AUGUST/SEPTEMBER | 2019
YOUR SOURCE
FOR FAMILY ADVENTURE
W RLDSCHOOLING
EDUCATION THROUGH TRAVEL
EVOLUTION OF SCHOOLING MY MOM GAVE ME THE WORLD ON THE ROAD: EXTENDED TRIPS ABROAD
Find yourself out in the world. Education should not be confined by four walls. Grow global perspective through place-based experiences and receive high school credit.
A transformational semester empowering young women to spark change in the world.
Choose your path and apply now for 2020/21 semesters:
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Southern Africa
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• Zambia • Botswana • Namibia • South Africa
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thetravelingschool.com | Headquartered in Bozeman, Montana
CO N T E N T S AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019
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Interview The housesitting hooligans 90
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Outside the Classroom Junior Ranger Program
Layover London
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25 Just Go Finding joy in the mundane Feature Evolution of a worldschooler Go Wild Releasing sea turtles in Mexico
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Up & Coming
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Sketches — Artwork from the kids
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Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Upcoming Events — What’s happening when Gear Up — Our favorite travel photo gear Travel Trends — International high school programs Little Heroes — A tech savvy teen
Feature Growing up worldschooled
Features
Connect
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Evolution of a Worldschooler — A single mom takes her son around the world
Ten Years Ago, My Mom Gave Me the World — A now-grown man who grew up as a worldschooler describes his childhood
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On the Road — A family takes their kids out of school for an epic adventure
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Editor’s Note Op/Ed — Pitfalls of the UK state school system Social Media — Families worth following Interview — The housesitting hooligans share their story Go Wild — Releasing sea turtles in Mexico Essay — Get informed about the Rohingya refugee crisis Just Go — Finding joy in the mundane Cultural Consideration — Learn about the customs of English tea time
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Tips & Tricks
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Beat the Rat Race — Work/life balance for digital nomads
Navigation — Curating photos for social media and card games for travel
Choose Your Own Adventure Egypt
Layover — What to see in London Skillset — Putting all the pieces together: Socialization for homeschoolers, getting your partner on board to travel, and renting your house for income
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Insider’s Guide — Where to go in the Gili Islands Choose Your Own Adventure — Diving, exploring, and cruising Egypt
Essay Rohinga refugee crisis 74
Bon Appetit — How to travel with a picky eater, pad Thai, and Maine lobster bake
Worldschooling Projects — Developing a worldschool mindset and making museums exciting
Insider’s Guide Gili Islands 66
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Outside the Classroom — National Parks’ Junior Ranger Program
Feature On the road
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Our next trip is to Wallowa Lake in Oregon. We’re renting a Wandervan to see how we like #vanlife before we actually buy one!
Katie Nelson We are 12–18 months away from locationindependent income and an extended service leave from work, so we are loosely planning a longer worldschooling trip where I would like to slow travel and include some language learning.
Fiona Croucher I can't wait to explore Africa, especially to go on safari with some other families — hopefully within the year. It takes some saving and planning, but gathering the information is half the fun!
Zélie Pollon
Editor-in-Chief
Publisher
Managing Editor
Marketing Director
Mandy Mooneyham Ali Nelson Zélie Pollon Amanda Bird
Social Media Astrid Vinje Kathryn Alexander
Advertising Manager
Creative Design & Photography
Accounting & Finance
Senior Editor
Meagan Haberer Katie Nelson Katie Wallace Melanie Selvey Darcy Tuscano
Staff Writers
Darcy Tuscano Fiona Croucher
Copy Editor
Marie Reymore
Layout Designer
Aleksandar Cvetkovic
This October I’ll be speaking at the Family Adventure Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The entire family was invited, so I decided to pull my 9-year-old twins from school and take them on a 6-week adventure through Indonesia and Thailand. Some highlights will include Komodo dragons, an elephant sanctuary, and lots of beaches and snorkeling!
Darcy Tuscano We’re planning a multigenerational trip for 11 to Finland so grandma can teach her 5-year-old, 4-year old, and infant grandkids about their heritage.
Ali Nelson Everywhere Magazine is published six times each year in both digital and print format. Single issues are priced at $9.99 per print issue; subscriptions are priced at $59.95 for one year of print issues. To subscribe, visit everywheremagazine.com. Postage paid in Boise, ID and at additional mailing offices. For questions, contact Everywhere Magazine LLC at hello@everywheremagazine.com, 1.833.EVERYWHERE (1.833.383.7994), 1650 Targee St. #5322, PO Box 5322, Boise ID 83705. © Everywhere Magazine LLC. All rights are reserved. No reproduction is permitted without the prior written consent of Everywhere Magazine LLC. Everywhere Magazine LLC is not liable for any incorrect information or return of any submitted materials.
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COVER – MELISSA CHURCH. CONTENTS – MAP: HOPE; TENTS: CORTING; THIS PAGE – КИРИЛЛ РЫЖОВ (BOTH STOCK.ADOBE.COM)
We asked our staff to tell us about their next family trips and to explain how they picked the destinations.
Editor’s Note
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Worldschooling is a growing way of life for many, and we at Everywhere Magazine are just a small part of that life. By highlighting educational opportunities around the globe, we want to encourage you to explore the possibilities — and the world. Maybe you want to take a two-week trip to London and immerse your family in its history and culture, sipping tea in cafes in front of famous landmarks. Or maybe you’re already living a travel life with your family and want to see how others make it all work. We love the idea of our children spending their high school years traveling with friends, learning history where it happened and languages from the people who speak it every day. We hope more entrepreneurs will step up and make the family travel space bigger, more diverse, and more accessible, offering options that fit more families and more children. When we as parents educate our children with a global mindset, they are more prepared to take on the world and make it better.
FIONA CROUCHER
ur first daughter was born not long after we moved back to the U.S. from abroad. We knew early on that we wanted travel to be part of her journey to adulthood. We wanted to see the world and bring her along. Today, she’s a vibrant second grader with 10 countries in her passport and more air miles than many adults. This issue, more than any other, makes me want to sell everything we don’t need and travel the world full time with my family. I want to take in that cover view of Machu Picchu, bicycle around Gili Air, and take a cruise down (or is it up?) the Nile. I want to move from place to place, spending precious fleeting time with my family before the girls are grown and my husband and I have aged. I want to give my family the world. As we navigate our way through elementary school, I’ve learned so much about showing up for my own life and learning from my surroundings. Our family intentionally adopted a worldschool mindset early to help our daughters be active participants in our travel. This active learning process is effective around the world, and its practice is encouraged by every educator I’ve met.
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Contributors
Meet some of our talented writers
Zélie Pollon
Zélie is an award-winning journalist who never believed (single) parenthood should end her love of travel and adventure. Her son learned to walk on a beach in Mexico, learned the joys of zoology while analyzing bats in Cambodia, and has attended more graduate school courses (in England) than many students enrolled. After a year of travel through Latin America, she and her son settled in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, while plotting their next adventure.
Esther Nelson
Esther is a retired research horticulturist living in Portland, Oregon. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran and a human rights monitor in Palestine.
Miro Siegel
Miro is a 20-year-old traveler and youth facilitator for Project World School. His learning is selfdirected and is influenced by the ever-changing world around him. To him, this is worldschooling. He is interested in and is an advocate for children’s rights and travel as education, and he spearheads the worldschooling movement that he and his mother helped create. Miro presented at the TEDxAmsterdamED conference in April 2016 and the 2017 Youth Global Changemakers Summit in Switzerland. He aspires to bring cultural awareness and immersion to more people because he truly believes that travel can bring peace to the world and inspire learning without measure.
Astrid Vinje
Astrid is a lifelong traveler with a passion for experiencing new places and cultures. Her personal travels, as well as 12 years of experience working in international development, have taken her to the far corners of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These days, Astrid travels around the world full time with her husband and two kids, living as modern day nomads.
Cat Chiappa
An educator, adventurer, musician, and avid photographer, Cat has traveled to 23 countries across five continents. Currently living in Monterey, California, her greatest dream is to take a year off and travel the world with her husband and two young children, photographing and writing about their adventures along the way.
Genny Arredondo
Travel enthusiast, adventure seeker, environmentalist: many titles can describe contributing author Genny. These days, she lives in Seattle and is known as “Mama” by her two young boys. She previously spent 13 months traveling around the world with her husband and plans on living abroad with her family in the near future.
Sandy is an avid traveler who loves getting off the beaten path with her husband and two children, 8-year-old Lucy and 3-year-old Daniel. They lived in Amman, Jordan for two years before recently moving to London, England. Some of her family's favorite travel experiences have been staying on a Highland cow farm in Scotland; camping in a Bedouin tent in Wadi Rum, Jordan; and hiking Wadi Shab in Oman.
Mary Donné
Mary first picked up her backpack in her twenties and began traveling solo, taking in New Zealand, South America, and Southeast Asia along the way. Now a mother of two, she is the founder of a small business that creates online training programs and teaches English. She lives in beautiful York in northern England and loves the seaside and the rainy English weather. She spends her free time learning languages and drinking tea.
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ASTRID VINJE: HANER PHOTOGRAPHY
Sandy Dornsife
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 15–September 7, 2019 — Project World School Retreat: join Project World School’s temporary learning community for traveling families at a 27-day retreat in Wales. www.projectworldschool.com
September 21, 2019 — International Coastal Cleanup: start or join an ocean cleanup at a beach near you. oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastalcleanup
August 16–18, 2019 — Family Adventure Academy, Seattle, Washington, United States: conference organizers say this event for parents will “teach you everything we wish we had known when we started our family travel adventures.” www.familyadventureacademy.com
September 21–22, 2019 — Open House London: admission is free to hundreds of London buildings, museums, private houses, and more, including buildings generally closed to the public. Highlights include The Gherkin and Fuller’s Griffin Brewery. openhouselondon.org.uk
August 25, 2019 — National Park Service Birthday: free entrance to all U.S. National Parks! August 30–September 28, 2019 — Stone Soup Pop Up: contribute a workshop, skill, or service to this month-long pop-up community taking place in Amed, Indonesia. www.stonesouppopup.com September 2019 — Free entrance to all U.S. National Parks for fourth graders; valid through August 2020. www.everykidinapark.gov September 11–13, 2019 — TBEX is a large travel blogger conference and networking event taking place this year in North America in Billings, Montana, U.S. tbexcon.com
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September 28, 2019 — National Public Lands Day: free entrance to all U.S. National Parks! October 2–6, 2019 — Family Adventure Summit: this summit in Ubud, Indonesia, helps families create a more travel-filled life. www.familyadventuresummit.com October 14–18, 2019 — Project World School Family Summit: this multi-day, family-friendly event teaching families how to create enriching travel experiences will take place in Grenada, Spain. www.worldschoolfamilysummit.com November 10–23, 2019 — Worldschooling Central: join this organized family trip for two weeks in Egypt. www.worldschoolingcentraltravel.com November 11, 2019 — Veteran’s Day: free entrance to all U.S. National Parks!
GALITSKAYA/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
August 25, 2019 — Two-year anniversary of the outbreak of violence in Myanmar causing 723,000+ Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. www.unhcr.org/en-us/rohingya-emergency.html
GEAR UP
Cat Chiappa
Capture the Mem ries CAMERA: COURTESY OF CANON INC.; GORILLA POD TRIPOD: COURTESY OF JOBY; LIGHTROOM EDITING: COURTESY OF ADOBE; PHOTO CLASS: COURTESY OF CLICK & COMPANY
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ou’ve planned the trip, packed your bags, and secured the pet sitter. Your vacation is so close you can almost feel the warm sunshine on your face and the sand on your toes. There’s just one thing left to do before you go: take a little time to ensure that you have the necessary tools to capture the memories your family is about to make. The following resources and suggestions will help your photos go from mundane to something magical.
Digital SLR Camera Cell phones are a convenient way to take quality photos, but a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera will help elevate your images and take them to the next level. These days, there are many options covering a wide range of prices. If this is your first time using one, try a standard crop sensor model like the Canon EOS Rebel T7 or the Nikon D3500. These can often be found sold in kits with a couple of basic lens options as well as some starter accessories. Prices range from $396 and up.
this lightweight and extremely portable tripod can help put all of your family members into one frame. Its flexible legs allow it to stand alone on any surface, but it can also grip onto objects like trees and fences to allow for a more dynamic shot. $45 on Amazon.
Adobe Lightroom CC Composing a good shot with the camera is important, but even the best photos can benefit from some easy edits. Adobe Lightroom is a good place to start with your photo editing, as this user-friendly program can be used by photographers of all skill levels, allowing you to make both minor and major tweaks to your photos that can really make a difference. The Creative Cloud (CC) version can be used on most devices with internet access anywhere in the world for a monthly subscription of $10, which also includes Adobe Photoshop.
Clickin Moms If you are looking to dive a little deeper into your photography, check out Click Photo School through Clickin Moms. This company offers a wide variety of photography tutorials and workshops that will help you grow your skills no matter your level of experience. Their shorter run breakout sessions range in price from $15-50 and are full of gorgeous photos and inspired learning. They also have longer, more in-depth month-long workshops with exceptional resources, creative assignments, and comprehensive instructor feedback for $300. www.clickphotoschool.com
The “Nifty Fifty” Lens Paired with a DSLR camera, the popular “nifty fifty” lens is a great tool to help you get the most out of your camera. This is a 50mm prime lens with an f/1.8 aperture. It can let more light through, which means it performs well in lower light and, when used correctly, can help give photographs sharp subjects and creamy, beautiful backgrounds. A great introductory lens, versions of these are compatible with most DSLR camera brands and range in price from $50-$196.
Joby Gorilla Pod 3K If you are the main photographer in your family, you know the frustration of realizing you aren’t in many of the photos commemorating your trip. However, the Gorilla Pod 3K can change that. Designed for DSLR cameras, Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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TRAVEL TRENDS
Genny Arredondo
The World Could Be Your High School Classroom F
or many, high school was a blur of attending classes, sitting through lectures, reading books, and being tested on various subjects. Imagine if the high school experience were different. What if students learned about ancient Greece while talking to Greek scholars on a lawn in front of the Parthenon? Or if biology class took students on safari to the plains of Africa? These firsthand experiences make students feel more connected to the material they are studying and provide a more global perspective. Below is a sampling of different programs that are sure to expand horizons and promise to make international citizens out of just about any student.
