A Birthing Home Found

Our birthing place for our little girl!

(This blog written by Austin.)

Kindra and I finally landed on a place to give birth! 

After lots of research into insurance options, Kindra discovered Canyon Medical Center, a heavenly natural birthing center in Portland’s West Hills.  We set up a time to visit, and what transpired was probably the most mind blowing, amazing experience we have ever had with a health provider.

Kindra with Leslie, right, and Emerald, left.  Leslie is our midwife and doctor, and Emerald is a recent midwife school grad who will be also assisting with our birth.

We met with Dr. Leslie Hamlett, a naturopathic doctor and midwife.  She gave us a tour of the birthing rooms, which felt more like classy hotel rooms, complete with large birthing tubs and comfy beds!  Then we spent the better part of an hour chatting away about our travels, home birth, and nutrition.  It was like she was on our level, and speaking our language!

Leslie was amazing, I have never met such an authentic or down to earth medical practitioner.  At the end of our time, she gave us big hugs and welcomed us to give birth there.  Kindra and I were like, oh yeah!  For sure!

Big, healthy belly!

Our follow up appointments were just as good, and we feel so blessed to be a part of Portland’s natural birthing movement. 

One of the rooms we could give birth in, amazing!

Check out Canyon Medical Center at: http://www.canyonmedcenter.com/

Ten Defining Moments of Our Trip

Croatian waterfall in Plitvice Lakes.

(This blog is written by Austin)

Croatia: Soul Friends Made and Endless Natural Beauty Discovered

In this mystical country, formerly part of communist Yugoslavia, we indulged in the kind of natural beauty you would think to find only in the afterlife.  Picture an abundance of waterfalls, crystal clear lakes, and remote island beaches, all waiting to be explored.  We also met the friends of a lifetime  when we first encountered Esteban and Zihya, a sweet French couple with a sense of playfulness and wanderlust.  I still remember seeing those two sitting near the bus stop on the dreamy Croatian island of Vis, waiting to find another campsite on the other side of the island. We starting chatting them, invited them to camp at our self discovered "oasis" of a wild camping spot, and the rest is history.  We spent weeks exploring Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Turkey, and now back in the US, we still think of them as people close to our hearts.  You never know where you will find amazing friends.

Our beloved Cosette with Kindra.

Settling in Izmir: Friends, Cats, and Cultural Challenges

Deciding to settle down in Turkey, our old stomping grounds from right after college, impacted the pace and experience of our trip immensely.  We found English teaching jobs, and through an exhausting process were able to rent an apartment and fill it with old furniture and hand drawn murals.  Going from wandering vagabond with little responsibility or care to working full time in a major multicultural melting pot of a school and dealing with Turkey's "in your face" culture was quite the transition, and we only weathered it well through the many special friendships we made.  Relationally, the time with rich, we made our apartment the social hub for a while with a few parties.  My highlight was when my dad and step mom came to visit, and we had all our friends over to help welcome them to Turkey!  Good times.

Beautiful Mt. Robson, one of our favorite backpacking trips.

 Backpacking the Canadian Rockies

Kindra and I had been ready to get our feet wet in backpacking ever since deciding to quit our jobs and undertake this epic adventure, and Mt. Robson in the Canadian Rockies proved to be just the ticket.  We started our four day trip late in the day and raining, always a good way to start :)  Crossing flooded trails, with gushing waterfalls and silky turquoise rivers to keep us company, we made our way thirteen miles to a night fall arrival at Lake Berg.  The next morning, we awoke to snow on the ground, and a tranquil glacial lake nearby.  Over the next few days, we explored this vast, dramatic alpine area, and made friends with James, a British adventurer who joined us on hikes and for meals!  We still dream fondly of this adventure.

One great waterfall of many at Havasupai.

The Grand Canyon's Grand Secret: Havasupai

The mystical turquoise waterfalls of the Grand Canyon's Havasupai region, located on a Native American reservation, had been a place of my heart for years.  Finally, I had the opportunity to go!  Kindra and I hiked eight adventurous miles through narrow passageways of the canyon, finally arriving at Havasupai.  There we jumped into deep, blue green waters, and explored winding rivers like an archeologist looking for the holy grail.  Three nights and two full days were not enough for us to soak in this rare paradise!

