At the mouth of the Bou Regreg River where it meets the Altantic Ocean is found a a very picturesque setting. Colorful boats pop against the dull color of the water and fortified walls with cannons stand as a reminder to this former pirate town’s past. Rabat is an interesting town mixing old and new and I look forward to photographing more of it.
Jason’s Thoughts After 4 Months on the Road
Note: Many people have expressed an interest into our thoughts and feelings since starting to travel long term. Most of our articles and blog posts do not describe the emotions we feel and how, as a family, we are affected by long term travel. It has now been 4 months since we sold everything we own, quit our jobs, and began our journey eastward with the goal of circling the globe. We now have a taste of the road and would like to share our thoughts and feelings with all of you. We will have three posts, one from each of us, describing our current state of mind. In case you missed the first post, Kerri’s thoughts after 4 months can be found here. Enjoy…
We have now been on the road for a little over 4 months. We are currently in Rabat, Morocco after spending 3 months in Europe. It is a little shocking, to say the least. Outside it is raining, horns are blaring from an endless line of cars, sirens are taking some poor soul to the third world hospital across the street, and the call to prayer comes from all directions. Just a few blocks away is the Atlantic Ocean with a wall of garbage and fill dirt pushed up to its edge. The street market behind us has blood from butchered animals intermixing with fresh produce for sale on the ground. The smell of rotting meat, sewage, and car exhaust fills my nostrils every time I step outside. Travel is not always glamorous, but I would rather be here then where I was before, suffering a slow death inside an office cubicle.
Last year was an interesting year that I have nicknamed, “The Year of Loss.” After years of accumulating stuff and remodeling our SE Portland home, we sold everything. We had planned to do this for 6 years, but it still felt weird to me. The American culture is a consumer culture. We are trained from an early age that we must have the latest and greatest toys. We must consume. There are the haves and the have-nots and nobody wants to be the latter. We purposely chose to become what most Americans fear to become and to give up everything in the pursuit of our dreams. After years of striving to have the perfect home theater system, the perfect wall color, and the perfect car, we sold it all. I personally found the experience refreshing and horrifying at the same time. I grew up poor and always dreamt of having nice stuff. I also dreamt of traveling around the world. Given the choice, I chose to travel. I can always buy more stuff, but I won’t always have the option to travel long term again. To me, the memories and experiences I get from travel are more valuable than any piece of stereo equipment or shiny car. And to be able to share it with my wife and daughter is priceless.
Besides losing our house and belongings, we also had the loss of our dog, cat, bunny, fish, my uncle, and our jobs. It seemed like everyday I was losing some aspect of my surroundings and life. We were going through a transformation and to me it felt surreal.
After so much work to get rid of everything we were finally free to follow our dreams and travel around the world. I was excited about the prospect of traveling to so many wonderful places around the world that I had always dreamt of visiting. I was also nervous that things might not go as planned. You can plan for the future, but it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.
While Kerri stressed over Sydney’s education, having enough money to resettle, and being able to keep her nursing license, I stressed over the little things; namely microbes and parasites. You can buy every form of insurance, take every precaution, but all it takes to make your life miserable, or to even kill you, is one microscopic creature entering your body and wreaking havoc. Kerri still laughs at me over this, but I find it to be the number one threat to our health as we travel. Where did I put that hand sanitizer?
During our first month of round-the-world (RTW) travel we visited with family in Idaho, Utah, and New Mexico before flying to Paris, France. We used this time as a transition period to adjust to homeschooling Sydney. Kerri had really stressed over Sydney’s schooling, even with all my reassurances. I had read about other families on the road and many of them say to push the math and everything else comes naturally. When we first started out trying to be teachers, Sydney, Kerri, and I all butted heads. Sydney resisted us teaching her, threw tantrums, and was not a “model student.” Kerri and I had come up with a rigid program of homeschooling, but it was not working. After I gave Sydney a stern lecture about us being her teachers now, and relaxing the teaching style, things got better. We soon learned that you can’t force education on the road and being flexible was the key. Everyday I am impressed at how quick Sydney learns new stuff and how she has adapted to world travel.