CANYON: COURTESY OF THE TRAVELING HIGH SCHOOL; HUG: COURTESY OF THINK GLOBAL SCHOOL
A MULTI-YEAR GLOBAL EDUCATION Think Global School is apt to leave any travel lover green with envy, wishing they could relive their high school experience again. Students in this 3-year program visit four countries each year for eight weeks at a time, for a total of 12 countries and 128 weeks abroad. The program’s exclusive “Changemaker” curriculum integrates traditional high school subjects with student-led, project-based learning, so students get a good understanding of required subjects while having the chance to dive deeper into subjects that interest them most. While in the country where the program takes place (or in-country, as it’s sometimes called), students participate in excursions, cultural experiences, and service-learning projects where they have the opportunity to practice their language skills with locals. Before moving on to the next country, students return home for a 5-week break that enables them to reflect on their experiences, spend time with family, or take part in internships. www.thinkglobalschool.org
SEMESTER ABROAD PROGRAMS Parents who aren’t comfortable having their high-schoolaged children away from home for extended periods of time but want them to have an international experience may prefer a semester-long program. Below are three different programs designed to meet the interests of different youth.
Girl Power The Traveling High School is an all-girl semester abroad program that seeks to empower the next generation of globalminded female leaders. During the Traveling School’s 15-week semesters, students visit three to four countries within one region of the world. In the fall, participants visit South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia; during the spring semester, students see Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. While in-country, students participate in week-long homestays, during which they take part in community service projects and cultural activities. www.travelingschool.com
Adventure Junkies The Alzar School combines outdoor adventure with cultural exchange, beginning at its home campus in Idaho and ending in Chilean Patagonia. While in Idaho, students live in yurts and take classes on a 102-acre campus along the shores of the Payette River, participating in outdoor adventures including backpacking and river rafting. During their time in Chile, students continue partaking in wilderness expeditions through Patagonia and get an in-depth perspective of Chilean life through a 3-week Chilean homestay. www.alzarschool.org
The Authentic Experience Ever wondered what attending high school in a different country is like for kids who live there? Want to experience life like a local? The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) allows students to select from 11 different countries and stay anywhere from 3 months to 1 year. While abroad, students attend in-country high schools and live with local host families. While it’s not required that students be proficient in speaking the native language, a basic understanding of the language is recommended to help students communicate and to provide a foundation to build on while in-country. CIEE offers summer and gap year programs as well. www.ciee.org Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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op/ed
Mary Donné
Hard Times in the UK State School System “Now, what I want is facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life ... Nothing else will ever be of any service to them. ... Stick to facts, sir!” Charles Dickens’ 1854 novel Hard Times features a school whose raison d’être is to produce future low-skilled, unquestioning, industrial workers, or “factory fodder,” for the school’s founder. Dickens uses his character to satirize the utilitarian philosophy that reduces children to numbers and education to merely regurgitating endless facts. Not much has changed. Most UK schools are government funded. These government-funded schools provide education for 93% of the UK’s children under the age of 16. The average school size is
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about 950 pupils, and classes are normally capped at 30 students. All children are entitled to a place at school, but some schools are ranked better than others. As in the United States, there is intense competition for places at the better schools, and critics argue that since students are allocated by postal address and proximity to the school, houses near good schools are far more expensive than those near others. Accordingly, this continues a British social hierarchy based on money and flies in the face of what is supposed to be an egalitarian system. The real losers are those students who have a Special Education Need (SEN) such as dyslexia or autism. Properly supporting SEN students requires schools to spend a significant amount of money — money which most simply do not have. A lack of proper support at school can lead to a negative experience
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for students who struggle to cope with the routine, expectations, and exam pressures the system places on them. As the numbers of children with a SEN increases, some parents question if the traditional UK education system still fits its purpose. All students wear a uniform, the day is punctuated by a series of bells signaling the beginning and end of lessons, teachers are addressed as Sir or Miss, and a student usually requires permission to remove an item of clothing (e.g., a jumper in the hot weather) or go to the lavatory. There is a strong emphasis on repetition and conformity. All state schools follow the National Curriculum, which allows very little deviation from the government-set syllabi (“facts, facts, facts!”). I was a secondary school teacher for a short time, and I recall an American colleague being staggered by how little freedom UK teachers have in terms of how they run their lessons. (And Americans think the curriculum in US schools is rigid!) At one time, this standardized curriculum had a clear goal. But we are now in the Fourth Industrial Revolution in which the new employment landscape is fluid and unfettered by geography or timezones. Creativity and imagination are highly prized, and being able to Google search for facts has rendered the value of memorizing them a little arbitrary. Some would say that UK schools have yet to catch up. Like factories, a school’s performance is measured at the end of every year by its production rate: exam passes. Successful schools will have achieved five or more General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) passes for the majority of their pupils. These tests are critical; if a student has not achieved five GCSEs by the age of 16 — even if one is a gifted musician, multi-linguist, or artist — then he or she has, as far as the system is concerned, failed. This is both depressing and ironic. Over the last few years, large businesses such as PricewaterhouseCoopers have scrapped traditional exam requirements in recognition of how out of date they have become. Yet UK schools continue to put even more focus on exam passes, to the extent that the BBC has reported an “epidemic” and “escalating crisis” in mental health problems among young people. There is also a well-documented crisis in teacher retention. “Teacher-bashing” is a bit of a national sport in some sectors of the press, yet most of the teachers with whom I trained and worked were bright, conscientious, and committed. But a punishing work schedule and a comparatively meager salary mean teacher morale is low, and some leave the profession simply because they cannot afford to continue in it. State schools have long been used as a political football by successive politicians — most of whom were themselves educated outside of the state sector at expensive independent
schools. Funding has reached a breaking point. Last year, some 4,000 head teachers wrote to parents explaining the true extent of their schools’ budget shortfalls. Not surprisingly, a feeling that the state system is failing its students has led to an interest in homeschooling in the UK. In one county, 40 SEN students were removed from the state system in a single year to be homeschooled. The BBC reported a 40-percent increase in the number of parents removing their children from mainstream education between 2015 and 2018. A large majority of these were students who simply could not succeed within the state system.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. For all its current woes, the UK still has one of the best education systems in the world. This is no small feat when you consider that the UK is a large melting pot of different cultures, languages, and challenges to learning. While UK schools go through (yet another) politically-led upheaval in their funding, teachers, parents, and students keep calm and carry on, as is the British way. But it falls to us all to work to ensure that the Dickensian Hard Times become a thing of the past. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Learning Through Travel
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earning happens in all sorts of ways during travel. These traveling families are showing the world that travel can be fun and educational!
Making time for beach play What better place to explore than at the beach? For @justaddedwater, the beach is an ideal place to capture interesting photos and discover unique angles of looking at the world. @justaddedwater
Going off the beaten path Sometimes visiting lesser-known destinations can be perfect for families. For @wanderdaughter, visiting places that aren’t as popular with tourists makes family travel much more enjoyable, as it gives everyone an opportunity for exploration and discovery. @wanderdaughter
Having fun in nature For @tyrannosauraustreks, travel is simply about having fun in nature, even if it means getting down and dirty in the tulip fields of western Washington, U.S.! Who says you can’t have fun in the mud? @tyrannosaurustreks
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Getting friendly with animals @travelbabbo and his daughter know just how to make a trip to Africa absolutely memorable: by getting a chance to feed giraffes. What an experience of a lifetime! @travelbabbo
BOY ON BEACH WITH CAMERA: JESSICA O’KEEFE @JUSTADDEDWATER; GIRL ON PIER: ASTRID VINJE @WANDERDAUGHTER; PLAYING IN MUD IN TULIPS: KAREN DAVIS @TYRANNOSAURUSTREKS; FEEDING GIRAFFE: ERIC STOEN @TRAVELBABBO
Astrid Vinje
Cat Chiappa
Interview
The Housesitting Hooligans: An Interview with the Swenson Family W
hen Jess and William Swenson first thought about traveling the world with their three happy hooligans, Ezra, 9, Theo, 7, and Vesper, 6, they didn’t know where to begin for a trip of that magnitude. They had already taken a 10,000 mile-long road trip in the U.S. and discovered how much fun they could have traveling together, surviving and thriving as a family. Then William heard about a coworker who saved all of her leave for a six-week trip to India, and the family began to plan, save, and strategize for their own five- to six-week European adventure. Their dream trip was put on hold when William’s mother received a devastating cancer diagnosis. However, the delay inadvertently allowed time for a new plan to emerge. They still dreamed of traveling as a family, but they concluded that they wanted more than just five to six weeks in Europe. Jess’ research showed that if done right, living abroad could be much more affordable than living in the pricey San
Francisco Bay area — so they began to set their sights on a longer adventure. There was just one problem: they hadn’t ever been out of the country as a family before. While combing through every resource she could find about families traveling and living abroad, Jess stumbled upon the idea of housesitting as a means of gaining a unique experience in an inexpensive way. In early 2017, Jess joined a housesitting site called TrustedHousesitters and began applying for housesits. Not long after, a quaint family house complete with dogs, cats, and sheep in England became available. In April 2017, the family journeyed across the pond to test the waters of international family travel. It was an idyllic housesit, located in the Telford countryside very close to Wales. Upon arrival, the hosts shared a meal with them and explained where everything was and how to take care of their home. There were helpful amenities on site, and the friendly neighbors had a child about the same age Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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mile in someone’s shoes. It’s like the ultimate sociologist experiment. as the Swenson’s children, providing an opportunity for play and instant community. The experience far exceeded their expectations and showed them that this was a way they could travel affordably in the future. When they returned home, they started talking more seriously about what it would take to rent out their house and make their dream of world travel a reality. Jess began to book more and more photography sessions to increase her income as a photographer, and the family funneled more of the income from William’s work into their travel fund whenever they could. Sadly, William’s mother passed away in June of 2017, turning their world upside down. Shortly after the funeral, William discovered that she had left him an inheritance that would help them fund their travels. By October, they had rented out their house, booked the first leg of their journey, and were on their way. Inspired by writer and entrepreneur Tsh Oxenreider’s tales of her round the world trip, they created an itinerary that followed the sun, seeking out warmer weather that would allow them to pack light. They started in China and traveled through Southeast Asia, staying mostly in hostels but splurging a couple of times for a wildlife safari in Africa and a beautiful stay in the Maldives. Their first housesit of the trip was a few months later, in Australia. Jess had booked it during their very first stay in England, even before she knew their dream trip would come to fruition. Their Australian housesit provided a great opportunity to interact with the local community, and Jess and her family were instantly welcomed and invited to many dinners and play dates. “The kids remember locations based on the pets that we housesat for. They really loved Brisbane. That place had the most adorable little pug to take care of, and we loved the area.” The Swensons continued to housesit as the trip progressed to South Africa and throughout Europe, considerably cutting their costs and providing a rich cultural adventure for their kids. While visiting France, their unique experience on a farmstead in the French Countryside created what Jess calls “an experience of a lifetime” for the entire family. The house was
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ALL PHOTOS PAGES 19–21: JESSICA SWENSON
Housesitting is epic because you can live like a local. You can walk a
built in 1639 and had no heat other than what was produced by a fire made in the kitchen area. To get food, it was necessary to pass through the mudroom to access the larder where their hosts kept a refrigerator and dry goods. And there was plenty of work to be done — the family spent several hours a day together taking care of 82 animals, including bunnies, chickens, turkeys, ducks, llamas, sheep, and seven horses! In Finland, they stayed in a family’s summer cottage tucked into a forest of dense, tall trees. Jess commented, “you could just walk out the door and be on the trail in five minutes. It’s almost as if the communities were built around the forest as opposed to through it.” The dog for which they provided care was an energetic blue heeler who needed lots of walks, which made it a necessity for the Swenson family to hike through the quiet and serene wilderness. The peaceful environment enabled the kids to add entries into their nature journals and learn about their surroundings each day. When the Swensons began their trip, they jumped from location to location quickly, creating a fast-paced whirlwind of experiences with very high high points and very low lows. “At the beginning, everything was exciting and new,” Jess observed, allowing everyone to practice more patience to deal with the crabby behavior that can come from tired kids (and tired adults!) adjusting to change too fast. Six months in, the whole family started to experience travel burnout. After that, they tried to linger longer in each location. Housesits (especially the longer ones) allowed the Swensons to meet neighbors and get a real connection to local life. As Jess noted, “It’s good to have people to rely on if you need anything, and it is helpful to create a microcommunity for yourself.” One of the things that helped their family find community the most was trying to attend church in towns where they housesat. Churches often have built-in communities and are typically open to sharing experiences with newcomers. After attending a service, their family received dinner and playdate invitations that made them feel welcomed and created a great experience for their children. “Housesitting is epic because you can live like a local. You can walk a mile in someone’s shoes. It’s like the ultimate sociologist experiment,” said Jess. For the Swenson family, taking a year-long journey around the world was a life-changing experience. During their time on the road, they made the decision to sell their house in the hopes of continuing their nomadic lifestyle full-time. Today, the family lives in Arizona while William works and learns a new job that has remote capabilities, and the family of housesitting hooligans is currently planning another trip overseas. They can’t wait to start the next chapter of their lives seeking adventure and meaningful experiences while taking care of pets of all sizes in housesits around the globe.
Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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YOGA-INSPIRED CURRICULUM
Ages 3-14 | Neohumanist Education Meditation - Kiirtan - Hydroponics - Permaculture - Guitar - Piano Communication Skills - Cooking - Vegan - Arts and Crafts - Balinese Dance Swim - Water Ballet - Robotics & Coding Flamenco Dance - Capoeira - Performing Arts Costume & Set Design - Gymnastics Dance - Animal Care and Welfare
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Beat the Rat Race
Astrid Vinje
Finding Balance On The Road: How Digital Nomad Families Achieve Work-Life Balance
THIS PAGE – ALEKSANDR SIMONOV/STOCK.ADOBE.COM; PAGE 24: ASTRID VINJE
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hese days, long-term travel is no longer reserved for 20-somethings backpacking around the world. More and more, families are traveling full-time. And many of them are funding their travels by working on the road, either for themselves or for a company. These families are choosing a life for their children outside of the standard script of getting a job and settling down. Instead, the focus is on travel as a means to connect more as a family. But life as a digital nomad family isn’t as easy and carefree as it seems. Much like families who are settled in one location, families who work while they travel must find ways to balance the needs of their jobs, the challenges of travel, and spending quality time together. Seeking Balance During Travel When my husband and I decided to embark on a three-year trip around the world with our two kids, ages 8 and 5, we knew it wouldn’t be possible to fund such a trip unless the two of us continued to work. We’re fortunate to possess skills that allow us to work remotely — I’m a freelance writer and social media manager, and my husband is a software engineer — but even with flexible jobs, we had many other unknowns to consider. How will we arrange childcare when we work? What is an equitable distribution of responsibilities for taking care of the kids? Is it possible to work full-time while we travel? After a year
of travel, we are still in a constant state of refinement when it comes to work-life balance. With some trial and error, my husband and I settled on a workday arrangement that works for us, with two days per week dedicated as workdays for me and three days per week dedicated as workdays for him. But even with this arrangement, our work needs often require us to squeeze time into the evenings, mornings, and weekends to complete our work. And when we throw travel days, meet-up days with other families, and sight-seeing days into the mix, this work schedule can often get thrown off. Much like how our life was back home, we find ourselves wishing we could have more hours in the day to do the things we want to do. Defining Work Time and Family Time For Marcy and Doug Duval, who travel full-time with their two children, ages 9 and 6, work-life balance on the road means being able to define work time and family time. Marcy supports the family with her medical education business, which she manages remotely. Doug, who gave up his job in sales to travel, homeschools and cares for the kids during the day. This arrangement seems ideal from the outside, but the Duvalls are quick to admit even they face challenges in finding balance, especially when one parent gets more time with the Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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kids than the other. Because Marcy’s work requires a commitment of 10 or sometimes 14 hours per day, spending quality time together as a family can be difficult. Their solution involves separating work time and play time as well as setting aside time explicitly dedicated to family time. “[Doug tries] to do three or four hours of school with the kids,” Marcy explains, “and then we leave the afternoons open for family activities.” Marcy joins in on the family activities when her work schedule allows. For Marcy, physically separating herself from her kids when she works helps them understand the distinction between work time for her and family time. “I don’t want to be physically there for our kids without being emotionally there,” explains Marcy. Scheduling time specifically for family helps her focus on being mentally present with her kids when she does spend time with them. Taking Advantage of Ebbs and Flows While some may see traveling long term as a luxury, being a full-time traveling family isn’t always a walk in the park. For families who work remotely and travel full time, taking advantage of the ebbs and flows of work can be helpful. Single mother Yols Hortillosa travels around the Philippines with her 8-year-old son. As a freelance transcriptionist and documenter for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in the Philippines, her work takes them to different locations throughout the country.
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Yols’s work is flexible enough that her son can accompany her when she works, and her son is old enough to play or learn independently when she does need focused work time. For Yols, the nature of her work as a freelancer means there are natural ups and downs when it comes to balancing time between work and family. Yols makes it a point to take downtime when she can, especially after a big project that requires a lot of work hours. This allows her to balance out the time she needs for work with time she can spend with her son. “I look at [balance] more on a long-term basis,” describes Yols, “if we’re on the road for a few days and [I’m] working on a project, we’ll take two or three days after to reconnect. It gives us enough energy to go into the next project.” A Shared Vision for What Balance Means Each family is unique, regardless of whether they are traveling or permanently based in one location. What I’ve learned from being on the road with my family is that having a shared vision for what balance means for the family is key. While my husband and I have yet to hit that perfect combination of work time and family time, we do know that spending even just a few minutes each day together as a family goes a long way in helping us feel connected to each other. This can be as simple as having a meal together or scheduling an outing in whatever city we’ve landed. Essentially, balance is, and always will be, a work in progress. It’s a process that takes teamwork, with each family member doing his or her part to find the balance that works.
GO WILD
Astrid Vinje
A Precious Life: Releasing Baby Sea Turtles in Mexico O
ur van races swiftly through the streets of Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Sitting in the front row of the van, I watch the scenery speed by. The palm trees of Playa Zicatella wave as we make our way along Route 200 towards Playa La Barra. My children, aged 8 and 5, sit in the row behind me, chattering happily with each other. Beside me sits my husband, looking ahead of us onto the open road. In the driver seat sits Jaciel “Kiko” Pena, owner of Eco Adventures Puerto Escondido. We’re on our way to a baby sea turtle hatchery run by Eco Adventures’ partner organization, Campamento Tortuguero La Barra. There, we will be releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean. “It’s about a 20-minute drive there,” explains Kiko as he steers the van, “so just relax and enjoy the view.” I had been looking forward to this day ever since arriving in Puerto Escondido. Eco Adventures is one of several companies in Puerto Escondido that leads nature tours in the area. Among their many offerings is an experience releasing baby sea turtles where visitors can learn about turtles, visit a hatchery, and help release them into the wild. It’s a popular activity in Puerto Escondido, where hundreds of sea turtles come each year to lay their eggs. As someone who loves traveling with kids, I’m always trying to find opportunities for learning in any activity that we do. My kids are avid nature show fans, and any experience that involves animals is a plus in their book. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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So when I found out that we could participate in a baby sea turtle release, I couldn’t pass it up. Sea turtles are common throughout the coastal areas of Mexico, both along the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico. According to Kiko, of the seven species of sea turtles that exist, five of them are found in Puerto Escondido: Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Kemp Ridley, Green, and Leatherback. Although sea turtles can live well into their 80s, their lives are actually quite precarious. A mother sea turtle can lay as many as 100 eggs at a time in a nest before returning to the sea. Left alone in nature, those eggs face the dangers of raccoons, birds, and natural elements. Even humans can pose a threat; in Mexico, many men still believe that consuming turtle eggs leads to virility. Once hatched, baby sea turtles face the threat of sea birds and crabs as they make their way to the ocean. Bright street lights at popular beaches can disorient baby sea turtles since they use the moonlight to guide them to the sea. And once in the water, strong ocean currents and large fish pose dangers to the days-old hatchlings. Sadly, only one out of every 1,000 baby sea turtles that hatch will make it to adulthood. That’s why human intervention is so important. Through conservation efforts and responsibly-managed turtle hatcheries, the survival rate of baby sea turtles increases by approximately 20 percent. Once we arrive at the turtle hatchery site, Kiko helps us out of the van and leads us towards the hatchery. As we are now several kilometers outside of Puerto Escondido, the beach is empty, save for a couple of people walking in the distance. We are about 20 minutes away from sunset. The heat of the day has dissipated, and a gentle ocean breeze wisps through the air. The sun is already making its descent upon the horizon. Kiko stops about 20 feet (6 m) from the hatchery. He lays a tote bag filled with giant puzzle pieces on the ground. My kids eye it curiously before turning their attention back to Kiko. He looks at them directly as he speaks.
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“I have a turtle puzzle for you,” he says. “Can you help me put it together?” My kids nod enthusiastically. They watch as Kiko pulls out the puzzle pieces and lays them on the sand. They jump right in, putting together the puzzle. “Did you know that female sea turtles come back to the exact spot they were born to lay their eggs?” he asks, turning his attention to my husband and me. I nod. The day before, the kids and I had brushed up on baby sea turtle facts to prepare ourselves for this experience. “When turtles are born, the beach and its surroundings leave an imprint on the turtles’ memories,” continues Kiko. “That way, they are able to return to their birthplace, even decades later.” Kiko motions towards the hatchery. “We created the hatchery to be a safe place for turtles to be born,” he explains. “Each night, volunteers patrol the beaches looking for turtle eggs and bring them to the hatchery so that they can be protected.” The children finish the puzzle and admire their work. It’s a life-size picture of an Olive Ridley sea turtle. “When we go in, we’ll need to take off our shoes,” Kiko instructs. “The nests are labeled and organized in rows, but we don’t want to risk disturbing them.” We follow Kiko into the hatchery. It’s a temporary looking structure sitting atop the sand, a large rectangular corral built with a combination of wooden posts and netting. On either side of the corral are rows of little mounds, the turtle nests, marked by white signs with numbers and letters written on them. In the center of the hatchery is an open space with several small mesh enclosures, roughly a foot and a half (half a meter) in diameter and height. Kiko leads us to one of the enclosures and lets us take a peek. Inside are at least sixty baby sea turtles, about three inches (less than 8 cm) long, squirming and wiggling about. The innocence and vulnerability of these baby creatures melt my heart. We watch as the volunteers carefully place five baby sea turtles into a plastic bowl. The volunteers repeat this three more times and then hand each member of our family a bowl. The baby sea turtles continue to squirm and wiggle, flapping their flippers inside the bowl. “The sun is setting. It’s time to go down to the beach,” Kiko directs us as he walks out of the hatchery. Kiko walks to about 20 feet (6 m) from the water’s edge and draws a line in the sand with his foot. He instructs us to stand behind the line. “It’s important to release the sea turtles in the sand rather than in the water,” he explains, “the turtles need to feel and smell the sand in order to properly imprint the memory of their birthplace.”
PAGE 25 – RIZA AZHARI/STOCK.ADOBE.COM. ALL PHOTOS PAGES 26–27: ASTRID VINJE
I spy a number of birds circling above us. They’ve already spotted the turtles and are planning their strategies for capturing them. In unison, we lower our bowls to the ground and tip the turtles onto the sand. They clumsily steady themselves and begin inching their way to the water. It’s a long journey to the water’s edge, and already I see why a baby sea turtle’s first few days are fraught with peril. No sooner had we released the turtles than the birds begin to swoop down to catch them. We try our best to chase the birds away without disrupting the turtles’ path towards the water. After about 30 minutes, the last of the sea turtles finally make their way into the ocean. Out of the 20 we released, we saw four or five captured by the birds. I wonder how many more will perish in the coming days. Human development continues to pose a threat to sea turtles and their habitats. Turtles accidentally ingest plastic and marine debris, often mistaking floating garbage for jellyfish, their diet staple. They get entangled in fishing gear, global warming affects their migration patterns, and ocean pollution endangers their health. “One of the things families can do to help protect sea turtles is to consume less plastic,” Kiko tells me after our tour. “And avoid straws. You only use them for ten minutes, and they take fifteen years to disintegrate.” Kiko advises families to avoid approaching or disturbing turtles that are on the beach laying their eggs. He also encourages parents and kids to do their part to keep plastic garbage out of the rivers and oceans. It may seem like a big undertaking, but little by little we can all do our part to keep the environment safe for sea turtles. For all the dangers that turtles face in their lives, it’s truly a miracle that they continue to exist. I suppose that’s the thing that fascinates us most about sea turtles: they show us how truly precious life can be.
FIVE ACTIONS FAMILIES CAN TAKE TO PROTECT SEA TURTLES Protecting sea turtles doesn’t have to be a Herculean feat. Here are five simple actions families can take to protect sea turtles and preserve their fragile environment. Carry reusable water bottles Americans discard around 38 billion single-use plastic bottles each year. Only about a third of these bottles are recycled. The remaining bottles go to landfills or find their way into the oceans. Using reusable water bottles can help reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans. Shop with a reusable tote bag Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and ingest them, which can cause blockages to a turtle’s digestive system and lead to death. Using reusable tote bags while shopping can reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation that may find their way into the oceans. Avoid using plastic drinking straws Like plastic bags, sea turtles often mistake plastic drinking straws as food. While many restaurants and cafes around the world have started banning the use of plastic straws in their establishments, many still continue to use them. Reduce the demand for straws that can end up in the oceans by only using reusable steel, glass, or bamboo straws, or avoid using them altogether. Choose responsibly caught seafood Commercial fishing can be harmful to sea turtles, especially when they find themselves entangled in nets or injured by hooks. Practice responsible seafood consumption by asking where and how the seafood is caught. Participate in coastal cleanups Help conserve coastal areas that sea turtles frequent by participating in coastal cleanups. The International Coastal Cleanup is an annual event that takes place throughout the United States and in 100 countries around the world. This year’s coastal cleanup event will take place on September 21.
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ESSAY
Aerlyn Pfeil
Rohingya Refugee Crisis
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suspect for many travelers Southeast Asia is on the list of must-see destinations (if it hasn’t been checked off the list already). The promise of Thai beaches, lush landscape, and rich, spicy food has always beckoned. When I booked my first trip to Thailand in 2017, I didn’t expect to make a side trip to Bangladesh for a humanitarian crisis, one that is still ongoing but that no one seems to be talking about. I arrived in Ukhia, Bangladesh in September, and indeed, it is a paradise — a lush, warm landscape with afternoon rains, views of the Bay of Bengal, and a tapestry of green forest. The beauty is a stark contrast to the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Over the next three months, over 600,000 Rohingya would travel on foot, over mountains, across rivers, and through jungles, carrying each other and few, if any, belongings. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority ethnic group who are considered outsiders or immigrants by Myanmar (also called Burma), regardless of having lived in the Rakhine State for generations. For decades, the Rohingya have faced violent discrimination inflicted by the Myanmar government. They
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have been subjected to targeted violence, denied access to healthcare and education, forced to labor, stripped of their citizenship, and denied basic human rights. Located on a small strip of land about as wide as a car lane, surrounded on multiple sides by rivers and rice fields, thousands of Rohingya await access into Bangladesh. In the background are the gently rolling mountains of Myanmar. It is blistering hot. There is no clean drinking water. No food. There is no shelter from the sun or the tropical rains that cause flash floods and mudslides. The berm runs about a mile long; in some places, it is only a foot or two wide; in others, it drops steeply into deep water. There are roughly 14,000 Rohingya packed onto this piece of no man’s land, waiting and hoping for safety at the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, most of them carrying little more than the clothing on their backs and stories that are unimaginable. I spend my first days walking up and down the strip, assessing acute maternal health needs, hoping, like everyone else, access will soon be granted.