Kindra kicks some wood down in Scotland.

Building Bonfires in the Land of My Ancestors

Arriving in Scotland and exploring its countrysides was like stepping into the life of a super great grandfather, since the McRobbies migrated to America almost two hundred years ago.  My worked on a large estate just miles from where my family originated from.  At the estate, we had a blast helping out the Polish groundskeeper, especially when he said it was bonfire day!  On bonfire days, we would collect dead tree branches via tractor or hand, and watched them burn on a HUGE fire!  Often we sweated and worked six hours a day on this, and I would've kept working if someone didn't say it was dinner time!  I have never had so much fun working :)

Our goofy car!

The Death of a Fiat and the Start of a New Adventure

Our beloved Fiat Multipla, a goofy 'Honda Element' style car that we bought in Ireland, finally 'sucked the kumara' (New Zealand slang for died) one day in southern France.  Despite our best efforts to revive our home on wheels, the French mechanics gave the verdict of a broken timing belt, which is a crazy expensive repair.  Our farm hosts in France, Karen and Lee, were kind enough to sell the car for parts for us, while we continued by hitchhiking to Spain.  It was a new beginning, we had little experience in using our thumbs to travel, and it opened a whole world of adventure to us.

The Italian seaside town of Vernazza.

Italian Paradise: Living in the Moment at Vernazza

"What are we doing here?!"  We arrived Vernazza, Cinque Terre, an authentic Italian coastal village with hot temperatures and a buckets of tourists.  At first unappealing due to the crowds, we set up our tent in a vineyard overlooking the ocean, and ended up staying there for three weeks!  The tourists cleared by evening, and the romantic village, full of small shops and gelaterias, lulled us into a near comatose state of relaxation.  We swam in the mornings, cliff jumped in a nearby village in the afternoons, and drank Italian wine with new friends on the beach in the evening.  We still think of Vernazza as paradise on earth.

The valleys of Berner Oberland.

Yoodling in a Dreamscape of Mountains

Berner Oberland, home to the most beautiful mountains and alpine hillsides ever, was another paradise we came across while traveling Europe.  We camped in a valley just feet away from a cliffside waterfall, and then hiked our way up the cliff to an even better campsite, in the Swiss village of Murren.  From there, we daily gazed out to snow capped mountains towering nearby.  Alpine hiking, making friends, and discovering a new meaning to "Swiss cheese" were daily occurrences.  What a heavenly place!

Hiking across history in Turkey.

The Lycian Adventure

Probably an absolute high of our trip was undertaking a three hundred mile trek along Turkey's southern coast.  With only our backpacks and an enthusiasm for the open road, we struggled up steep mountains trails and savored downhill slopes into coastline paradises.  Along the way, we met tons of friendly and sometimes strange villagers, eager to share food or an opinion about world politics.  We also encountered cows, goats, wild boar, scorpions, bugs, and stray dogs.  The trek taught us so much about the resilience of our spirits and relationship; together we overcame multitude of challenges.  We finished the three hundred miles with smiles and a deeper appreciation of journey, along with a deep rooted sense of self confidence, ready for anything.  And anything did happen, as Kindra and I were surprised to discover upon our return to Izmir that she was pregnant! 

This elephant at the Kathmandu zoo was so docile and sweet!

Nepal: Final Stop

After one year and eleven months of unadulterated travel, we finally reached our last destination.  Arriving in the chaotic capital, Kathmandu, we stayed with at a small church run out of the bottom story of a house.  There we befriended the pastor's sister Muna, and her son Yabez, who cooked delicious Nepali for us!  It was also at that church that we decided to say goodbye to traveling: we felt God had brought us to Nepal in one last step of faith, but that the path ahead was ours to decide.  Kindra was three months pregnant, and the roughness of the road was taking its toll on her.  Buying a last minute ticket to LAX, we savored our last weeks exploring more of Nepal.  It was a nostalgic, emotional time; our hearts were so free and flexible from our journeys, and the thought of ending the trip seemed heartbreaking.  But summoning our courage, we moved towards the pain of a trip left unfinished (we always thought New Zealand would be our last stop), and relished in the joy of a baby, a special gift, on its way.  Goodbye travels, but hello new adventures!

Isn't She Lovely?

Icicles galore in Portland!

