Traveling with Anima

I was born in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and with few breaks in between never really stopped moving except for my last fifteen years in Colorado. I traveled with my family till I went to university and after that traveled the continents on my own. Even when my son was born, as soon as it seemed 'safe' we headed for Mexico, his first trip abroad at four months old. Many trips since then, 21 years ago but not nearly as many as I had planned while pregnant. Life slowed down a little bit as it invariably will and I concentrated on raising my children in a happy single parent, mulit-generational home with adventurous travel as often as possible.

aka 'Little Dragon'

Along with my daughter Anima Chiara , who is now eleven  we have been to many places here in the United States and to Italy and Germany twice.Our wanderlust hasn't been stifled by the recent downturn too much but we have entertained ourselves more readily with armchair travel and adventure books in the last few years. Until now.

We are moving to Italy,  Anima and I. The whole process of getting ready to go, not just on vacation but to actually live in another country is exciting and challenging at the same time.  When you take a trip somewhere and know you will come back in a few days or weeks time it's a little less daunting. Both Anima and I are very much looking forward to our new adventure and have decided to share our experiences in this blog, Traveling with Anima. We expect to share our experiences once a month about our move and consequent travels once we are settled in the beautiful and beckoning Val d'Orcia.

Just recently I started following Silvia Ceriegi, a very energetic woman who writes a blog called Tripando in Italian.  Silvia is from Pisa, Italy which is where I spent my teens and reading her travel blog really opened my eyes to all the places I had been missing. Tripando is really one of those wonderful and  enthusiastically written blogs that are chock full of  information and excellent local tips. Silvia just recently became the mother of a baby boy and has put together an association of  "mommy bloggers" who love to travel and do so with their children in tow.

  I am excited to be part of  "Il Circolo delle Mamme Viaggiatrici"  or  The Traveling Mothers Club.

The Circolo is made up of Silvia with her Tripando site, Alessandra who writes at LaliViaggi, Valentina Cappio who writes The Family Company blog and Melissa Muldoon who blogs at her website Diario di una Studentessa Matta. Sign up with us to get the latest news on what we are up to next!

 Travels with children. Come along with all of us. We look forward to engaging you in our travels and transitions. Ciao Ciao! Silvana e Anima Chiara