ALL PHOTOS PAGES 28–29: AERLYN PFEIL
On August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military launched a new, massive “clearance operation” in Rakhine State, forcing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee for their lives. UN officials have described the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, calling the current crisis an ethnic cleansing, while other experts have called it a genocide of the 21st century. As a result, by mid-August the following year, more than 725,000 Rohingya had fled on foot, sometimes walking for weeks. Entire villages were burned and thousands of people slaughtered, tortured, and raped. Children fled not knowing if they would find their families again. Women fled while in labor. A woman in tears handed me her newborn, looking for medical advice. She told me she had delivered while fleeing her burning village, giving birth, alone, in the jungle. While crossing a stream, running from gunfire, she had dropped her newborn in a stream and feared he had been injured. Gratefully, I was able to tell her he was perfect, but I was helpless to soothe the rest of her trauma. There were many others who did not make it at all. I was told stories of the elderly dying in the mountains, families separated and children lost, and people drowning in rivers. Today, there are nearly 1,000,000 people living in the camps, making it comparable in population density to Manila (the world’s most densely populated city). The camp is a vast sea of plastic sheeting, rickety makeshift bamboo shelters, mud, and waste. I have heard it described as hell on earth. In the words of poet Warsan Shire, “no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” When I imagine a refugee camp, I think of an expansive flat area with rows upon rows of white and blue tents. Here, shelters are built on steep, sandy hillsides that easily erode in the rain. The tents are stacked upon each other, and the pathways go all over the place. There’s no apparent organization,
no rhyme or reason. Several times I got lost in the camp. People report being afraid to leave their shelters because they fear they won’t find their way back again. The camp is a dangerous place to live in many respects. The tenuous landscape and yearly monsoons cause massive mudslides put people at risk of injuries and broken bones. The density of the camps combined with decades of denial or lack of access to healthcare mean much of the population is unvaccinated. When this many people are living in unsanitary, close quarters, the risk for disease outbreak is high. A few months after this influx of refugees, there was an unprecedented diphtheria outbreak. The Rohingya have also faced a measles outbreak, skin diseases, undiagnosed fevers, respiratory tract infections, and acute watery diarrhea. What can your family do to help? Bring attention to the issue by discussing it with the people you meet, both at home and abroad. Talk with your loved ones about what it means to truly have no home. Consider donating money to a charity that supports the cause of the Rohingya, such as Never Again Coalition and the #hertoo movement or Legal Action Worldwide. Write to your representatives demanding support and action against these atrocities. Whatever you do, don’t let August 25th (the second anniversary of the military campaign against the Rohingya) pass unmarked. Aerlyn Pfeil is a certified professional midwife and sexual violence program consultant from Portland, Oregon. She has been attending births since 1999. In 2010, she joined Doctors Without Borders, where she has worked in maternal health programs in South Sudan, Haiti, Senegal, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea. Aerlyn is on the Board of Directors for Doctors Without Borders. She holds a BA in Sociology from Whitman College and a MPH from the University of Manchester. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Mary Donné
Curating Pics for Social Media
Navigation Some images will naturally stand out more than others, so spend a bit of time looking carefully at what you have captured. You probably don’t need 10 pictures of Ayers Rock from different angles if you have one really amazing shot of it glowing red at dawn or dusk.
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BOTH PHOTOS OF MOUNTAIN VIEW: FIONA CROUCHER; AYERS ROCK: KEN/STOCK.ADOBE.COM; EVERYWHERE MAGAZINE INSTAGRAM: ALI NELSON
ike most parents, you probably have a whole collection of pictures that you’re itching to share from every trip you’ve taken. After all, all travelers are amateur photographers at heart! Here are some tips for the best ways to display your work for maximum impact. Think about the platform for which you’re curating photos. The layout will differ depending on whether you’re using Facebook, Instagram, or something else, as will the size of the picture (1,200 x 630 pixels (px) for Facebook works best, while 1080 x 1080 px is best for Instagram). Photographs of people will nearly always be more interesting than shots of buildings or landscapes. Even if you’re primarily a landscape photographer, try adding a couple of shots of people to add some balance to your collection.
Finally, unless you’re actively pursuing a career as a travel photographer and purposely showcasing your work, don’t get too hung up on what other people might think. Your Facebook or Instagram is just a digital scrapbook for you and your family to remember a great experience. If you want to fill it with pictures of cats and ice cream, that’s your call!
It’s sometimes hard to build a single theme when uploading travel shots as every picture is different. You can create symmetry by matching tones and color or lightness and darkness, using filters if necessary. By the same token, try to be consistent. If you’ve posted an Instagram grid of eight great pictures of your children, one random shot of the Eiffel Tower may look a little out of place and spoil the effect. Don’t forget the caption that accompanies the pictures. While a picture can often speak for itself, including a little story or context where appropriate can enhance your viewer’s experience. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Navigation
Fiona Croucher
Card Games for Travel C
ards are the perfect travel games for kids and adults alike. Cards are small, light, and won’t raise suspicion with airport security. They teach numbers, patterns, critical thinking, strategy, risk, probability, and — best of all — the sportsmanship of being a good winner and loser. They can be packed in an easilyaccessible pocket of a purse or backpack and brought out in
airports, at restaurants, just before bedtime, or for some screenfree afternoon downtime. Card games can be played with one or two players or with the whole family, especially with a few house rules to modify them for play by younger kids or in teams when necessary. Here are five tried and tested card games to take with you on your next adventure.
PIRATATAK
Players try to collect six cards that fit together to build a red, blue, green, or yellow pirate ship. The gamble in this game is that players can choose to turn over one card or several to uncover the cards that make up the ship — as many as they dare try in a single turn — while risking, on each flip of the card, encountering a pirate card and losing their precious gold or ship cards. This game is great for families with kids as young as 3–4 years of age, as it is simple enough for the kids to understand but still fun for older kids and adults. Watch the delight when a 4-year-old beats her parents!
SLEEPING QUEENS
Kings, queens, knights, jesters, and dragons are all in battle in this game, where the object is to collect enough queens or earn enough points to win the game. Each card plays a specific role: the queens start off sleeping and can only be woken by a king; the knight can steal an opponent’s queens; a dragon can stop a knight; a sleeping potion can put a queen back to sleep but can be stopped by a wand. Interestingly, this game was dreamt up by an 8-year-old girl who couldn’t sleep one night.
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PAGE 32 – PIRATAK: FIONA CROUCHER; SLEEPING QUEENS: COURTESY OF GAMEWRIGHT; PAGE 33 – PHASE 10 AND SPOT IT!: ALI NELSON; SUSHI GO: COURTESY OF GAMEWRIGHT
PHASE 10
This game is from the makers of the family favorites UNO and Skip-Bo. A variation of rummy, players collect sets (multiple cards of the same number, like three 6s) and runs (straights of the same color, like a red 5, 6, 7, and 8). It is played in 10 phases (hence the name), with each phase presenting a specific challenge (for instance, one set of four cards plus one run of four cards). Players who do not complete the phase within a hand must try again while the players who complete it move on to the next (and increasingly more difficult) phase. Phase 10 is better for older kids playing with adults. The rules are a little more complicated and moving through the phases can take quite a long time, so it’s not as good for little ones with limited attention spans. Try this game on a long airport layover.
SUSHI GO
This is a quirky but addictive game where players remove one card from their hand (7–10 cards, depending on the number of players), pass the remaining cards to the left, and then remove another card from their new hand, creating sets of different traditional Japanese foods such as nigiri (raw fish over pressed rice), maki (sushi rolls), tempura (battered and fried seafood or vegetables), and sashimi (raw fish served without rice). Each set is worth different points, which are added up to determine the eventual winner over three games. The illustrations are irresistible!
SPOT IT!
Spot It! is the “I Spy” of card games in which a player’s success hinges on announcing a match between two cards before an opponent. Each of the 55 cards in the pack has eight symbols, but only one matching symbol exists between any two cards. Being able to spot the matching symbol is only half the battle; saying it out loud before anyone else is sometimes the tricky part. Some adults find that they can spot the symbol first but find it hard to access the right word under pressure, so this game is one where the kids just might have the upper hand.
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Sandy Dornsife
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ondon is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, playing host to around 30 million international visitors per year, and for good reason: with its exceptional museums and rich colonial history, it’s a site for both education and exploration. London serves the dual function of the capital of England as well as the United Kingdom as a whole, which also includes Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. With a population of over 8,000,000 people, London has the unique appeal of both a modern metropolis and a city steeped in 2,000 years of history. It consists of 33 boroughs spanning 607 square miles bisected by the River Thames. Luckily, most of the major sites are contained
Layover
within the central 10 boroughs, which are easy to navigate through a combination of walking and public transportation. The London public transportation system (TfL) is extensive and includes both buses and underground trains. Trains run from every one of London’s airports, with the Heathrow Express taking only 15 minutes to downtown. Keep in mind, however, that not all Underground stations are equipped with elevators, so those with strollers can be faced with the cumbersome task of lugging them up and down several flights of stairs and those in wheelchairs may not be able to access them. Transferring between train lines can also require long walks below ground that can tire out little legs. Download the Citymapper app to
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determine route options with directions and information, including cost, time, and distance. IF YOU HAVE ONE DAY
If you only have one day in London but still want to experience as much as possible, your best course of action is a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. While this may seem cliché, riding atop a double-decker bus couldn’t be more quintessentially London. Routes take you past every major site in the city. If you are visiting on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday (or any day during summer), you should begin your visit at Buckingham Palace to watch the historic Changing of the Guards. Arrive at least a half-hour early (earlier during peak periods) to stake out a good spot for the ceremony, which begins promptly at 11 a.m. Make sure to check the official schedule prior to arrival, as changes are sometimes made. After the ceremony, it will be lunchtime — but why have lunch when you can splurge on a classic afternoon tea. Most hop-on, hop-off bus routes take you past two of the most famous teas in London, Claridge’s ($84 adults, $52 children) and Fortnum & Mason ($72 per person). Tea time includes a selection of sandwiches, luxurious cakes, and pastries along with your choice of tea, served in a truly lavish setting. However, if these teas seem a bit too pricey, have no fear — it seems there are an infinite number of afternoon teas in London for any taste and budget, and coupons are frequently found on sites like Groupon. Once you’ve had your fill of tiny sandwiches, tea, and scones, hop back on the bus and head over to the Tower of London where children can reenact their fantasies of being knights, kings, and queens. The Tower of London has a storied 1,000 year past, at one point acting as a palace, prison, and even zoo. Currently, the Tower serves as the home to the Crown Jewels, as well as an impressive collection of armor and other medieval artifacts. Free guided tours are available from the guardians of the Tower, the Beefeaters, who actually reside at the Tower itself. Additionally, the free Time Explorers app takes children on an interactive adventure through the Tower, introducing them to historical characters and challenging them to educational missions. Events are routinely held at the Tower of London, so it is worthwhile to check their website to see if anything is happening during your visit. By this time, you probably don’t have much of the day left, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of your narrated bus tour. Make your last stop Piccadilly Circus, London’s version of New York’s Times Square. You will find endless dining options, especially in Chinatown. One crowd-pleasing option is hotpot at Little Lamb, where everyone is served an endless supply of meats, veggies, and noodles to cook in the chosen broth at the table. The meal
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is delicious but has the added benefit of keeping kids occupied with cooking their own dinner in the bubbling liquid in front of them — just be careful to keep little hands safe. IF YOU HAVE TWO TO THREE DAYS
Adding just a day or two more to your trip allows you the luxury of seeing more of the many sites London has to offer, some of the most popular being Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, after checking your must-see sites off the list, the value of simply spending a day in one of London’s famous royal parks cannot be understated. In central London, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens merge to form 625 acres of beautiful park space. Here, past, present, and nature combine to create a destination that the whole family can enjoy. Begin in the northeast corner of Hyde Park near Marble Arch at Speaker’s Corner. Since the mid-1800s, Speaker’s Corner has served as a testament to Britain’s commitment to free speech and assembly and is where anyone with an opinion is permitted to speak their mind. Individuals such as Karl Marx, Marcus Garvey, and George Orwell all pulled up soapboxes at this corner where crowds still gather to this day to listen to and heckle speakers. On the opposite side of the park is one of the most magical playgrounds in London. Inspired by the story of Peter Pan and Neverland, the Diana, Princess of Wales’ Memorial Playground is sure to wow the kids. The playground includes a life-size pirate ship, lost boys village, forest fort, and much more. Directly adjacent to the playground is Kensington Palace. Once the childhood home of Queen Victoria, the Palace still acts as a home to Prince William and his young family. There is public access to part of the Palace, and the Palace website lists all current exhibitions. The Serpentine, a 40-acre recreational lake, lies at the center of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Here, you will find boat rentals and an area for public swimming. Several cafes are also scattered around the edge of the lake, which makes a beautiful backdrop for a meal or snack. If a bit of rain happens to dampen your day (as is often the case in London), the Science Museum and Natural History Museum are located just a few blocks south of Hyde Park and offer an entertaining respite from the weather and a nice end to the day. IF YOU HAVE FOUR TO SEVEN DAYS
With more time, you have the opportunity to see London at a relaxed pace, which tends to make things much more enjoyable, especially when traveling with children. Choose one major site a day and then combine it with a visit to the park or a kid-friendly museum. Allow yourself leisurely pub lunches, where you might be able to catch a local football (soccer) or cricket match on TV.
A day out in the West End neighborhoods is a great childfriendly option. Start in historic Trafalgar Square where children can climb the giant lion statues surrounding Nelson’s Column. It is located directly in front of the National Gallery, which has free admission. Nearby Leicester Square and Covent Garden contain countless theaters where Broadway-quality productions occur nightly. Day-of discounted tickets are available on location at TKTS, The Official London Theatre Ticket Booth, in Leicester Square. The TodayTix app also offers sales on advance tickets and a limited number of day-of tickets for deeply discounted rates. Much more affordable, however, are the countless amazing street acts performing in this area, including singers, acrobats, and magicians. Covent Garden also contains the Royal Opera House and the London Transport Museum, which offers a hands-on experience through the history of transportation in London. If you happen to have a movie buff among your group, London is the perfect place to bring their favorite characters to life. Harry Potter fans will never forget pushing a luggage cart through Platform 9 ¾ or exploring the actual sets at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour right outside of London. Fans of Sherlock Holmes can stroll along Baker Street, step back in time at the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and dine in true Victorian style at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. London offers similar experiences for any number of other theatrical and literary characters including James Bond, Paddington, and Dr. Who. Venturing outside of downtown London also offers a range of opportunities for the whole family to enjoy. Hampton Court Palace lies southwest of the city center and was built by Henry VIII, notorious for his succession of six wives. It is easily accessed from the Waterloo station via the South Western Railway train to Hampton Court. The Palace itself not only offers an interactive look at life during Henry VIII’s reign but also houses extensive grounds including the United Kingdom’s oldest surviving hedge maze and a Magic Garden playground inspired by myths and legends. The beautiful town of Windsor is also less than an hour train’s ride away from London and is the home to the historic Windsor Castle, where the Queen and several younger royals still spend much of their time. Make sure to check the flag flying above the castle. If it’s the Royal Standard, the Queen is home! The countless activities and attractions that London has to offer can seem overwhelming, but the variety allows you to create a custom itinerary based on your family’s interests. Whether you are history buffs, outdoor enthusiasts, shopaholics, or a bit of a mix, your family can create a vacation in London that everyone can enjoy.