(This blog written by Austin.)

It's been two weeks since we moved to Portland, and now with rose colored glasses, we are loving it up here.  Yesterday, the weather was predicted to be snow (oh boy!), but instead it was coold rain, with precipitation quickly turning into frozen icicles!  This morning, the sun was back out shining (yah!), and I wandered our local suburb, where the shadows still hid a number of frozen water droplets hanging from trees and mail boxes.

A beautiful mama.

Ok, so mainly this blog is to share this lovely photo of Kindra, one of many that I captured Wednesday.  She is absolutely gorgeous, with a fast growing belly!  The end of the second trimester has been relatively easy for her.  No morning sickness or acid reflux, just an excitement to nest and get baby stuff together!  Maybe the only thing is Kindra can't move as fast during our house NERF battles, but everything said I think that's ok.

'Selling out' to the man.

Today I will continue my job hunt; I have been focusing on jobs related to helping universities fundraise.  I bought a suit for any potential interviews coming up, and Kindra gave me a sad face at seeing me look so professional.  What's worse is I even may have to get a haircut!  The vagabond days appear to be ending, at least externally.  But I still hope to keep the flames of freedom and adventure alive inside!  :)

New Projects

Spanish Spice Cake, our of the many recipes we are testing for our travel cookbook we hope to self publish.  I (Austin) have been working on the food photography side of things.

(This blog written by Austin.)

Well, as you may well know, Kindra and I are now living in Portland!  We made the road trip up through California, stopping to camp near Mt. Shasta for a few nights.  Now we are staying with my Aunt Chris and Uncle Jim, as the hunt for a job and housing begins.  Kindra had been in full baby nesting mode, figuring out health insurance and birthing options.  I have been job hunting, primarily looking for work in higher education; I love the atmosphere of universities, and working alongside or near students would be incredible! 

I gotta let you in on a little secret: Portland is seriously one of the coolest places to live.   Of course, it is cool literally (yesterday was in the fifties during the day with crazy wind).  But it is also full of down to earth, kind people and TONS of nature and trees.  I feel more like we are living in a forest that happens to have some buildings than living in a city.  Totally secluded hiking trails are only minutes away. 

Along with being an urban forest, there is so much amazing stuff to do!  Theater, endless international food carts, nature reserves, a rad zoo, delicious restaurants, and fun neighborhoods to explore.  We honestly haven't found something we don't like about Portland.  Even the weather is great; it is so nice to live somewhere with SEASONS (cough...not SoCal), where the leaves turn yellow and red and fall off the trees.  Who knows, it might even snow once in a while!

Of course we do miss our close friends and family from California, and just an fyi, we are saving a spot for you up here if you ever get "Oregon fever."

One project we are working on while in job and housing limbo is the making of a travel cookbook from our two year journey.  This book will be chock full of delicious recipes we found while traveling, along with stories and pictures of our journeys.   Right now it is simply a fun project, but we may end up making hard copies and putting the book up on kickstarter. 

I'll be posting on here and facebook updates of the process, so keep an eye out! 

Until next time, have a great November!

Kisir, a delicious Turkish salad that Kindra makes wonderfully.

Turkish lentil soup, a real delight on a cold day.

The Journey into Fatherhood

So it's Austin back again with some updates and reflections in this latest stage of our adventurous journey.  Since arriving two months ago from Nepal "barefoot and pregnant," we have had a whirlwind of a time seeing family and friends, and figuring out our lives.  After choosing Portland as our settling point for the next year or two, we made the road trip back down to SoCal, back to our roots and where all our stuff was packed away.  Weathering many fun and engaging yet ultimately tiring (because of volume) social engagements with family and friends that we absolutely love and are getting to know better, we packed up a truck full of stuff and set north.  During the packing phase, Kindra managed to figure out the complicated Medical system through her awesomeness and score us our first prenatal check up in the states, complete with finding out the gender!  Our cool, openly socialist OBGYN simply assumed we were having a birth with a midwife (which we hopefully are), and as she gently assessed Kindra, mentioned that we looked like the type that would live on a farm somewhere in Oregon (maybe someday!).  At the super fancy ultrasound, in which everything looked great for our baby to be, the technician led us to discover a wonderful surprise: we are having a girl!