During the first couple months of travel Kerri and I had a few disagreements. Our goals were the same, but we had different ideas on how to accomplish them and neither one of us would give. It was as if we were going to the same destination, but taking different paths to get there. It also did not help having a tiny apartment in Paris. While in Paris I often felt like I was in some strange psychology experiment where you cram a bunch of rats into a tiny cage and wait to see how long it takes before they start freaking out. Even though we were in one of the “most beautiful” cities in the world, it was cold and gray outside. I found Paris to be a very ugly city during the winter, and not very inviting. Even rainy and gray Portland, Oregon has green evergreen trees and grass everywhere to add a splash of color. Even the people in Paris all dress in black. The only color, other than shades of gray, was the brown dog poop on the sidewalks.
As soon as we left Paris to begin our third month of RTW travel in Arles, France everything got better. I found Arles to be a very magical town and thought it was what we needed to finally get into the spirit of world travel. The 500-year old house we were renting had a great energy to it that our apartment in Paris lacked. The narrow, labyrinthine streets of Arles were fun to get lost in and the people we met made it all the harder to leave. I never thought that you could feel “at home” in just a month, but that is exactly what happened. Even Kerri and Sydney found it really hard to leave. Hopefully we will come back someday.
Our time in Spain left me a little puzzled. It was not as I had envisioned it, but I ended up enjoying it after our month stay there. The longer we travel the more I realize that travel will always be full of surprises and to truly enjoy it you need to avoid disappointments by just going with the flow.
So, now for the big question: What are my thoughts and feelings AFTER 4-months of RTW travel? To sum it up in one word, LOST. Before we left for our RTW trip we had our itinerary and I had “my plan.” As we travel from place to place I search for business opportunities. To be honest, I don’t ever want to work in an office cubicle again, unless I had no other option. My hope is to start a business somewhere in the world. Kerri is a little skeptical on this plan, but I know we can make it work if we just find the right location. Sydney is so impressed with my cooking that she thinks I should open up a beach café somewhere, which is not too bad of an idea. She keeps offering ideas for café names and items that could be on the menu. I am also unsure if I ever want to live in the USA again. Getting out of America, with its big box stores and commercialization, is a breath of fresh air. It’s really nice to see these different cultures and the different ways of doing things. I am not trying to bash America here, as I still love my country, I just think it would be more enriching to live in a different country when we finish with our travels. So, with no idea on what I want to be when I grow up and not knowing where I want to live, I am lost. Aimlessly wandering the world looking for a home and something that can earn us an income.
During these past 4 months my relationship with Kerri has been enriched. Being together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, has helped us become closer and has taught us to work together. We have traveled together often before leaving, but long-term travel can really test a relationship. Fortunately, it has worked out well for us and we have passed the test. When we first started out we were both a bit rigid in our ways, but travel has helped to break down those barriers and to become more flexible.
Watching Sydney become more independent and confident everyday is something every parent should experience. Before we left I would see Sydney for less than an hour in the morning and for about 2 hours in the evening on weekdays. Our weekends were filled with racing around to different lessons for Sydney and doing house projects and it left no time to ask her how she was feeling and what her hopes and dreams were. Homeschooling her everyday gives me instant feedback about what she knows and what she needs to learn. I have been having fun trying to push math just a little further to see how fast she can get to Algebra, and I am always amazed at how well she learns things. I often feel bad that she is stuck with us all the time and has no friends to play with. Hopefully that will change this summer when school is out and more families will be on vacation. I also look forward to being in places with warmer weather so I can teach her how to surf.
It will be interesting to see how my thoughts and feelings morph as we travel. Will I change my mind and want to return to American life, or that working in an office was not so bad? The more we travel the more I notice the mental changes in us and it is hard to predict what the future will hold. Whatever it might be, I look forward to it and the adventures we will have along the way.
4 Family Activities to Do in Michigan
One common problem when looking for something to do with your family is trying to find activities that will appeal to all ages. Fortunately, there are tons of such attractions in Michigan ranging from zoos to basketball games.