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Putting Together the Pieces for Long-Term Travel
SKILLSET
40:
Socialization Outside A Traditional School Environment
41:
Getting Your Partner on Board for Travel
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Rent Your Home and Go Travel Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Skillset
Karen M. Ricks
Socialization Outside A Traditional School Environment nyone who has ever expressed enthusiasm for homeschooling or worldschooling has likely heard the wellmeaning but dreaded question: “But how will children ever be socialized without school?” This concern is generally expressed by those who may not understand just how much latitude homeschooled and worldschooled children have in their educational journeys, freedom that their traditionally-educated peers may not enjoy. Freedom to Socialize Teachers and administrators in an institutional educational environment are constantly telling school children that they are not there to socialize. In contrast, homeschooled and worldschooled children are often encouraged to talk with their peers during the school day. Whether studying and learning at home, in a cooperative environment resembling a traditional school, or using experiences out in the world as an informal classroom, homeschooled and worldschooled students tend to carry on more conversations about the material, which can help them better process the information at hand. Models for Social Skills One of the key reasons many parents cite for wanting to be the primary educators for their children is the desire to pass on the moral and ethical standards the family upholds. Homeschooling and worldschooling allow a child’s behaviors and conversations to be guided by the people whose values and beliefs should be most preeminent in their lives at such a young and impressionable age — parents. Exposure to Diversity Thanks to the added flexibility allowed by a less traditional school environment, homeschoolers and worldschoolers
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have the added flexibility to interact with a wider range of individuals. The artificial social stratification of children grouped by age in a traditional school setting means that conversations and behaviors are dictated primarily by peers with roughly the same life experiences. However, homeschoolers and worldschoolers can have opportunities for practical daily interactions with more people of varying ages, professions, and social and economic backgrounds than they would otherwise encounter at school. Opportunities to Learn From Shared Interests Children can actively engage with their peers outside of a traditional school setting in a wide variety of ways. Extracurricular clubs, sports, art and music classes, cooperative learning groups, and more offer a plethora of opportunities for children to engage in activities they already enjoy or are excited to learn! They can also participate in programs and events at local libraries, museums and galleries, and shows in and around the community, often available at all hours of the day or night. Families who have put considerable time and effort into planning an educational curriculum and social calendar may decide to disregard the unsolicited concerns of well-meaning friends and family (even strangers). For those families just starting on a homeschooling or worldschooling journey or for those who are still asked to justify their educational decisions, these considerations may help support what most homeschooling families already know: socialization is not generally an issue. Then feel free to share the many additional benefits your child is gaining because of your non-traditional approach to education.
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A
Skillset
Fiona Croucher
Getting Your Partner on Board for Travel W
hen both parents share a love of travel, the family’s adventures fall into place. They prioritize the time and money for travel, agree that the benefits of travel outweigh its costs and risks, and defend each other when well-meaning family and friends question their decisions to pull the kids out of school for a trip. But when they have different views and levels of interest in travel, life becomes a balancing act of trying to keep the other person happy while staying true to yourself. If your partner does not share your love of travel, try these ideas to encourage him or her to travel more frequently and widely. Consider Your Partner’s Interests. Sporting events, food and wine, car shows, tulip festivals, Grand Prix, marathons, charity work, theater, pinball, fishing: everyone has a hobby or interest that is generally available at a travel destination. Yes, you may have to sit through nine hours of a Japanese anime convention, but it got you all to Tokyo, didn’t it?
FIONA CROUCHER
Understand Your Partner’s Motivations. Some people just don’t like being crammed in airplanes, sleeping in uncomfortable beds, or eating unfamiliar foods. Research planes with the most legroom, break up the flights with an interesting stopover, or find a great hotel within your budget. If you make the experience better by avoiding the things that strike a nerve, your partner will have a more enjoyable time and (hopefully) be more open to traveling again.
concern, get creative. Set a travel budget for the year and adhere to it. Try a side hustle to increase your income. Show that you understand your partner’s concerns and are devoted to making travel a priority by cutting out other expenses in your budget (for instance, keep your old car or cell phone instead of upgrading). Commit to spending a year or two getting out of debt or getting ahead on the mortgage. Suggest utilizing credit card points or houseswaping to reduce the cost of travel. Normalize Family Travel. YouTube has no shortage of videos of families traveling the world together that explain how and why they do it and how it has affected them as a family. Many families believe it is so beneficial that they will share online their logistics, budget, and daily life. This makes even long-term family travel seem less like a fringe lifestyle. Show your partner inspiring stories in travel magazines or suggest a few forums or Facebook groups that offer more insight. Compromise. Cut a deal: let your partner sign you up for a sports league or cooking classes in exchange for island hopping with you in Southeast Asia. Then, you have both agreed to experiences out of your comfort zones and learned something new.
Relive Previous Experiences. Remind your partner of other great travel experiences you have shared. Hang some photos of your family’s travels around the house taken when you both remember the whole day as a happy one. Ask the kids over dinner what they remember about the last time you all left for an adventure — what did they learn, who did they meet, and what is their favorite memory?
Start Small. While backpacking the length of Chile with two small children may seem reasonable to you, it may be daunting for your other half. If your partner has never traveled outside of the country, start small by planning a short trip to a neighboring country or city within driving distance, especially one where people speak your language. This way, your partner won’t have to deal with as severe a culture shock or the anxiety that can accompany a longer trip or a trip so far from home.
Get Creative About Funding Travel. In some households, one partner sees value in experiences of travel over purchasing “things” while the other views travel money as gone — there’s nothing tangible left after the trip has ended, and there’s no resale value in it. If money is your partner’s
Go Solo. Some people just need to travel, while others don’t understand. If your partner really wants to stay at home, consider traveling with a friend, your extended family, or even alone (with or without the kids). Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Darcy Tuscano
Rent Your Home and Go Travel!
F
or most families, the biggest obstacle to travel is money. Some intrepid travelers decide to sell everything — including the family home — and hit the road for a life of indefinite exploration. However, not everyone wants to travel forever, and most families are looking forward to coming “home” at some point after their gap year, round-the-world adventure, or several-month journey. For those homeowners, one way to fund their trip is to find a renter for their home. When Sierra, a single mom with two kids, decided to take a six-month sabbatical to South America, her biggest concern was paying the mortgage and affording her travels. “I knew in order to do this trip with my kids, I needed to get creative, so we downsized and sold many items in addition to renting out our house. It was a lot of hard preparation beforehand but worked out really well, especially since I made a profit.” Sierra knew she was going to return home to her former job, neighborhood, and community, and having someone else pay the mortgage gave her the freedom to explore the world. Careful planning is key to a smooth experience. Sinead describes the steps she took in order to have a seamless reentry after her year-long travels. “We stored some items with family members and gave precious items and documents to a
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family member with a safe. We sold most of our belongings; the rest, we stacked in our small home office and locked the door.” The disadvantage of sacrificing a room for personal storage was that Sinead charged less rent than an extra bedroom would have allowed, but this approach met the family’s needs. “It meant we could have some items such as mattresses and school things right up until the last day and have access to them on the first day home.” Despite the best-laid plans, renting a home doesn’t always go without a hitch. Erin, who started out on a six-month trip and ended up traveling with her family for five years, found herself in a bit of a bind when her tenants decided to vacate early when she was on the other side of the world. “It was hard advertising and having the house shown to people without me being present. That was very difficult. Thankfully, our tenant found someone to take the lease. The third time we rented the house, a good friend of mine moved in. Occasionally, I come visit, but she is looking after it very well.” While there are a multitude of ways to save money for travel, for many traveling families, the decision to rent their primary residence while they travel is the best and biggest moneysaving option.
10 DIY Strategies and Tips for Renting Your Home 1. Determine Your Home’s Rental Value Pick your rental rate by researching the cost of the area’s homes listed on Airbnb, Homeaway, and other rental sites to gauge demand and price. 2. Decide What’s Included Decide if household bills (electricity, water, gas, internet, and garbage) will be included in the rent or if the tenant will be responsible for paying the utility bills as they arrive. Passing the actual cost of utilities on to tenants can make them more accountable for their electric, gas, and water usage, but get a good deposit in case tenants skip on any bills. Also, determine who will pay for repairs (generally the owners) and regular maintenance like lawn care and upkeep of a swimming pool (generally the tenants). 3. Get Help Managing the House Find someone you trust (it could be a family member or friend, although management companies can be hired to play this role) to help out while you’re away. This person should be able to authorize repairs and troubleshoot problems without your involvement.
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4. Store Your Valuables Consider locking up one room, the garage, or a closet for your personal belongings. Valuables and important documents should be stored in a safe at a friend or family member’s house or in a bank’s safety deposit box. 5. Protect Your Property To make sure you’re covered for any damage, purchase both renter’s insurance and landlord’s insurance; your homeowner’s policy might be invalid once your home is no longer owneroccupied. In addition, ask for one month’s rent in advance and the same amount for a security deposit. 6. Highlight Selling Points in a Detailed Listing If your property is near local attractions and restaurants, close to public transportation, walking distance to a gorgeous park, or otherwise has a noteworthy location, be sure to highlight its proximity to these features with exact names and distances. Don’t forget to
mention what makes your house stand out, such as extra parking spaces or a jacuzzi. Also note whether the house comes fully furnished or only partially furnished, including what furnishings and appliances will remain. 7. Take Great Photos Terrible photos will make your home hard to rent at any price — but with great photos, the house will practically rent itself. To prepare for a photo session, remove all personal items, and ensure the house looks clean, tidy, and well lit. Real estate photography is one task that might be worth the cost of hiring a professional. 8. Get the Word Out Tell family and friends about your plans to rent your home. Chances are you’ll find a renter through word of mouth or personal referrals. If not, utilize websites like Sabbatical Home or Craigslist, post on local neighborhood message boards, and join family travel groups on Facebook. 9. Screening Tenants Get financial, business, and personal references for all potential tenants. Run background and credit checks, confirm employment, and ask for a rental history (if applicable). Meet potential tenants in person if possible, or conduct a video chat. 10. Sign a Lease Prepare a written lease agreement detailing your rental arrangement and make sure both parties sign it to make it legally binding. A lease can help prevent problems by making expectations clear up front, and a written agreement will help protect your rights as a homeowner if anything goes wrong. When in Doubt, Outsource Ultimately, it’s also possible to skip the hassle of managing a rental yourself and hire a real estate agent and property manager to list and maintain the property. The profit won’t be as significant, but your peace of mind could be well worth the cost of having someone else do the job. Planning a shorter trip? Read about short-term rental strategies and tips in our April/May issue, available free online at everywheremagazine.com
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LEAVE THE GROUND
BEHIND YOU
discobed.com
JUST GO
Sabrina Vienneau
Joy in the Mundane
CHICCODODIFC/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
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ears ago, I road-tripped with a friend through Germany. The second we hit the Autobahn, I took our rented Mercedes to whoop-worthy speeds, shouting out the conversion of clicks (kilometers per hour) to miles per hour. The car was smooth and steady, solidly gripping the earth, a contrast to my carefree elation. The exhilaration made us giddy. We were lost within the first thirty minutes but didn’t slow until we reached snow-slicked roads. A decade has since passed. This time, as we left the Autobahn and entered the A36 in France, my husband was behind the wheel, and I found myself a passenger. In a Renault. I glanced in the back seat and smiled at my two young daughters and exclaimed, “we’re in France!” My grip on the armrest relaxed as I welcomed the respite from the teeth chattering that occurred every time a Mercedes blew by our econobox. I am a very different person now. I haven’t completely lost myself. This very road trip across Western Europe was all about capturing a sense of freedom, freedom from the daily grind and bitterness that began chipping away at my family’s sense of joy. Twelve- to fourteenhour days in a pressure-cooker job had taken its toll, so I quit. I remembered the ebullient feel of the Autobahn; a road trip would be our antidote, applying adventure as a salve. Unexpectedly, it was in the most unassuming of places, the French rest stops, that we found our joie de vivre. Entering France, our pace slowed to Renault-approved speeds. Eyes widened at the beautiful, large, brown signs announcing every passing village with a pictorial representation of the region. Why yes, we would stop and meander by the depicted river and enjoy the local crémant. No river? No problem. It turned out the French rest stops often had a pastoral ambiance for enjoying local bubbly. In France there is bureaucracy, so tolls were a given. However, these tolls bought the most extensive and well-kept offerings of respite and, unbelievably, fun one could imagine. Just as every village was artfully identified, there were clearly
marked signs that seemed to appear every five kilometers or so, announcing the exact type of rest stop amenities a traveler could expect to enjoy. The most basic had only toilets and picnic tables but were still equipped with speakers playing music, supplying that extra touch of French refinement. Others had small wooded areas for picnics, restrooms, and sparkling clean playgrounds to burn off energy. At one of these, we came across a green caterpillar with white toothbrush like spikes and a tail. For 20 minutes we marveled, all four of us on the same page of wonder, courtesy of the most humble of travel locale. The granddaddy of them all was the French truck stops. I dined on a fresh fruit and cheese plate, followed by a full dinner of lasagna, green salad, and baguette. This was no convenience store roll; in France, small pleasures are culturally embedded into the mundane. My husband and I enjoyed après dinner coffee on the deck, splitting the accompanying cookies with our children. We traveled for days, stopping in wonderful and wellmarked small towns, secure in the knowledge that a clean bathroom and play area would be available to meet the demands of five-year-old bladders and restlessness. That knowledge alone relaxed us. We listened to audiobooks, practiced our French, stopped at anything that looked interesting, and discussed where we had been and where we were going. Whoop-worthy exhilarating adventure? No, but it allowed for sweeter, softer discovery. Apparently, you can’t escape bureaucracy. Two months after we returned to the U.S., two speeding tickets arrived in our mailbox. I recalled our trip: picking flaky rest-stop croissant crumbs from my lap, secure in the knowledge a good cup of coffee would be only a well-marked 5 km away. Mostly, I recalled the feeling of a Renault-sized family cocoon, occasionally speeding down gorgeous French roads, delivering us to the very sense of togetherness we sought. I gladly paid the fine. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Cultural Consideration
Mary Donné
Afternoon Tea
“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” - Henry James Most of the world knows that the English are obsessed with tea. “Is it time for tea?” may well be one of the first quintessentially British phrases that any non-native speaker in England learns, along with “how do you do?” and “isn’t the weather nice today?” According to the website www.tea.co.uk, we English love tea so much that we consumed 165 million cups of it every day last year. Despite stiff competition from “coffee culture” outlets like Starbucks, Pret, and Costa, coffee or any of its fancy counterparts have yet to replace the humble cup of builder’s tea in our national heart. Builder’s tea is a cup of very strong tea traditionally drank by the lower classes in England. Now, what could be more English than allocating a social class to a beverage? Legend has it that tea was first discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in 2737 B.C. when the Emperor was sitting under a tea tree with a bowl of hot water and some tea leaves fell in his bowl. The Emperor took a sip of it and was amazed by its wonderful taste. Thus, the Chinese became the first people to
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have enjoyed tea as a drink. Some time afterward, when monks left China to spread the principles of Buddhism to the Japanese people, they took their tea with them. Over time, news of this wonderful drink (which by now was attributed to the good health and longevity of the Asian people) reached Europe. The Portuguese missionaries who traveled to Japan in the 1500s tasted tea and wrote back home about its flavor and purported medicinal properties. As European trade with China increased, more traders became interested in taking tea back to Europe. The first few shipments of tea to Europe were very expensive, and owning and drinking tea was considered to be a symbol of wealth. Tea was most likely introduced to England in about 1660 by King Charles II’s Portuguese wife, Catherine of Braganza. Later, in the 1750s, the Earl of Sandwich famously asked his valet to prepare him a snack of cold meat and bread while he was playing cards. He did not wish to interrupt his game, so he folded the meat into the bread, thus giving the Earl’s name to what would later become a staple accompaniment to the still relatively new hot beverage. In the 1800s, lunch would have been served early in the day at midday (noon) in fashionable English households. New artificial lighting meant dinner was now pushed back to later in
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the evening as people were no longer forced to rely on natural light. This meant there was a long wait between lunch and dinner. It is rumored that in about 1840, the Duchess of Bedford often became hungry at around 4 p.m. and asked her servants to prepare her something to eat. The Duchess asked for a tray of tea, bread and butter, and some cake. This became a daily habit to which she began inviting friends and was the birth of what we now call afternoon tea. Afternoon tea became a fashionable event attended by upperclass ladies (rarely men). It was usually served in the drawing room of grand houses between four and five o’clock. Ladies would get changed into special “tea gowns,” a dress with a train and long flowing sleeves that etiquette doyenne Emily Post describes as “a hybrid between a wrapper and a ball dress.” This is not very different from the afternoon tea service that may be found in any British home today where the custom is kept. Afternoon tea is still generally regarded as something for ladies, possibly due to the delicate sandwiches and slices of cake with which it is served, and etiquette dictates that the hostess pours her guests’ tea and hands them each a full cup and saucer one by one. Most English afternoon teas at a hotel or tea room will offer a choice of different blends of tea, including Oolong, Assam, Earl Grey, and English Breakfast. When the tea arrives, it will usually be served with a selection (or possibly all!) of the following:
• Small sandwiches with the crusts removed and cut into “fingers.” Popular sandwich fillings include cream cheese and cucumber, egg, smoked salmon, or thin slices of roast beef. • Scones and jam, possibly with cream or butter. • Fruit cake or Victoria sponge (a plain sponge with jam and cream in the middle). • Strawberries and cream (popular in June when English strawberries are at their most ripe). These days, a glass of Champagne may also be offered with afternoon tea — and popular rumor has it that none other than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth enjoys a small glass of gin and tonic with her afternoon tea when she is at home.
