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…
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…
Our Modern Battle at Thermopylae (Greece)
We stopped at the natural, hot springs of Thermopylae, which means “The Hot Gates”, on our way from Delphi to Meteora in Greece. It should have been the perfect end, to a perfect day. We had experienced unusual homeschooling success…
People Not Places, Part 3: Learning from Nina and Tom about Optimism
We visited Nina and her Australian husband Tom in the Sunshine Coast town of Maroochydore, where they with their two kelpie dogs Isabelle and Travis. The town is sunscreen scented and clearly an up and coming place, courtesy the nearby…
People, not Places in Japan.
We had some really meaningful encounters in Japan, and I don’t have the time to write about all of them now, so as a placeholder here are some of the people we met: An old colleague from my husband, whom…
People, not Places: a Real Bed & Breakfast in Beijing
Sometimes staying in an AirBnB that is a true ‘bed and breakfast’, rather than a private apartment, has advantages: you meet other travelers. Check out photos of our AirBnB accommodation in Beijing here. The location of Cindy’s bed and breakfast…
People, Not Places: Paula and Steve from Texas
I often describe our sabbatical year as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ but in Beijing we met a couple that proved us wrong: why would a unique travel year have be an one-time deal? Paula and Steve from Texas…
People, Not Places: Yangshuo (China)
When I asked my eight year old about his favorite experience from our week in Yangshuo he didn’t hesitate: “the people”. We arrived in Yangshuo, in the South of China, after three months in Europe and three days in Hong…
Making Friends in Guilin, China
Another friend in China: Grace from the youth hostel in Guilin gave the kids good luck charms and chatted with Liv about soccer. We’re finding the Chinese very warm and child friendly.