Planetariums and Museums
Image via Flickr by happyhangaround
Kids will love seeing the stars light up in a planetarium, and parents who are astronomy buffs will love leaning about the solar system and the universe. You can almost always find room in a planetarium near you, and there are even often special themes for different nights at each facility. A great place to visit is the Abrams Planetarium at the M.S.U. Campus in East Lansing. There’s a “sky theater” there that can be booked ahead of time.
The Cranrook Institute of Science offers both a natural history and a science museum with a T-Rex skeleton exhibit. There are few children in the world that don’t love dinosaurs, after all. The museum also features a planetarium for children of all ages, and an observatory for a more straight forward view.
Zoos
Image via Flickr by JoyTek
You’re definitely never too old or too young to appreciate how much fun animals like alligators or kangaroos are. Taking your family to the zoo makes it easier for everyone to do the same thing but enjoy it on different levels. Younger kids can have fun just seeing animals for the first time, while older kids may have fun feeding the animals by hand, and adults can learn new things about the animals from the signs. Some examples of zoos in Michigan include the following:
- Binder Park Zoo (Battle Creek)
- John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids)
- Potter Park Zoo (Lansing)
Amusement Parks
Image via Flickr by specialoperations
Amusement parks are known for having very soft rides for small children, and very large intense roller coaster for adults, making them perfect for a family to go to together. There are many good amusement parks in Michigan.
Michigan’s Adventure is one of Michigan’s largest parks and it has family rides so that the entire family can go on one ride instead of having to split up. The family rides here include:
- Be-Bop Blvd with electric cars
- Carousels
- The Giant Gondola wheel
- Frog Hopper—This ride begins your family up in the air, then gives them a ride on the way down!
Basketball Games
Image via Flickr by bakerfarm
Basketball is one of those games that defies age boundaries, as it appeals to both young and old. Michigan is a state full of opportunities to watch basketball games. For example, you can buy Michigan Wolverines basketball tickets easily online. The Wolverines play in the NCAA Division I and Big Ten Conference at the Crisler Arena. This activity is especially exciting during the March Madness competition each year.
With a little digging, you can easily find the perfect place to go that your family won’t fight over. It’s much better if everyone is enthusiastic about the same place, after all.
Kerri’s Thoughts After 4-Months on the Road
Note: Many people have expressed an interest into our thoughts and feelings since starting to travel long term. Most of our articles and blog posts do not describe the emotions we feel and how, as a family, we are affected by long term travel. It has now been 4 months since we sold everything we own, quit our jobs, and began our journey eastward with the goal of circling the globe. We now have a taste of the road and would like to share our thoughts and feelings with all of you. We will have three posts, one from each of us, describing our current state of mind. Enjoy…
It is hard to believe that we are now at our 4-month anniversary of being on the road. My husband, Jason, recently asked me has it been worth it i.e. selling practically everything we own, leaving good, stable jobs, pulling our daughter Sydney out of school, spending over $9,000 so far, leaving family and going to travel the world. My answer was an emphatic yes; I want to continue this journey. Our journey has not always been fun, exciting, or amazing and yes at times, I have longingly thought about “home” and extended family. Despite these bumps on the road, I am hoping that we will be able to extend our travel beyond 2 years.
Given that this is our 4 month anniversary of being on the road, I thought I might share some my impressions of our journey so far, the things that I miss and the changes that I am hoping we will continue to sustain once we are done traveling. I am sure that this list will change as we travel and I will probably laugh about what I wrote 2 years from now, but for prosperity sake here it goes.
One of the main reasons we decided to travel was to spend more time with each other. Previous to traveling, both Jason and I were working full time. Though Jason’s schedule was much more predictable, I would typically find myself staying late at work, up to 1 to 2 hours multiple times a week to call one more care management patient, to help in the clinic or to get my never ending charting done. Although being a Nurse Care Manager gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, I would frequently find that I was feeling sorry for myself, as I was still at work and missing out on an activity with Jason and Sydney.