Oolong is a tea half-way between mild Green Tea and stronger Black tea. It is a versatile tea and may be enjoyed with anything sweet or savory. Assam is a very strong tea, perhaps more suited to the established tea drinker. Earl Grey is a delicate tea flavored with bergamot and usually served with lemon. This one is an acquired taste. English Breakfast is known as a “mongrel” blend of tea, as it is made up of many different blends. It is also known as “Yorkshire Tea.” It is one of the most popular blends in England and, while stronger than Oolong, is generally enjoyed by most tea drinkers. Unsure about which tea to try? English Breakfast is a safe choice.
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Feature
ZĂŠlie Pollon
Evolution of a Worldschooler
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ALL PHOTOS PAGES 50–57 – ZÉLIE POLLON
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We started with a more structured curriculum that I hen my mother died suddenly in late 2015, my world called homeschooling, devoting morning hours to English turned on its head. It wasn’t just losing my friend, composition and math skills. I should say, that was the intent. confidant, and traveling partner, but having to deal with all the Instead, we fought nonstop, usually until one or both of us was in STUFF that comes with death. As a single mother raised by a tears. He resisted, and I yelled. “I traded disconnect for outright single mother, all the work fell on my shoulders and mine alone. conflict?,” I thought to myself. By the time I had taken care of the immediate tasks — tending Obviously, homeschooling was not to the body, cremations, wills and for us. I did some more research and bills, and then her house (a hippie landed on the term “unschooling,” a handmade Earthship that I spent I hadn’t had the time. I word that I felt was needed to release months transforming from a liability hadn’t made the time. At and literally unlearn a framework of into something that could be sold) — I public education that measured my was demolished and still working full that moment, I knew things son by standardized testing alone time in a toxic office environment. while downplaying his skills. (I had Nevermind that I still hadn’t had time were about to change been told by school staff that he to mourn... radically. shouldn’t be reading above his grade In the months that followed, a level because he might encounter friend sat with me and asked about mature content!) my son. My son had grown quite Unschooling, I would learn, allows a child to follow his or her close to my mother during his 10 years, and I imagined his passion and to learn in the time and place that he or she chooses. loss was equally immense. But when my friend asked how he I figured he would learn a language if we traveled enough, and was handling her death, I had no answer. The truth is, I was so that would suffice for his immediate learning. overworked and exhausted that I simply had no idea how he We chose to begin our journey in San Miguel because my was doing. I mean, no real idea, like the “take the time to really traveling friend was of retirement age and wanted to see if this connect with your child” kind of idea. I hadn’t had the time. I could be her home. I didn’t know that the Spanish colonial hadn’t made the time. At that moment, I knew things were about town, known as a retiree haven, also included a large number of to change radically. expat families. From connections I made in Facebook groups, Within two months, I had made a decision to quit my job, rent we eventually spent afternoons sharing playdates with other out my house, and take my son traveling so we could reconnect traveling families; here, I learned of a world of travelers and any and so I could finally begin to heal. Within a year of my mother’s number of ways they were educating their children. During one death, we were flying to Mexico, the first stop on what was to be park visit, while our children climbed and ran, becoming fast a year-long adventure that also took us to Peru, Ecuador, and friends when just an hour prior, they were complete strangers, I Colombia. A dear friend who was reluctant to travel alone joined learned the term worldschooler (schooling through traveling the us, and we were three. world). This resonated with me; this is what we were doing. One year to the day from my mom’s funeral, we were in San I also came to know that the most challenging aspect of Miguel de Allende, Mexico, celebrating the Day of the Dead. this approach to education was not finding sufficient learning This tradition that falls near Halloween honors all family opportunities — they were everywhere if one simply looked — members who have passed, but who, in the Mexican tradition, but creating opportunities for my son to have a social life. Yet, are still among us and need to be honored and celebrated. I found that through Facebook groups around the world — for Together, my son and I shopped for items that reminded us of traveling single mothers, unschoolers, worldschoolers, and my mother: some dreaded cigarettes, a bottle of Coca-Cola, others following an unconventional path — many families were some milk chocolate, and a live recording of Eric Clapton. We searching for similar social opportunities. We were everywhere. built a shrine to celebrate her life and then we joined hundreds We left Mexico with some broad learning categories in mind, of Mexican families in the streets and cemeteries doing the same and lessons became more practical and integrated into our thing. The healing had begun. day: currency exchange, language usage, and trip research and At the outset, I hadn’t thought about how to educate my son planning were all valuable lessons as we moved south through during our travels. He hated his public school at the time, one Mexico and then to Ecuador. We explored Mesoamerican that spent more time on standardized testing than on anything pyramids in Mexico, traveled deep into the Amazon jungle, and one could call teaching, so I figured there was no loss, however saw environmental protection in action in the Galapagos Islands. we chose to move forward with education.
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In Peru, we learned of ancient Incan cultures as we visited to New Mexico that neither of us was ready to stop traveling. Sacsayhuamån, where my son used an early stone slide, and We had chosen the voyage to heal and reconnect and to learn we trekked to Machu Picchu, the Incan citadel set high in the about the world and expand our cultural knowledge. I had also Andes Mountains. Along the way, we experienced the amazing chosen it because it was more affordable to travel full time than and unexpected: I had a surprise role as the photographer in a to live in our home in the U.S. Our trip may have ended, but our home birth attended by a talented motivations had not. midwife, even handling the So by summer’s end, I gave my iPhone and flashlight for a 2 a.m. son the option to either return to Regardless of where we end up in episiotomy! My son chose not to Mexico or to restart school in the the coming years, I constantly remind be in the room during the delivery United States. I needed him to be a myself that nothing is permanent and but helped supervise the heating full participant in any decision we of water on the stove when the made, or I feared he could become that the travel we've already had the bathtub refused to fill. To call this wed to resistance for resistance’s good fortune to endeavor has made experience valuable, even magical, sake. Luckily for us both, he us flexible and resilient, open-minded, says nothing. quickly decided that we should In Colombia, we spoke of the return to Mexico, where he had and more easily able to navigate life's African slave trade, the reality of a made a number of close friends. challenges. drug war, and the irony of the new But this time, I tried yet peace creating a rush on rainforest another approach to schooling. and jungle land. I finally felt we While worldschooling was were hitting our stride. But it was time to head back to the U.S. our primary educational structure, I also enrolled him in an I had promised my son a return home that summer and international school in San Miguel so he could have social was honorbound to keep it, but I could tell on our flight back interaction and the structure he craved. We used this as a base
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from which to explore other countries and cultures. We attended worldschooling conferences and joined the growing number of worldschooling online groups and meetups. Last year, we participated in our first organized worldschooling trip to Indonesia, which proved one of our most enjoyable experiences to date. All the while, we built a stable base in Mexico from which my son could explore. This year, three years after leaving “home,” we’ll return to the U.S. to prepare our house for sale as we set our sights on more permanent worldschooling adventures. Regardless of where we end up in the coming years, I constantly remind myself that nothing is permanent and that the travel we’ve already had the good fortune to endeavor has made us flexible and resilient, open-minded, and more easily able to navigate life’s challenges. My son has matured and become more culturally sensitive, he has made friends around the world, and he is not intimidated by foreign languages or locales. For lack of a better term, he is becoming a true global citizen. Wherever we land, we will continue to use the world as our curriculum planner, forever learning from the rich offerings each state and country provides, from the natural wonders of American public lands to international historical sites that form the underpinnings of our intellectual and cultural life. We’re worldschoolers now, and that’s how we roll.
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CHRISTINE CLO PHOTOGRAPHY
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Mirรณ Siegel
Feature
Ten Years Ago, My Mom Gave Me The World Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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The plan we had formed was a one-year backpacking s it possible to make deep, lasting connections while trip, traveling south through Latin America until we reached traveling? Does learning always occur in a school setting? Is Argentina. For a schoolchild and a business owner, a year there such a thing as a global community? Can an adolescent seemed like an infinitely long amount of time — no 80-hour work thrive without a home base? These are all questions I’ve been weeks, and of course, no school. In six months, we had made all able to answer through my own experiences as someone who of the necessary travel arrangements, given notice on the lease has spent over half his life (and most of his formative years) on of our loft, found a home for our dog, and tied up every loose end. the road. My life of travel began 10 years ago when my mom and I And just like that, we felt momentarily free from the lifestyle that decided that we would travel the world. had trapped us. Before we left home, we lived a somewhat normal life in Los Over the course of that first year, we learned so many new Angeles; my mom, a single, workaholic parent, worked full time things about the world: we learned about culture, ecology, and from home as the owner of a green eco-branding and design history, and we met many amazing people (many of whom I still agency. The fact that her office was also our living room meant contact today). More importantly, though, we learned about that she was always working, and though I saw her all the time, ourselves and the many different ways we could choose to live we never really connected as her mind was always elsewhere. our lives. The words “we’ll spend time together later” epitomized our Initially, we traveled as tourists. In those first few months, we relationship. went with whatever appealed to our senses, gravitating towards I led a reasonably normal life for a 10-year-old. I went to attractions and tourist traps like school, did my homework, and moths to a flame. We didn’t know while I enjoyed myself on the any better, and we quickly burned weekends, I was never truly free through the savings we had set from the dread of the approaching [W]e were also forced to aside for the trip. But as time went school week. Needless to say, on, our attitude and approach we were both miserable in our take a long, hard look at our began to slowly shift from “tourist” own ways: I hated my structured, lives. After a series of difficult to “visiting local.” We slowed down controlled life as a student, and she and began to actually experience couldn’t help but feel like she had conversations and negotiations, the pace of the different countries completely missed my childhood we finally came to our we were visiting, usually spending in the blink of an eye. at least a few months in each place. Neither one of us knew at decision: we were going to live By the time our allotted year was that moment how to reconcile up, we had only made it as far as our unhappiness with the fact unapologetically. Guatemala. What had previously that we were both privileged and seemed like such a long period of well off. By society’s standards, time now seemed like it had passed we had everything we were told in an instant. We knew then that there was no returning to our we needed to be happy — so why were we still so miserable? old way of life and that we would continue to pursue this new We grew more despondent with each passing month, slowly lifestyle indefinitely. approaching the sobering realization that there was more to life After seeing how much I had learned over the past year and and modern culture had misled us regarding what should bring how engaged I was in the process of my own learning, my mom us satisfaction. decided that continuous travel would provide more educational With perfect timing, an unprecedented economic crisis opportunities for me than a traditional school ever could. She rocked the United States in 2008. In what most economists thoroughly researched self-directed education and eventually would describe as the worst financial disaster since the found a phrase that perfectly described my education: Great Depression, we found the catalyst for the change that worldschooling. Over the next 10 years, this word has come to we so desperately needed. My mom was forced to close her define my learning experience. business, and in turn, we were also forced to take a long, hard Three stories from my years on the road answer all look at our lives. After a series of difficult conversations and my questions about the impacts long-term travel and negotiations, we finally came to our decision: we were going to worldschooling could have on me, a teenager, son, student, and live unapologetically. citizen of the world. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Home Away From Home in Peru Cusco, an ancient town high in the Peruvian Andes, is so rich in local tradition that many cultural practices from hundreds or even thousands of years ago are still commonplace amongst the Andean people who live in the surrounding areas. While my mom and I were living there in 2012, we became close with two local families still practicing such traditions: one, a farming family from the Paruro district and the other, a family of traditional weavers in Chinchero. To this day, we visit these two families each year and have continued to build a bond between us, despite our cultural differences. We met the family in Paruro through their son, Alain, who had been living in Cusco working as a travel agent. He had been trying to set up a homestay program with his family in an attempt to bring some tourism to Paruro, Cusco’s poorest region, while at the same time showing foreigners a true, authentic Andean experience. Each time we visit them, we make chicha
(corn beer), slaughter and prepare cuy (guinea pig), and make offerings to the sacred mountains. Last year, Alain’s mother opened up and trusted us with her life story, something she had never before told anyone outside of her family. We were introduced to the family in Chinchero through a man named Etzon, who we had met in the marketplace while we were drinking juice. We struck up a conversation with him and his daughter, and he told us that his family had a farm in Chinchero where they harvested potatoes and weaved traditional fabrics. We asked if we could visit the farm, and he was caught by surprise: he thought foreigners only cared about the end product and couldn’t for the life of him figure out why we would want to see his family’s ranch. He was happy to show us, and we spent an amazing day there filled with laughter and sharing. Since then, they’ve opened a center for the community to host travelers and teach them all of the steps involved in the