A baby girl.  A sweet lady.  Daddy's princess.  Wow, what a beautiful surprise!  Kindra and I were convinced a boy would be coming, so we are adjusting pleasantly to the idea of a girl.  :)

Following our discovery of the sex, we packed up our boxes in our beloved, borrowed Tacoma until it resembled a covered wagon, and then hit the 'Oregon Trail' going north!  Along the way, we had a great visit with Kindra's dad and step mom Yolie, and their three amazing youngsters, who absolutely couldn't wait to play with us!  The excitement and enthusiasm a kid carries at all times to play, laughter and run around has helped re-awaken my inner child.  I suppose as a kid myself I had plenty of opportunities to play, but I perhaps also carried a burden of performance in school and relationships, which prevented me from fully letting go and just running like wind or being recklessly silly.  Through our journey across the globe, and some beautiful inward discoveries, I have learned to understand and care for my inner child, and give myself permission to play and adventure without being so concerned with what others think (I mean, how many truly playful adults do you know?).  I see this journey into fatherhood being a continuation of my self discovery, and I feel it an honor to get to LEARN from my child, learn how to be whole hearted, present, and aware.  I look forward to charging the hills with this daughter to be, and caring for her with my presence and playfulness.

Right now, I feel myself almost tearing up at the idea of having a child, what a wonderful gift, for Kindra and I to create something out of our love, and to give this girl a chance to experience a safe place of affection, care, and exploration.  Our journey through the world was almost a time of preparation for this fantastic new journey, one that I am certain will take us deeper down a road of joy, love, and self discovery.  Little McRobbie girl, we have a place in our hearts ready for you!

Portland

Kindra, my brother Gavin, his fiancee Caitlynne, and I on our drive to Portland.

Hello, fellow companions of the human race!  It’s been a (long) while since our last post, I (Austin) hope to give you a catch up on our journeys, especially while my lovely, definitively pregnant better half swims laps at the Rose Bowl (yes, we are in Pasadena now). 

Since arriving in Amehrrica nearly two months ago, our lives have been crazy.  Seriously, we bounced back and forth between a good number of family and friends in the first few weeks, making an appearance at the always epic McRobbie reunion, which celebrated my Grandpa Mac’s 95th birthday and the 65th wedding anniversary of him and his ever youthful ninety year old wife, my Grandma Mary.  We also in elegant fashion surprised Kindra’s mom Kathy, and step dad Mike, all at a synagogue party for Mike’s mom’s seventy fifth birthday.  The back story of that second surprise is pretty great; Kindra and I showed up at the WRONG synagogue to surprise her step-gma, and so there we were, Friday evening at 7 pm, at a synagogue in Fountain Valley with no family to be seen.  Texts to the family to discreetly discover their location proved unfruitful (they didn’t know we were back in the states, let alone prego!).  Kindra was on the verge of throwing in the towel and revealing the plan via a phone call, but I intervened and instead sent a “911 text” to them saying Kindra was really sick in India (where they thought we were!).  They called back, and I bemoaned Kindra’s food poisoning, all while asking where they were; the Westminster synagogue!  We hung up without too much explanation, and gunned our borrowed pick up truck ten minutes up the freeway, to utterly shock Kindra’s family; Kindra’s mom was on the verge of tears and ready to hold a prayer circle for Kindra’s “deathly sickness.”  Classic adventure on our road back to American living. 

Visits to Kindra’s dad’s family and my mom’s family were way more mellowed out, although by family visit number four I was beyond feeling the effects of severe reverse culture shock. (Don’t ever get divorced, by the way, or, if you do, don’t allow your kids to marry someone else who has divorced parents; four families to balance is what we have to do and it is crazy.)  At one point in the second week of our return, I had a full out bawling on the floor emotional breakdown from opening my dad’s refrigerator; I couldn’t even make lunch!  So many choices; in Nepal, we didn’t even have a fridge for half the time, let alone consistent electricity!

Other significant culture “shocks” for us: big cars, orderly driven freeways, packed to the gills with random ish grocery stores, overly friendly waiters, dogs with poop picked up, everyone being pretty opinionated and liking to talk a lot and be super outgoing, etc.  Yeah, it’s been an adjustment.  Sure, America has a NUMBER of awesome traits, and a lot of stuff we are thankful for: fast internet, Trader Joe’s, conveniences galore, and perfect weather (in socal).  We simply just don’t feel as American, at least in the first month or so.  I guess a year and a half overseas can change us quite a bit. 

