It’s hard to get a full picture of someone’s life based on social media posts alone. While everything looks like it’s all butterflies and rainbows all the time, there may be some uncomfortable parts too. So this is to give a different perspective on what our life has been like. This is not meant to be read as complaining or petty, just a fuller picture of things.

We have been living in a hotel for the last 20 days. What does that really look like? That means we are living out of a suitcase. Where is that one shirt I wanted? Oh, it’s at the bottom of the suitcase. I have to unpack the whole thing to get to it? Forget it, I’ll wear the one that’s on the top.

I don’t know about you but I don’t wash my jeans after every wear. So, after a few wears they stretch out a little bit and you put on a belt. Well, the belts are in a box that is in the hotel’s long term storage, so you end up wearing jeans that are so stretched out it doesn’t really work to wear them.

You can eat out for every meal for a while, but after some time you really just want to stay in your room to eat. So you have the hotel empty the mini bar so you can put some food in it. You go to the store and try to figure out what you can get to make a meal that doesn’t require cooking. Veggies, cereal, yogurt, milk, fruit, bread, pb, jelly, lunch meat, hummus, cheese, crackers, chips, oatmeal and ramen noodles – (just add hot water from the kettle). Cereal is best eaten out of a water glass, and noodles out of a tea cup. There aren’t many dish options so you have to use what you have.

While our hotel is nice, and we are super happy to have adjoining rooms, there isn’t a ton of space. We are living among many suitcases and boxes piled around our beds. I can’t tell you how many times I have stubbed my toes on the furniture trying to navigate around the room. (However I stubbed my toes all the time while living in our house, so this may really mean I am clumsy.)

Let’s talk about laundry. I normally do laundry several times a week but right now that isn’t really feasible. Here my options are, spend a fortune having the hotel do the laundry, or put the laundry in a suitcase and walk one mile to the laundromat and get it done there, then walk the mile back. It takes some time but it’s much more cost effective.

I love my family, but sometimes we all need our space. In the hotel room there isn’t anywhere to escape. We are in each other’s space 24/7. Sometimes tensions run high, but we have been able to talk through it and have learned to give each other grace. This is why we go out all the time. We don’t really want to sit in the room all day, so we find ways to fill the day. We like exploring but touristing gets tiring. We are learning our way around the city and learning the tube, but being out and about everyday can be too much.

All of this to say, each of us is amazed that we get to have this opportunity. It is not lost on us that we are having a once in a lifetime experience. Our hotel situation is temporary and soon (hopefully!) we will have our own space, where we will have food in a kitchen, a table to sit at and a washing machine readily available. We are happy to be here and are looking forward to the next phase of our amazing adventure.

When we look back on our first few weeks here, these are the things we will remember.