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weaving process, and they tell us we were the inspiration for the young adults and, unsure of where I could find this community center. (or if it even existed), we decided to create it ourselves. I was with Alain’s family when I learned of my father’s Since then, Project World School has hosted temporary passing. In turn, I was able to grieve with Etzon and his family learning communities in over 10 countries and has facilitated when his grandmother died. connections between people, Some experiences are universal places, and various cultures. and bring us all closer together. Through my experiences with Through these encounters, Project World School, I have I can safely say that deep, firsthand knowledge that global Growing up on the road has meaningful connections are not communities are possible and only possible through travel but powerful. changed me so radically that I facilitated by it. In reflecting on these experiences, I am confident can't even imagine who I would History Comes Alive in Greece in this: I have thrived as a I had always been fascinated worldschooling adolescent. have been had I never left. by Greece’s ancient history, Through traveling, I have had philosophy, and longstanding the privilege of experiencing tradition of storytelling and countless perspectives and allegory through mythology. I learning about different value visited Greece for the first time systems. I have found balance in 2017, and I found myself obsessed. Touring the countryside, and become well-adjusted, and my relationship with many we followed the annual migration of the gods of the Olympian things has changed as a result of this lifestyle. pantheon as they descended from their abode atop Olympus to In fact, over the last 10 years, my relationship to pretty much the beautiful, temperate hills of Pelion, where they spent the everything has changed: possessions, home, wealth, stability, summer months lost in indulgence. nationality, and identity. My perspective on these subjects is now I spent a month in Greece, losing myself in study. I found almost antithetical to what it was before we left the U.S. in 2009. mentors in travelers and We used to live in a 2,000 square local storytellers and, being foot (186 m2) loft filled with things surrounded by living history, we didn’t enjoy but perceived as learned at an incredible rate. necessary; now, I live out of my I visited forgotten temples, suitcase and couldn’t be happier. overgrown marketplaces, and We now make in a year what we thousand-year-old trees. The used to make in a month, but I magic of the region was somewhat now have time and autonomy that preserved in its seclusion. The are far more valuable. We used to old ways still filled the air, and live in a steady house, but now I though there was not a school have a steady parent and business in sight, I was teeming with partner and feel much more knowledge and inspiration. This secure than I ever have. experience (along with many Growing up on the road others) confirmed that learning has changed me so radically does not have to be restricted to that I can’t even imagine who the confines of a classroom. I would have been had I never left. Though it hasn’t always been easy, it’s been for the better, Building our Global Community and I have no doubt that one day I will follow the same path In 2013, my mom and I founded Project World School, a with a family of my own. I will give them the world in the way company that hosts worldschooling retreats for alternativelymy mother gave it to me 10 years ago. For that, I am eternally educated teenagers. Project World School was born out of grateful. necessity: I sought a globally-minded, worldly community of
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Feature
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Esther Nelson
ON THE ROAD: 4 TRAVELERS, 4 BACKPACKS, 11 COUNTRIES, 3 MONTHS
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• Reading — We read every day, alone and together — signs, schedules, menus, guidebooks, and fiction from the book bag. • Writing — We kept journals, typically a quiet, individual, evening activity but sometimes a rowdy group recital of the happenings of the day. Maija, between first and second grades, was undaunted by spelling and printing. Most of her delightful entries ended with a description of her dinner and her assessment that “it was delicious!” • Math — We dealt constantly with currencies, distances, time, weights, and measures. • Science — Like good scientists, we became good observers of the features and oddities of the natural world — great mountain chains, “talking” sand, jungle waterways, geothermal springs, and monsoon rains; wombats, Barbary monkeys, and leeches; agricultural terracing, rice farming, orchid and butterfly culture; salt, silk, and rubber production. Over and over again, we practiced useful skills — how to find our bearings and map a route, arrange accommodations, order meals, use local transportation, and handle money. We each carried a little pocket money for small purchases. We learned to greet people in their native languages, saying hola in Spain and namaste in India. We learned a bit of humility and courage, communicating with hands and smiles when words failed us. We learned that perfectly normal, happy people do things differently. Some eat dinner at 10 p.m. Some wash clothes in a river. Some begin the day placing offerings at a shrine. Some eat peanuts at every meal; others eat no meat. Some countries have kings. We learned about climate, time zones, and the equator. We had lovely and funny conversations with people who looked different but seemed so much like us. Of course, we saw many of the world’s great attractions: the Fez bazaar in Morocco, the Taj Mahal in India, the Rock of Gibraltar near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian peninsula. We missed a lot of tourist sites as well; for the most part, we were living locally by staying in local hotels, eating in small restaurants, using public transportation, and pursuing our personal interests. In rotation, Tom, Matt, Maija, or I chose the main activity for the day. With animal-lover Maija in charge, we visited a Malaysian monkey forest and the Sydney zoo. Matt found or created little adventures like ferrying across India’s Lake Dal with his sister as often as possible from our houseboat to Srinigar to buy items from his Kashmiri friend in a small shop. Tom got us to the beaches everywhere: Lisbon (Portugal), Bali (Indonesia), and Byron Bay (Australia), among others. I arranged the nature walks, the most memorable being a guided hike in the Himalayan foothills.
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omeday, we would take our children to the country that had opened us to the broader world; my husband Tom and I agreed on this after serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Iran. When Tom became eligible for a three-month sabbatical in 1988, the Islamic revolution was in full force. Americans were not welcome in Iran. However, we had already committed to traveling beyond our borders, and our two children, Matt, 11, and Maija, 6, were fully on board. This opportunity might not come again. We just had to decide where to go. A number of airlines offered relatively inexpensive round-the-world tickets, each with a different combination of destination countries, so I scoured guidebooks for country information. Our adventure and education began at the kitchen table, where we talked over the coming months about why we would want to visit various countries. A large map posted on the wall helped us imagine the route. We were already learning! Eventually, we had an itinerary planned and Pan Am tickets booked for Spain, Portugal, Morocco, India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. A U.S. travel agent arranged hotels for our first night in each country and gave us contact information for local travel agents and guides in case we needed help locally. Occasionally we did, but typically a good night’s sleep and basic orientation by the hotel staff was enough to get us started on our own. We had two of the early L.L.Bean conversion packs (unstructured canvas suitcases with both handles and back straps) for the adults and backpacks for the kids. We carried four changes of clothes apiece, bathing suits, two pairs of shoes, minimal toiletries, books, and journals. A local travel clinic examined our itinerary and prescribed boosters for immunizations, medication for malaria, and a broad spectrum antibiotic to carry “just in case.” Fortunately, we never needed the World Health Organization documentation the clinic provided. In late August 1988, we were prepared for takeoff. We planned to be on the road from September through November and, of course, had concerns about what Matt and Maija, entering sixth and second grade, would miss at school and how they would fit in on return. Teachers for the coming school year were surprisingly relaxed about the kids’ upcoming absence and lent me texts to preview but made no assignments. No assignments! The message seemed to be that the teachers trusted us parents. It was our responsibility to draw attention to the “content” and meaning of our experiences. It was our responsibility to include the kids in practical transactions and tasks. Learning would be more a matter of attitude and engagement than curriculum. How did this responsibility play out day to day?
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As we learned about the world, we learned a great deal about ourselves and each other. I remember it as our greatest experience of being and building a family. Despite that bonding, our individual journal entries for any day later proved that we had really been on four separate trips. We had seen the world through different eyes and learned things appropriate to our age and interests. Five years later, our family took a similar sabbatical trip through Central and South America. The north-south itinerary took us through a variety of climate zones; we sweat in the tropical Mayan ruins at Tikal (Guatemala) and bundled up in all our layers to ski in Bariloche (Argentina). Older and more
confident than on our first trip, the kids had independent adventures and practiced Spanish. Fearless Maija went off for hours into the hills on horseback with adult Spanish speakers in Chile. Matt ran all kinds of helpful errands along the way; he bought a local remedy for altitude sickness, retrieved a lost item from a bus station, and arranged for hotel staff to repair the hot water heater. For Matt, then a high school student, missing months of math and science would have created complications, so summer vacation was our only real travel opportunity. Even then, Matt’s honors English program required summer assignments, so a few textbooks traveled with us. Often, car time turned out to be the best study time — sometimes a full-family affair. We all got involved in the tragic love story of classic literature’s Ethan Frome and grudgingly practiced vocabulary words (like, well, “grudgingly”) as we bumped along a washed-out road to Chichicastenango in Guatemala. Matt grumbled just as he would have at home in Oregon. Our children have pointed out that we never took them to Disneyland. We don’t feel bad about that. They have had adventures in other “lands” even more magical. As adults, they have continued to engage in the world beyond our borders through Peace Corps service, student exchange programs, medical missions, and travel. A family does not need a three-month sabbatical to learn the important lessons we learned. Almost any border crossing that introduces a new culture reminds us that the world is fascinating and is our shared home.
Living out of a backpack for three months taught us a lot about family travel abroad: • Take no more than you can carry comfortably. If you buy something, leave something behind. • Take an assortment of books, a couple for each traveler and one to read aloud together. (We read Three Men in a Boat, a silly adventure story we picked up in a used bookstore in London.) Periodically, make shopping for new books in English an adventure. • Live locally as much as possible by seeking out local accommodations, local food, and local transportation. • Let the kids transact the business of buying tickets, ordering meals, reading the map, and more. • Identify a number of possible local attractions, activities, and restaurants and take turns choosing the main activity and main meal for the day. • Include physical recreation for health. • Split up into smaller groups on public transportation and in other venues as much as possible; it increases the likelihood of engaging with locals and makes finding seats together easier. • End the day with journaling, even if it’s only a few words about the most memorable moment or person of the day. • Review the trip together when you get home and prepare to answer a few questions or share a few experiences succinctly. • Implement a no whining rule.
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go on holiday with a good conscience! why?
get involved!
For most of us, holidays are a time to extend generosity to our loved ones and a reminder of how fortunate we are to be able to celebrate with one another. However, it is also a great time to teach your children how they can make a difference.
Being part of our research team is a great way to learn and grow with your children by exposing them to new environments and communities. During your stay you can: learn how to dive and improve your dive skills become a PADI Scientific Diver (age 16+) & PADI AWARE Shark Conservation Diver (age 12+) We teach you everything you need to know about: - different research methods - how to analyze and input data And you will have the opportunity to give something back to Gili Air and her wonderful community by getting involved in our Plastic Free Paradise Campaign.
PICTURE
who we are The Gili Shark Conservation Project is an award-winning conservation and data collection project on the Gili Islands in Indonesia.
SHARK CONSERVATION
MARINE CONSERVATION
apply online today sharks@gilisharkconservation.com www.gilisharkconservation.com
make a difference on your vacation! 1. JOIN A BEACH CLEAN UP
2.USE REEF SAFE PRODUCTS
& KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS
3. BRING YOUR REFILLABLE WATER BOTTLE AND KEEP CUP
reef safe
4.SAY NO TO PLASTIC
5. BRING YOUR
STRAWS
7. AVOID WILD ANIMAL
REUSABLE BAG
8. BUY LOCAL
DISPLAYS
10. DON'T BUY PRODUCTS MADE FROM ENDANGERED PLANTS OR ANIMALS
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
6. ONLY EAT SUSTAINABLY CAUGHT FISH
9.RESPECT LOCAL TRADITIONS AND PEOPLE
insider's guide
ZĂŠlie Pollon
Forget Eat, Pray, Love; Head to Gili Air Instead
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orget Eat, Pray, Love; these days, Bali can be overcrowded with tourists, scooters, and pollution. For a quieter experience, head a bit further out to Gili Air, where there are no motorized vehicles and life runs at a slower pace. Call it Bike, Swim, and Self-care. The word Gili means “small island” in Indonesian, and there are three of them just off the northwest coast of Lombok, each one with a different character and all reachable by fast boat from Bali. There are many more Gili islands, but these three are colloquially known as "The Gilis". None has motorized vehicles so transport is by foot, bike, or horsedrawn cart. On these small isles, there’s a laid-back vibe with clean food and even cleaner air; the lack of motors alongside a pretty proactive garbage cleanup effort makes the shores refreshingly free of plastic debris. This can’t be said of many other areas in Indonesia (and particularly Bali, whose beaches and waters are strewn with plastic). All three islands only cover 5.8 square miles of land (15 km2). The Islands Gili Trawangan (aka Gili T) is the largest of the three islands with the most developed infrastructure. It has a reputation for the biggest party scene of the Gili islands and the best coral reefs for snorkeling and diving. The smallest island is Gili Meno and is the most low key and undeveloped of the trio. Couples and celebrities seeking anonymity are rumored to call this place their getaway. There also is a small turtle sanctuary which uses any donations it receives to protect and feed baby turtles. Then there’s Gili Air, a vibrant and charming place somewhere between party central and remote retreat — call it Goldilocks’ “just right” for families traveling with kids. The islands have long been used by fishermen and by the Japanese during the Second World War but only became popular with permanent residents in the 1970s. By the 1980s, people were drawn to Gili T’s beaches and reefs, and the other Gilis have gradually grown in popularity as well. The recent earthquakes in July and August 2018 on the neighboring island of Lombok halted the tourist flow to the islands for a short time — but with rebuilt infrastructure, visitors are up, as are the prices. Island Life on Gili Air Today, Gili Air is having its day in the sun and for good reason. The island is surrounded by clear, relatively calm waters
(although the surf can get a bit rough some times of the year), making it a great destination for families. Some snorkeling can be had right off the shore. Without motors, traffic safety is easier to manage. And it’s a good place to teach kids about sustainability, as many businesses use bamboo straws and several restaurants are designated sites to refill water bottles. Outdoor movie viewing, live music, and hippie fire dancers remind you that you’re not that isolated after all. One restaurant even live-streamed Game of Thrones! The island itself is small, and one can walk casually around
the entire perimeter within two hours. While small, each side has a different feel. For example, the eastern coastline is quieter and feels more remote, while people gather on the white sandy beaches of the western side to watch the sunset, often staying into the night. Daily snorkel trips are available from outlets around the island, as is transport to the other Gilis for day trips or extended stays. Dive trips and PADI certification is also available — and with waters this warm, it’s a nice place to learn. If not diving or snorkeling, freediving (diving underwater with a single breath) is also taking off on the island, and several outlets will help you learn. Predominantly Muslim, the call to prayer is carried by sea breeze five times a day, and tourists are encouraged to dress modestly when entering the center of the island (though unfortunately, few follow this simple request). Due to its Islamic traditions, one of the most interesting facts about Gili Air is the number of cats; cats are welcome as they are admired for their cleanliness, while dogs are generally not allowed. This adds to the mellow vibe, although it does lend itself to some evening cat fights.
