Responses to "The Coming Year"

The following is an abridged collection of emails from friends and family who responded to the announcement of our plans for “The Coming Year” (please refer to earlier post to see my original message). We were encouraged by the overwhelming enthusiasm generated by our decision, and we appreciate everyone’s support in helping to make this trip happen!

-Eric


Wow!!! I read this as I sit waiting for a meeting. This is really wonderful. I can’t wait to read of your adventures. (I’m thinking modern day Swiss Family Robinson).keep us posted.
i love you all, hope to see you somewhere exotic!

I am jealous. Have a great time. I wish I had done it with my kids….. way to go…..

Congratulations on your decision, and I look forward to hearing about your travels. I wish you the best over the next year and hope to see you before you leave.

Eric, I think your family plans are just great- go for it !

I want to live the ohlhausen life!Sounds like a great experience, let me know when you’re back in the States and maybe we can get together before you take off. Bold move.

Eric: Come see me in London. I’ll buy you a beer. This sounds like a lot of fun.

I am so envious. Pls take us with you. Congratulations on doing the right thing. Many thx and enjoy life.

Hey Eric, I’m turning 40 next month and while I don’t have wife or kids, I have a ton of respect for what you are doing with your family. Life is too short and it’s best to see the world while you still can. Best of luck for the remainder of the year and I look forward to hearing about the trip when you return.

We are jealous and think you two are wise wise wise.

Critics are twits. Let me know how we can help.

Eric and Katherine, Great! Wonderful! Outstanding! Go for it! We wish you all the best and will be praying for safe travel and good health. Come to see us. We love you.

Sounds great. You are a good writer! Good luck and stay in touch.

Wow! What a great gift to give to you and your children! You will be missed. Please let me know if there is anything we can do to help!

You should be very proud of your decision. I only wish I could do something like that. Shutting a dental practice down for a year might be a little tough. Enjoy your trip and keep us posted as we would love to hear about your travels.

wow, that is cool. You won’t regret this decision at all…

Eric, Really great to hear from you and learn of your exciting adventure. You are so right about kids and I envy the time you will spend. As Nike says ” just do it ” , but few can. You and katherine made a great decision. This is a life changing experience for your whole family and I wish you safe travel. Thanks for sharing your story and I would enjoy keeping in touch on your journey. Enjoy, soak it up and make sure you enlighten others when you return.

Eric- what a great opportunity for you guys . best of luck and be safe .

Wow. That’s awesome. Have a great trip and stay in touch.

Hey Eric:Sounds most excellent! Who the hell can criticize an around the world year long trip with the family? Smart choice. We want to see you before departure- beer on the porch…Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard! Hope you will keep us on the distribution list as you update your whereabouts, etc. Best to everyone.

Great Letter!! I am very envious and very proud of you for doing this. We will surely have a chance to chat before you take off but I want you to keep us posted on your expected itinerary as you are highly likely to get an extended visit from us at some exotic destination!!

Feel free to use my farm house in New Zealand, condo in Japan (small as it is), and the old Bed & Breakfast we just picked up in Barcelona. Keys are under the mat, with the doorman, and inside the BBQ pit, respectively. Seriously, it sounds like fun. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trip, and look forward to the details as you go.

I could not be more excited for you and your family. What a terrific learning, bonding, challenging experience for you all. If you are going to send out an email journal of your explorations I would love to travel vicariously through your notes. We have discussed and dreamt from time to time of a similar plan. We refer to it as the red shirt year— pulling the kids out of school. But, alas, [our latest] is too young and so we wait and ponder… Good luck with your plans.

wow, eric…that is SWEEEEET.

Great news, what an amazing plan! I can’t imagine a better learning exprience for kids (or adults for that matter). Good luck..

This is the best idea I have ever heard and want to consider it for my family as well. Good luck on your travels and be safe. Let me know if there anything I can do for you and your family.

Unbelievable, I am extremely envious in a good way. Best of luck.

Wow. What a great plan and an incredible journey!

Circa 9.9 on my jealousy scale. See you and the family in the bay area.
Your hard working jealous friend, [messed-up]-priorities and all.

Eric, You are the man. Most people talk about it; you do it. Good work.

Have a great trip. You are braver than us. We would love to hear more about your plans as they develop. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Hooray for you guys…It’s very gutsy and something I think we all wish we had done. We did some travel with [our daughter] but nothing like you are going to experience and your children will thank you forever. Kudo’s to you.

Eric: I say, carpe diem, my friend.
What an amazing adventure for you and your family!

You are always at home when you are with the people you love.

Hey Eric -
I love your plan. I friggin love it…
“One does not find oneself, One creates oneself.” kierkigaard me thinks-
I am excited for you and what you will see. The ATL will be there when you return.
Your plan is a good one. I can’t imagine what you will have evolved into when you have returned.
Good Luck and Travel well. I am very happy for you all. Make the most of your time NOW!!!!

I have to tell you that I am proud of you and your decision. This is truly a bold move and one that takes a lot of courage. I am glad to have your example. We want to help you in any way that we can, and will most certainly not have as much fun in your absence.

Eric - That is a great thing you guys are doing – both for yourselves and for your kids.

Is telling you how jealous I am encouragement? Or criticism? Or both? I wish I had the guts to do this, it sounds truly amazing. Have a great time, take great notes and pictures, and share with all of us when you get back so we can live vicariously.

