Grand Adventures and Household Chores
Reflections on our family’s adventures as we live, work, and play around the world
On August 9th, 2014, we are leaving on a trip around the world.
The entire trip will take about two years. We plan to spend the first 10 months in and near Europe, followed by a few weeks back in the USA, and then another year or so in South America, Asia and the South Pacific, and Africa.
For most of my life, I would have declared proudly that I couldn’t give a damn about fashion.
And yet… I did care very deeply about the aesthetics of an outfit, and would sacrifice practicality for something I loved, such as dresses that required a particular slip, skirts that matched no shirts that I currently owned, or sandals that rubbed blisters onto the back of my feet. Once I owned these, even as I resented the impracticality, they latched onto me emotionally saying “love me, love me, KEEP ME,” and I did.
Now that we have a child, camping is different: we pick campsites that are a brief walk to our car, our hikes are shorter, and we more carefully plan activities and food, whereas before we were a bit more adventurous and spontaneous. When we camp, we try to keep the same rhythm of meals, snacks, and naps, even when they are occurring at picnic tables and in tents instead of at home.
Theo’s first camping trip – he is 3 months old and didn’t act quite as terrified as he looks.
Continue reading “_______ is Harder with a Toddler. Significantly harder.”
Theo and I recently flew to Ohio to visit family. On our flight back, we had a four-hour layover, and I’d imagined grabbing dinner and letting Theo run around the airport before hopping onto a late evening flight where Theo would sleep. The flight to Ohio (my first time flying alone with Theo) had been intense, but manageable, so I was optimistic about this one as well.
(Please feel free to insert jokes about Greek gods and hubris here.)
As part of getting ready for the trip, we are donating or selling almost all of our possessions. We’ve left a few less replaceable items with relatives, but most of what we keep will be carried with us.
At two, Theo loves to help in the kitchen. Often that’s how I get him to stop poking at the rocks and twigs beside the sidewalk and start trotting the two-block walk from daycare to our house: the offer to help me cook dinner.
Our plans for our trip so far are:
After that? Who knows. Our plan is make our decisions based on what we learn in the first few months.
We have two weeks left to reduce our physical belongings to what will fit into a suitcase and a backpack.Yikes.
We spent a lot of the weekend getting rid of stuff: some via Craiglist sales, but mostly by just putting stuff out on the curb. We tried to teach Theo our “imagine how happy someone else will be with this (insert item)” purging technique and it seems to have mostly worked. Here, watch him chanting “Other people have marbles, other people have marbles” as he gathers items to give away.
On a semi-related note, someone graffiti tagged our free box last night! Oh, Oakland.