who I thought was “perfect”.

In those darkest of times, God was my best friend and the one who kept my soul alive. With God’s help and constant guidance, I would escape from my world by dreaming of far away places and adventures I would love to take. These dreams sparked my spirit and helped me get through many very difficult years.

I would write stories about my future life of exploration, read history books with a passion, and watch as many travel documentaries as I could. I loved history and archaeology, and after I saw “Raider’s of the Lost Ark” at 13 years old, a spark lit up inside me like never before and I was determined to follow my dream and EXPLORE THE WORLD!

From that moment on, my life became centered around all that the world had to offer and planning my imminent escape into it! This passion kept my spirit  ALIVE and EXCITED about life and helped me look past all my current circumstances and look toward my future. My confidence soared and my life became exciting and full of surprises.

I just knew without a doubt that God lit the spark for travel inside me for a reason, and with His help, there was no stopping me on my quest to see the world.

In university, I met my husband and we immediately bonded over our love for travel and our dreams of escaping our normal lives and traveling the world. After we were married 5 years later, we bought one way tickets to Europe and went on a year-long honeymoon exploring 8 countries in 4 months and then settling in Barcelona, Spain. We scraped by on as little as $20 per day so that we could stay abroad as long as we could. When our money finally ran out, we returned to California with a new goal of living and working in Europe.

During that trip, the travel spark inside me turned into a raging fire and I knew there was no going back to the way I used to be. I needed to explore like I needed to breathe and I knew God had big plans for me.

So, even though I had a business degree, I decided to dedicate my life to travel and took classes to become a travel agent. This led me to learn many things about new places to explore, and after one year of working in San Francisco, my husband was hired to work for an IT company in Amsterdam, and off we went!

Two years later, our daughter Kaitlin was born and we felt guilty for having the only grandchild in both our families so far away. So, even though we had the most amazing life and jobs in Amsterdam, we returned back to Los Angeles to be with our families. Well, once a traveler, always a traveler, and within 8 months, we were back in Europe, living in Germany, France, then back to Germany.

When our daughter, Cassidy was ready to be born, we returned to Los Angeles again to “settle down” – because that’s what people do when they have 2 kids, right? Well, this time we made it almost 2 years, but when my husband got offered a job in Rome, Italy, off we went again!!

We spent 4 years in Rome, then moved to Paris for 6 months, and then to Venice, Italy where we spent 7 years. During our second year in Venice, our son Trevor was born and we were enjoying the benefits of finally getting our Italian citizenships and melting into Italian life.

When Trevor was one year old and I was just ready to turn 41, my dad, who had always been my rock, died of lung cancer and 10 days later, I got the news I had expected, but hoped would never come – I had bone cancer in my left shoulder blade. Talk about a traumatic time! I hadn’t even begun to mourn my dad and now I had to deal with my cancer!

I had to have my entire shoulder and part of my collar bone removed and was virtually unable to use my left arm. And since my arm was basically sewn onto what was left of my collar bone, I was unable to lift anything heavy with my right arm either! No more lifting or carrying my baby, doing everyday chores, normal beauty maintenance (like putting my hair into a ponytail), carrying heavy bags on my adventures, or a hundred other things we all take for granted!

Needless to say, I was overcome with grief and the “Why Me?” that had overwhelmed me as a child came back in full force. My greatest passion (besides my family, of course!) was traveling and how was I supposed to go on these grand adventures with 3 kids without using my arms to lift anything heavy??

Also, my husband had to give up a great job in London (where he would be gone all week) and take a much lower paying job to work from home and help take care of the kids. Living in Venice, Italy where there are no cars and bridges are everywhere with a baby in a stroller is VERY difficult, and now here I was unable to use my arm! My husband had to do everything – work, kids, shopping, and emotional management – all with the added stress of barely scraping by financially. It was a very sad and stressful time, to say the least! My faith in God and trusting His plan is the only thing that kept me going during those years.

Little by little things got better and I was able deal with my new reality and climb out of the hole I had been living in. Life became bright again and full of possibilities. I learned to live only using one arm and realized that I could still do quite a lot thanks to my little helpers who I had raised as travelers. Soon the adventures resumed and we were enjoying the fascinating sights in and around Italy.

However, now that I had become a cancer survivor, my passion to enjoy my life multiplied by a million! I wanted to do MORE while I still had the chance! Living in Italy was incredible, but what about all the other countries and people I had yet to see and meet? I became restless and wanted to escape and explore the world – ALL OF IT!

So, in September, 2013, we packed up all of our life into a storage unit and embarked on an indefinite quest to explore as many places and cultures as we can! Since our journey began, almost 2 years ago, we have visited 78 cities in 26 countries on 4 continents and we are just getting started!

We have learned so much from the world and our kids are having the best education possible – having the world as their classroom and all the people we meet as their teachers! And… I am living my life-long dream of exploring our amazing world!

Now, as I look back on my life, I realize that with God’s help, my disability has actually become my ABILITY – creating the strength and perseverance that I may have never had if I had been born without it. It encouraged me to live everyday to to its fullest – never knowing how long I have to enjoy my health, my family, and all that life has to offer. It taught me to always to look for the best in others, for I do not know what they are going through. And it has inspired me to take on life’s challenges with courage and excitement – knowing that they may lead me to somewhere beautiful and amazing!!

I finally know why God put me on this path of travel and adventure. He wants me to learn about His world and all the amazing people in it. He wants to me to leave a positive and joyful imprint on the world as I travel and help those in need. He wants me to encourage others to enjoy the incredible treasures He created for us.  And he wants me to inspire others to never give up on their dreams, no matter how big the obstacle.

I believe God wants us to be happy during our time on this earth. He gave us this awesome world full of treasures of every kind for a reason. I don’t think He wants us to stay in one place year after year and toil each day in order to store our treasures among the “things of the world,” and never have time to enjoy our lives.

I believe He wants to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the diversity and adversity of those in other parts of the world and for us all to work together to improve their lives. To learn about the majestic natural wonders and how to preserve them. To greet and help the multitude of animals that only exist in certain parts of the world and are quickly losing their battle against extinction. To create a legacy of compassion, peace, humility, and generosity. To raise our children, the future leaders of the world, with character, moral conviction, compassion, confidence, and integrity. These are all wonderful ways to glorify God while going on an adventure of a lifetime!

So to sum it all up, why go on a treasure quest around the globe?

Because with God as our travel guide, we can change the world!