So, you’re probably wondering, now what?  You guys are “pregnant and barefoot,” get some medical insurance, a smart phone, and a job already.  Well, we have the medical insurance part, if California’s perhaps horrendous Medical counts.  Job….coming soon?  After some stressful soul searching in Santa Barbara and Oregon, we decided that we are moving to Portland!  Yes Portland, Oregon; the land of hipsters, trees, and less drought and expensive rent than SoCal.  So in the next two weeks, we will be packing our few belongings into a gratefully borrowed pick up truck (Sig and Christina, you guys rock!), and heading into frontier land.  There we hope to find jobs, and more importantly, a lasting nest for the little loved one growing forcefully in Kindra’s belly. 

Stay tuned for more ramblings of late twenty something hippies trying to find their way in a fast paced world!

Baby's First Check Up at the Doctor - Nepali Style!

So as you already know, we are PREGNANT!! We prepared this blog in advance together so you can hear one of the greatest stories of our pregnancy overseas: going to a hospital in Nepal. Kindra was having some lasting diarrhea, which apparently is not a good sign if you’re pregnant. So wanting to take the best care of our baby as possible, but being in Pokhara, Nepal, we nervously looked up the best hospital for foreigners and made our way there via scooter.

We pulled up to Manipal Teaching Hospital, and it was unlike anything we could imagine…..inside was more like a theme park than a hospital. There were lines everywhere with people, and the paint was peeling off the walls. After wading through the chaos, we discovered you had to pay for all the services you wanted before you received them, and finding our way to a crowded billing window we waited in line to pay the measly $30 for an ultrasound and several lab tests. But this line, we found, was more like waiting in line in Turkey, because people were pushing and crowding and often cutting in line. Fortunately for us, Kindra and I are good foot taller than the average Nepali, and quite a bit bigger too. So it was fairly easy to block the pesky line cutters. 

We ended up staying there most of the day, hopping from one place to another to another, the whole time dealing with pushy miniature Nepali people.  After a urine test, blood test, and stool test (providing the stool sample was easily one of the most interesting experiences of Kindra’s life :), we finally got what we were ultimately looking for: the ultrasound. 

We waiting for the attendants to call our name for the ultrasound, and then entered the small, people packed sardine like room, and went behind the curtain that provides a slim layer of privacy from the waiting crowds.  The whole process of the ultrasound lasted about five minutes, and it was a far cry from the glamorous, American experience one would expect for the same procedure in America.  The on duty technician had a crowd of people vocally waiting for their turn while he was giving me (Kindra) the ultrasound.  So, it was more of the get in, get out mentality.  Nonetheless, it was an unforgettable and wonderful experience.  We got to hear the heartbeat and watch our baby move!  I unexpectedly even had a single tear roll down my face when the technician finally turned the screen towards me, and I saw our baby for the first time. 

So, despite the frequent power cuts, which thankfully were supported by back up generators, and the suspicious looking hospital cafeteria, we received pictures of our little one and a bigger picture and understanding of how blessed we are, and how much we have as Americans and as individuals.  Next to the billing section, there was a box labeled: donations for poor patients.  We saw many people fully camped out in the hospital, and overall it was a very humbling and heart string pulling experience.  I (Austin) almost ran into a stretcher carrying a teenage boy outside the ultrasound room, and his sickly condition still stands with me today.  His stretcher was sitting almost carelessly in the hall room, with no privacy; his foot was bandaged and bloody, as was his face.  A mostly full catheter bag dangled from his legs; it all was such a sight of woundedness, on display for anyone walking by.  My thoughts in that moment and in the coming moments afterwards were: how can I help?  I wanted desperately a way, a way to heal him, or encourage him or help him.  Nothing tangible came to mind, but the experience still sticks with me.  Just as we are blessed to carry a life with us now, a child on the way, so it is an even further blessing to give life to those already living who need it the most.  Nepal is a poor, yet beautiful country, with poor and beautiful people, who could use a hand from those of us who can.  I will remember this.

So, one hospital adventure ends, and what an experience it was!