Grand Adventures and Household Chores
Reflections on our family’s adventures as we live, work, and play around the world
The weight and size of our luggage seemed much more reasonable in the US than it does in Europe. Maybe it’s the conversion to the metric system. Or maybe it’s all of the cobblestone streets and narrow stairways. Regardless, we’re contemplating ditching the suitcase (and a considerable amount of our stuff) and obtaining a second backpack instead. We’ll see.
Before we left Ireland, we tried to teach our todller Theo a few important French phrases:
“Not yet,” he’d very consistently reply with a shake of his head.
Continue reading “Trying to “Do French,” Even When It’s Uncomfortable”
Theo has never had very many toys. We follow a somewhat Montessori-ish parenting philosophy, and his room back in California had a low shelf that held about six fairly simple activities at a time. We’d rotate these with a closet-stock about twice that size, and give away toys soon after he outgrew them.
Even though we didn’t pack particularly heavily to begin with, the cobblestone streets in France convinced us that even less stuff would be better. About a month ago, we traded in our one suitcase for a second backpack and culled our possessions (mostly clothing) so that everything would fit.
Last night, to avoid having to stay up until midnight, we celebrated Mecca’s New Year at 10 pm. However, I woke up again at the Croatian midnight to the sound of fireworks and cheers.
We’ve been traveling for almost five months now, and it somehow feels both like we just left California and like we’ve always been traveling. Zagreb has been a lovely place to finish up 2014, and we’re looking forward to a year filled with travel, adventure, and many homes.
Earlier in the trip, we used trains (and one ferry) to travel from Ireland to Croatia, with numerous stops along the way.
I’m definitely not a fashion expert, but after wearing what fits into a backpack for eight months, I feel like I have a good handle on managing a minimalistic wardrobe that blends well into urban Europe. (Here I define “blends into urban Europe” as being initially addressed regularly in the local language, after which my verbal stumblings inevitably identify me as not a local.)
We started our trip by spending almost 10 months in Europe. Here are some of the resources and possessions that we found most useful, some toddler-related, some not.
Continue reading “Stuff We Found Useful While Traveling In Europe”
We’re in Costa Rica after a three-week stay in the United States. In my head, I’ve divided the trip into two parts; the first part where we were hanging out in Europe (I’ll count Istanbul as Europe, even if Sarcozy has his doubts) and the second part in which we head out into the rest of the world.