Firstly, I have to say that back here from where I am sitting, I am so proud & impressed that you are actually putting your dreams into action! Well done. As I said, when I first met Katherine, she spent so long telling me how one day y’all plan to travel & experience life with your children…

This is just about the coolest thing I have seen all year. Congratulations to both of you for having both vision and courage for such a move. Obviously, I am a bit jealous, as I imagine many of your friends are. I do not know if there is anything I can to help you in this endeavor, but I stand ready to…Grace and peace to you both!

your trip sounds pretty awesome, and you guys are super lucky to be able to take the time. the kids should remember it for years to come and the cultural learning is a super rare opportunity as most Americans are so US centric.

That’s the way to live! go for it. inspiration to all of us left sitting on the shore or sidelines. I am just glad I know somebody with that kind of guts. see you when you get back.

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!What a wonderful plan!

Good for you!! I see so many of my patients who put off traveling until their retirement and then are not physically able to enjoy it- and what better way to see the world than through the eyes of your child! On a more selfish side, we will certainly miss you.

WOW! I’ve got goosebumps reading that–how fun and what a great gift to give your family! Totally agree on the timing–and know it’ll be a priceless education for all of you. ..Congratulations!

WoW. I’m so excited for all of you…I’m so proud of u two for having the guts to do that w your sweet children. There is so much pressure on men/the dad/the provider of the family that the important things get lost. We wish you lots of adveturous, safe travel and love. C u when u get back. Love u both.

You are the eyes of the world bra!! Send pics…..I’m positive your travels will reap many blessings for the entire family!!

I am absolutely THRILLED for you guys, and quite frankly, jealous! What a great idea.

Congratulations to you and yours. Some folks, maybe even a lot of folks, might recognize how their priorities should be ordered.I think that it’s the rare soul, however, who not only recognizes when he is at a crossroads, but also has the conviction and guts to move away from the status quo in search of fulfillment.It seems likely, also, that The Coming Year will give Marshall and Wallis experiences that many Americans never have. Your plans show a real devotion to family that I admire.Have a great time.

I am very proud of you for doing this. We have talked about something similar ourselves. I think you are doing a wonderful thing for your family.

This is AWESOME. Good for you and Eric. Life is for the living. Can we chat about adoption for a year? I wanna be a part of the Ohlhausen fam for this.

What a wonderful plan!!! You are right, most people think about this when they are older and wonder WHY didn’t they do it before. You are soo smart!!! Some people say, ” youth is wasted on the young.” Actually they should say, “Retirement is wasted on the old”
Have a terrific year!!

What incredible memories you will make with the children, and with each other. Regardless of the sacrifice, you will never regret a time such as this. Savor the moments, take lots of pictures, and journal when your heart speaks from within to captive the memory. We will live vicariously through all your travels and be with you in spirit and love.“May the Lord bless you and keep you while we are apart from one another.”

Wow, that’s incredible news and a bold move for the Ohlhausen family!I hope your travels are safe and fulfilling.

"The Coming Year"--Announcing Our Plans

Below is a message I sent to friends and family in June of 2007 to announce our plans:

If you have not recently heard from Katherine or me, I’d like to share with you some plans that we have for the coming year.

Like many, Katherine and I frequently have felt that life is too short—kids grow up faster than we’d like, work life and home life are all-consuming, priorities get out of order at times, and although we’re all fine for now, we know that good health is never a given. With these thoughts in mind, we’ve decided to take Marshall and Wallis out of school this year so that we can take a family trip around the world.

The seeds were planted last year when we made plans for the four of us and my parents to visit South Africa this July. Separately, I decided to wind down my involvement in a real estate project on the coast of Georgia and subsequently made plans to go to India for two weeks to explore business opportunities (as I write this, I am on a train between New Delhi and Jaipur). Looking far and wide for both business and pleasure pretty quickly led us to revisit a wish we’ve had since our two years’ time in England and Japan nearly 15 years ago, that of significant travel with our kids. It’s not the usual path, but in effect we’re consuming a retirement year now, to be put to better use than we feel it might be spent in the future.

In our case, the timing seems right: I’m in a career break, and the kids are of an age at which they can enjoy the trip yet not feel they are missing too much back in Atlanta. Also, with “home” schooling in mind, they are of the age at which they still respect authority and have coursework that we’re competent enough to teach (drilling them on multiplication and vocab is doable, while having to re-learn calculus and chemistry would make for one very painful year). This trip will also allow me to indulge my “inner writer,” who has been stifled within the world of finance and administration for much too long.

We’ll return from S. Africa at the end of this July, as previously planned, and should need 4 to 5 weeks to shut down the system in Atlanta. If things go as we hope, we’ll set out in early September for the remaining ten months of this year-long journey. In feeble pursuit of “genuine” experiences, we plan to spend as much of the trip as possible in lower-profile areas, staying in rented houses or apartments and with as many friends and family as can bear us.

For those of you living outside the U.S., we hope that we can see you during the upcoming year. Our schedule is in the works, but after South Africa we expect to have multiple stops throughout South America, Australia/NZ, Asia, Europe, and a number of places in between. It would be great to catch up with you if you’re available.

For those of you whom we see more frequently, we will certainly miss you, although we know from experience that a year can go by very quickly. Our house will be available during this time–please let me know if any recently assigned executives, families new to Atlanta, or prospective victims of an extended home renovation come to mind who might be interested in renting an in-town house in Ansley Park. The pick of the wine cellar for any solid referrals!

That’s about it for now. Words of encouragement are welcome. Critics need not reply.

Best Regards,
Eric