So how is it now? I am sure the real question that everyone really wants to know about, are you sick of each other yet? Overall, No! I wake up most days thinking that I really love our life and appreciate the time that we have together. True, some days I do get frustrated or annoyed with Jason or Sydney over something trivial and I will have these fleeting thoughts that work is so much easier. Despite the annoyances, it is all worth it. I am enjoying that fact that I have so much time to spend with my family. I feel like I am learning so much more about Sydney and Jason that I never knew. I love seeing how Sydney thinks, how she learns and what makes her laugh. I also love watching her become increasingly independent of us. I have been told in no uncertain terms by Sydney I can no longer refer to the bathroom as the potty! I also feel that my relationship with Jason has deepened and that we our much more intimate with each other.
One of the things that I find the hardest about being on the road is missing extended family. I don’t know why, but these last couple of weeks I have really been missing my family. In fact, I woke up last week in the middle of the night realizing that my parents could die at any moment. I know that this is far from being profound as everyone dies. But somehow, I just could not get rid of the pressing sadness this thought brought on. I am currently getting teary-eyed again just writing this. Sheeesh…My parents reassure me that they are very healthy and have no intention of dying any time soon. But it still makes me realize how fleeting life is and how important it is to live life without regrets.
As my husband can attest, I am a constant worrier. Before we left I would lay awake with all these what-ifs running through my mind. Not surprisingly all these what-ifs around home schooling, quitting my job, not having a home, and the language barrier that kept me awake at night have not come to fruition. Sigh…all that energy wasted on the constant what-ifs. However as we have travelled, I have encountered several unexpected things.
I am finding that after a month stay in each place, it is bitter sweet to move on to our next place. With our current method of traveling, we are in a weird in-between. We are not tourists briefly getting a glimpse of a place, but we are also not locals who know and love a place. Just as we start to get to know an area, people start recognizing us, and we start making friends, it is time to leave again. Over the month, our apartment or house begins to feel like a “home” and I find myself feeling sad and conflicted about leaving. Part of me is ready to move onto the next adventure, but part of me wants to be surrounded by the comfort of the familiar.
One surprising difficulty is finding children Sydney’s age to play with. Part of the difficulty I think is due to the time of year, as most children are in school. However, Galya, the person who owns the apartment, gave me a powerful lesson the other day. I had mentioned the difficulty of meeting other children Sydney’s age to Galya. She had noticed children across the hall in our apartment building and promptly went over and knocked on the neighbor’s door explaining that Sydney would like to play. Happily they were willing to go out and play with her. I am typically someone who is shy around new people. I have this forever worry about not wanting to inconvenience someone or placing him or her in an awkward position. The lesson that Gayla provided me and one that I continue to learn over and over and over again in life and traveling is just ask. The worse that happens is someone says no. But in reality, most of the time, he or she is happy to oblige. Fortunately, Sydney is much more outgoing and adventuresome and is always game in meeting new people and making new friends. She does not have any of my inhibitions around meeting new people.
Some may wonder if we miss the US. I find that the things that I miss about the US, besides family, are very superficial. These things are nice, but are by far not necessities in life. I miss having a huge water tank so I can take a long hot shower in the morning. I have never been a speedy person in the shower and I tend to do my best thinking in the shower. It was a bit of a shock to me to find that there is not an endless supply of hot water. Europe houses tend to have itty-bitty hot water tanks. A leisurely shower rapidly turns into a cold shower. I also miss dishwashers. So far we have yet to encounter a dishwasher and our next place does not have one either. I am blessed with a husband who does 99% of the cooking. So my job is doing the dishes. Some days I feel like my day is just consumed by dishes. I am sure Jason feels the same way about cooking. I also occasionally miss Netflix. Europe currently does not have access to Netflix, Amazon Prime, or any other streaming movie companies. Sometimes I longingly wish to plunk down on the couch with a pile of junk food and waste a couple hours watching a movie. Despite the lack of these conveniences, my life is much richer.
