I wrote this one month after returning from our one-year family sabbatical around the world. In our first weeks home we were asked often, “What is it like to be back home?” It is a difficult question. What do you…
Lessons (Month Twelve): We Became Stronger As a Family During our Sabbatical
I wrote this on a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco, almost three weeks ago. I had less than an hour before touchdown and I felt compelled to pen our feelings about returning home after our year-long sabbatical…
Facts Of Life In The Galapagos Islands
We traveled to the Galapagos in search of paradise. We were not prepared to find death and suffering. Shortly after we set foot on Espanola island, we spotted a baby sea lion. “He will make it another day or two,”…
Sabbatical Lessons Month Twelve: How Do You Spend Your Time?
We were not the only family to choose The Galapagos Islands as the final destination of a world trip. During our year, we met only one other family traveling the world (in Thailand). In Puerto Ayoro, the main town on…
Sabbatical Lesson Month Eleven: Opening The Travel Door
During our family sabbatical, we alternated longer stays abroad with travel. Our first two months were in The Netherlands, using my ancestral home as a base. Then we traveled for four months in Asia and Australia, followed by four months…
Life Itself is Dangerous
I wrote about our visit to my uncle Joannes’ coffee farm in Braganca Paulista. My uncle comes from a family with ten children. He is a brother of my mom. All siblings and many cousins visited my uncle in Brazil. All,…
Start a New Adventure At Any Point in Life
Meeting inspiring retirees was a recurring theme during our trip. I traveled extensively as a student, thinking it was my last opportunity before starting a career and a family. I embarked on this family world trip thinking it was a…
“Letting Go” Exam on a Boat in Paraty, Brazil
When I studied Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University, I learnt how to conduct focus groups. You had to conduct as many interviews as needed to start hearing the same answers, or at least themes, over and over. Typically this…
Arriving On Another Planet in Ubatuba
We arrived in Rio de Janeiro at four o’clock in the morning. It was dark. We took the shuttle to the rental car agency, so we could start our four-hour drive to Itamambuca Beach as soon as possible. “Wait until…
A Passion Does Not Have To Be A Job
I paid my way through college as a journalist, writing for “De Delftse Courant”, a local newspaper, and the university paper “Delta”. What I liked most about these jobs was the excuse to interview others about their lives. Similarly, when…