My thoughts will often drift to what kind of life that I want once we are settled again. Overall I want to be less of a consumer and much wiser in what I buy. I want to continue really questioning myself whether I need (insert item here) before buying said item. Before leaving, I was aware that the US is consumer oriented and there is the constant message to buy, buy, buy. Despite my being aware of this, I would find myself buying things I really did not need or want. However, experiencing Christmas outside the US helped me focus on what life is really about. It is not about what possessions we have, but about family and good food. I am also hoping that we can continue to be more thoughtful about the food we buy and waste less. I really like shopping daily which seems to make a huge difference in the amount of food we waste. I would also like to try getting by without a dryer. I really thought I was going to miss a dryer. But I find that it is just as easy to hang clothes up versus throwing them in the dryer. But most important change I would like to sustain is to continue focusing on family. I want to make about sure that I really spend time with my family and do not allow the day-to-day life distractions such as work, tv, Facebook, classes etc. consume me.
After 120 days on the road, I have been able to see some amazing sites, meet some very interesting and kind people and learn interesting facts, but I have also learned much about my family and myself. Even if we had to stop traveling today, I would have no regrets about what we sacrificed to get here. I can honestly say I am looking forward to the next 20 months of travel with Jason and Sydney.
Top Things to Do With Kids in Cardiff
When it comes to breaks with the kids, not all destinations are created equal. Personally, I think Cardiff really stands out as a family-family holiday hotspot. For a start, it’s the home of Doctor Who, while it’s also got castles and activities aplenty.
My top three child-friendly picks in Cardiff are…
1) The Doctor Who Experience
What child doesn’t love Doctor Who? Not only is Cardiff the home of the show (the BBC studios where it’s shot are located on Cardiff Bay, while you can see lots of locations used in the programme around the city), but it’s also where you’ll find the amazing Doctor Who Experience.
The great thing about this attraction, in my opinion, is that it’s interactive. So, unlike museums where kids are repeatedly told not to touch, here they can go on an adventure they can participate in, helping the Doctor fight off his enemies! This experience includes exclusive footage of current Doctor Matt Smith, so it’s bound to be particularly exciting.
There’s a lot else to do besides the interactive side of things. For instance, you can browse the world’s biggest collection of Doctor Who-related paraphernalia – including all his famous costumes from 1963 onwards!
And, of course, an added bonus of coming here is that it’s just as exciting for adult fans of the series as it is for kids!
If you and the children really can’t get enough of Doctor Who, you’ll be glad to hear there are other themed things to do. For instance, you could take the Doctor Who Tour, which lasts around three hours and whisks you to all kinds of exciting locations from the series, including the village where Amy Pond grew up.
2) Cardiff Castle
Next on your list should be Cardiff Castle, which has an impressive history spanning 2,000 years. What’s great about coming here is the fact that families are well catered for, which means you and the kids will be able to follow a special family trail; with a series of questions to answer, you’ll find the answers around the castle. To see if you got everything right, you can check the attraction’s website.
Plus, lots of events are held here too. For instance, if you’re planning to visit Cardiff soon, you can come on March 24th as part of the Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival. Ages from three to 13 are catered for, with the Revolting Rhymes tea party open to four to eight-year-olds at 17:00.
3) Go Ape!
There are also lots of decent family-friendly attractions just outside of Cardiff. If your kids are aged ten or over and have an adventurous nature, I reckon they’ll absolutely love a trip to Go Ape!.
In case you’re not familiar with Go Ape!, it’s a forest-based adventure park that gives adults and children alike the chance to tackle high rope courses in forest canopies. There are a good few Go Ape! sites across the UK, but the nearest to Cardiff is in Margam Country Park.
Here, participants have to be a minimum of 1.40 m tall to participate, as well as aged at least ten years old. Among the things you can do are zipwire through forest canopies, climb rope ladders and have a go on the Tarzan Swing – it’s great fun!
Just as a final note, I recommend hiring a holiday cottage for your break (you can book these through companies like Sykes Cottages). After all, this’ll give you much more space than a traditional hotel, as well as the chance to create a homely atmosphere for the kids.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- …
- 99
- Next Page »