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Where to Stay Gili Air offers a range of guesthouses from luxury villas to simple cottages and homestays. On the coasts, the hotels tend to offer swimming pools, but there are more budget offerings further inland. Kaluku Gili Resort is a beautiful spot on the east coast that serves breakfast overlooking the ocean and has a pool for the kids. For a lower budget option, the Gili Malibu Bungalows are small and clean with air conditioning and extremely friendly management and are very close to the port. Wi-Fi While most hotels offer free Wi-Fi, access is patchy on most days. Remote workers, nomads, and travelers dependent on Wi-Fi need to be mindful and ask ahead. Consistently good Wi-Fi can generally be found at the Orong Villages Beach Restaurant and the Mowie’s Gili Air bar.
What to Eat Restaurants also are surprisingly varied for an island of Gili Air’s size, ranging from simple Indonesian stands to Australian barbeque and steakhouses. Pachamama Organic Cafe is a stand out offering delicious vegan dishes and healthy elixirs. I Am Bagus is inland and offers barbeque chicken and Australian beef steaks — and it delivers! Mowie’s, run by an Australian and Polish duo, is beachside and offers a delicious blend of Indonesian and Western foods, with gluten-free options — plus, good service and a sunset view that can’t be beat. Scalliwags Beach Club has live music and is known for its spare ribs. To further support the local people and the island’s economy, visiting local stands and markets to purchase lychee and rambutan fruit, local rice-based treats, and cold drinks are a great way to expose the whole family to the island’s flavors.
How to Get Around Horse carts are one of the priciest amenities for hire on the island, with pricing at 150,000 rupiahs per ride ( just over $10 USD). While treatment of horses for hire isn’t without issue (like anywhere), it’s one way to support the local economy, and most kids enjoy the ride. After getting settled and dropping off luggage, the island is easy to navigate by bikes and walking. When the fateful day comes that it’s time to leave Gili, you can take a fast boat with prices ranging from 300,000– 600,000 rupiahs (roughly $21–42 USD) one way to Padang Bai in Bali with a shuttle included to take you to town. There is seating for dozens in the main boat cabin, while on the upper deck, there’s an extended party going on with loud beats and Bintang beer – one final, festive farewell to a beautiful stay.
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save up tO $1,000 Programs are filling now. Save your spot by October 20!
Rustic Pathways provides students the opportunity to see the world, learn a new culture, become better leaders, and give back to the global community. See how you can take your adventures and impact to the next level this upcoming year at rusticpathways.com/early-enroll. Founded in 1983, Rustic Pathways was named the Best Youth Travel Operator three of the last four years by the World Youth Student Education & Travel Confederation. More than 95% of students recommend us to friends and family. rustic@rusticpathways.com
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rusticpathways.com
Choose Your Own Adventure
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ou no doubt learned about ancient Egypt in school. King Tut, hieroglyphics, and the pyramids are some of the easiest images to conjure up from old textbooks, but seeing them all in person adds a new depth of wonder and admiration. Egypt’s diversity of culture, activities, and adventure can be attributed to its long history, geographic location, and natural environment. Geographically, Egypt has it all. It is a part of Africa but also part of the Middle East. Its unique culture can be viewed as an amalgamation of both regions. Furthermore, it has two coasts on different seas with the famous Nile River running straight through the entire country. No matter what your passion, Egypt is sure to have something for your whole family.
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Genny Arredondo
Peninsula is a must. Situated on the Red Sea, Dhahab is lined with waterfront shops, restaurants, and lodging. You can rent snorkeling gear for the whole family and hit the reef located close to shore in calm waters that is perfect for beginners. There are also plenty of shops that rent SCUBA gear to certified divers and offer guided trips (or obtain your dive certification here!). Whether you choose to dive or snorkel, you’re in for a treat. The Red Sea is famous for its diversity of marine life and vibrant coral reefs. Spend time on the surface following colorful fish around the coral
gardens or go deeper underwater and explore the fringes of the Blue Hole (an ocean sinkhole that’s 300 feet (91 m) deep). Cruising down the Nile is a great way to see much of what Egypt has to offer. There are several options for touring the Nile, but a cruise is the most comfortable and the most common. This is an especially good option if you are traveling with young children, as cruise ships often stop at Egypt’s highlights (the spice markets of Aswan, the exquisite temples of Abu Simbel, Luxor, and the capital city of Cairo) and there is no need to change accommodations as you travel.
WORLD CLASSROOM Egypt is the perfect place to bring the classroom to life. What better way to get your kids engaged in ancient history than to climb inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu (one of the Wonders of the Ancient World), or get up close and personal with mummies on a trip to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo? These two sights are a short taxi ride apart and can take an
entire day — or several, depending on how studious your family is feeling. Egypt has an abundance of ancient archeological sites, most of them along the length of the Nile. You can see original hieroglyphics and tour burial sites in the Valley of the Kings. If something more theatrical is your cup of tea, head to the Karnak Temple
in Luxor just after dinner. You can walk the grounds of this massive complex, discovering enormous statues, pillars, and sphinxes. After dark, grab a seat for the Karnak Temple Sound and Light Show, which lights up different features inside the temple grounds and narrates the history of the temple’s construction.
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GET ON THE WATER Ironically, for a land that is nearly 96% desert, Egypt is a water lover’s paradise. The Mediterranean Sea runs along Egypt’s north coast and has fantastic beaches on its beautiful, blue waterfront. A stay in Alexandria comes with all the amenities of your typical oceanfront resort town but sprinkles in a dash of culture in the way of amazing architecture (like the library of Alexandria) and history (with a tour of Fort Qaitbay, a walk-through castle built in the 1400s to defend Alexandria from invaders). If the underwater world is your passion, a stop in Dhahab on the Sinai
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FOR THE ADVENTUROUS SPIRITS For families that thrive by seeking out unique travel experiences, Egypt does not disappoint. If adventure’s your game, consider saddling up on the desert’s most iconic animal, the camel. Camels can be uncomfortable to ride, so try a short camel excursion around the Pyramids of Giza before you book a longer trip into the open desert. As an alternative to the many Nile riverboat cruises, a multi-day felucca
(sailboat) ride allows travelers to take in the river’s sights at a slower pace. These several-passenger, traditional sailboats navigate the waterway with much more grace and finesse than the larger, lumbering cruise ships. Once onboard a felucca, you sail along the Nile, dine on local food prepared in front of you on the boat, and sleep under the stars on the open deck while docked at night. If you are looking for a more active challenge, strap on your hiking boots
and climb to the peak of Mount Sinai. This is considered a holy site by many religions and is most well known as the location where Moses received the Ten Commandments. The mountain is nearly 7,500 vertical feet (2,286 m) of switchbacks and rocky terrain, and the summit rewards you with a panoramic view. Descend the backside down to the monastery at the bottom via 3,000 steps placed one by one by a monk serving a penance.
MASTER TIPS • Since the source of the Nile River is actually in the southern part of Egypt and it terminates in the Mediterranean, be very deliberate selecting your route if you choose to cruise the Nile. Although quite confusing, the southern part of Egypt is referred to as Upper Egypt and the north as Lower Egypt. • Book a sunrise tour for your Mount Sinai trek. There is something special (and dare we say, spiritual) about watching the sun rise from the top of a holy mountain. • Mosques are open, welcoming, and beautiful places to explore for those who are respectful and can abide by a few simple rules: (1) take off your shoes; (2) if you are a woman, cover your hair with a headscarf; (3) dress conservatively — long pants and sleeves are more appropriate than tank tops and shorts; and (4) be quiet and respectful. Egypt is more conservative than the U.S., so conservative dress and a head covering even outside the mosque goes a long way in gaining respect from the locals. • Egypt is very hot! Pack water, bring a sun hat, and wear breathable clothing. Many sites are quite massive in size and may offer little in the way of shade. Taking breaks and having the right gear can make a world of difference. • For budding photographers, invest in a polarizing filter (like sunglasses for your camera) and a clear lens protector. Neither piece is very big or expensive, but both have excellent benefits for Egypt’s climate. Since most of what you will be photographing will be sand-colored objects set on a background of sand under bright sunlight, a polarizing filter gives contrast back to your images. The lens protector is important because sand gets everywhere and can easily scratch a lens. A scratched $10 lens protector is cheaper to replace than a ruined $300 lens. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Bon Appetit
Laura Ambrey
How to Travel with a Picky Eater Bring Snacks Throw a few easy-to-pack snacks from home into your suitcase. (Hello, Costco granola bars!) This gives kids something familiar to fall back on and lessens the chance of a hanger episode while out and about. Bonus: if you don’t eat them all during the trip, you have snacks for the way home. Include a “Safe” Food At every meal, include at least one thing you know your kids will eat, even if it’s just raw carrots or bread. Staring at a plate of food that you just don’t want to eat can be overwhelming! Order foods that are not listed on the menu when necessary. Just because plain quesadillas aren’t offered doesn’t mean the restaurant won’t happily prepare them for you.
utrition experts say it takes roughly 7–15 times for picky eaters to taste a new food before they can determine if they like it. This doesn’t seem like a crazy amount at home, but most of us are not willing to offer this many exposures to a new food on any given vacation — after all, the point is to enjoy the experience, right? Here are some ways to make eating abroad easier for everyone. Pre-Taste Try to get kids ready for new culinary stressors (ahem, experiences) by exposing them to a few of your destination’s traditional dishes in the comfort of your own kitchen. If your child is already a fan of almost any kind of noodle (as many kids are), have them try mee (fat yellow noodles) before hitting the street stalls of Kuala Lumpur. Most kids can be coaxed into eating chicken, so some pollo taquitos (rolled corn tortillas filled with chicken and fried) are an easy introduction before a vacation to Mexico. Familiarizing children with a new cuisine before visiting its country of origin removes some of the hesitation in tasting new foods and may give your kids the confidence to give that local dish a try once you’re away from home. Set Goals Setting goals as a family lets each member contribute to an agreed-upon outcome. Create a specific goal that will get everyone to try new foods on your trip, and ask your child to help determine that goal. Maybe it’s trying one new thing at each meal, or perhaps it’s trying one new food each day. Giving kiddos some ownership of the goal and allowing them to hold you accountable as well will make them more willing participants.
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Model It Model the behavior you want to see in your kids by ordering something new and giving it a chance. If you like it, great! But if you don’t, you’ll have the opportunity to teach them how to politely decline the rest of the dish. Share your recent culinary adventures with us in our Facebook group, Everywhere Family Travel Community!
Bon Appetit
Pad Thai
T
hai cuisine is a delicate blend of the five major tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and spicy. Although pad Thai was not a traditional Thai dish until the 1930s when the Prime Minister of Thailand created it as a national dish, it’s now commonplace in Thailand and is the dish most Westerners associate with Thai food’s unique blend of flavors. A family-style dinner without pad Thai is rare indeed. Whether you’re heading to Southeast Asia and want to expose the family before your trip to the new flavors of this dish you’ll likely find on most street corners or you just want a taste of Thailand in your kitchen at home, this easy-to-make pad Thai is quick to prepare and uses ingredients that are readily available at most grocery stores. Ingredients 1 box (14 oz) rice noodles 2 tablespoons soy sauce ¼ cup rice vinegar ¼ cup peanut butter ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons fish sauce ½ cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar ¼ cup oil 1 pound chicken, shrimp, or tofu 2 red bell peppers 6 cloves garlic, minced 4 eggs 2 cups fresh bean sprouts 2 tablespoons oil
Toppings 1 cup peanuts Fresh cilantro 4 stalks green onion, chopped 1 lime, cut into wedges
Boil water for the noodles and cook them according to the package instructions, then set aside. While the noodles are cooking, mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, fish sauce, and brown sugar, and set it aside. In a saucepan, heat the oil and brown the garlic, then add the chicken, shrimp, or tofu and stir until cooked throughout. Stir in the bell peppers, then add the eggs and stir until scrambled. Add the cooked noodles and sauce mix to the saucepan and combine thoroughly. That’s it! To serve, sprinkle crushed peanuts, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, and lime wedges on top to taste. Want a little more spice? Add a dash of hot sauce (Sriracha compliments the Thai flavors nicely). This recipe serves 8, so serve this meal with friends after a playdate, or save any leftovers — this dish is even better the next day. Now that pad Thai is a familiar dish for your picky eater, perhaps he or she won’t think twice about ordering it from a roadside stand in Chiang Mai.
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Bon Appetit
Maine Lobster Bake N
othing says “summer in Maine” more than sitting on the rocky coast with the fresh, salty air and rhythmic sounds of the ocean waves feeding all of your senses. Better yet, enjoy the coast with friends and family while eating fresh lobsters boiled in the very salt water from which they came! Not familiar with Maine Lobster? Here’s a primer. Soft or Hard Shell? Mainers typically have a preference for either soft shell or hard shell lobster; both are delicious! Soft shell lobsters have recently shed their shells, typically offer less meat, are easier to crack, and usually taste sweeter and are more tender. Hard shell lobsters are meatier and more firm but harder to crack (but with an abundance of rocks along a typical shore, hard shells stand no chance!). What size lobster? Lobster is sold by the pound. The smallest lobster for sale is roughly 1 pound (0.45 kg), but 1 ¼ (0.57 kg) or 1 ½ pound (0.68 kg) lobsters are the more common and preferred size. Two pound (0.91 kg) lobsters (and larger) are also available — but the larger the lobster, the more difficult it is in fit in the pot. Plus, eating two, three, or even four lobsters is more fun than just a single large one! Male or female lobster? The male lobster generally has bigger claws, while the female tends to have a bigger tail. Based on your appetite for adventure, some people enjoy the surprise of roe (eggs) from the female. (Caution: live female lobster with visible eggs have to be released!) The green stuff. The green color you’ll find after pulling the tail off of a cooked lobster is known as tomalley (basically the pancreas and liver of the lobster). Some people enjoy eating it, while it’s gross to others. Now, on to the lobster bake! For a traditional, beachfront lobster bake, you simply need to bring a large pot, matches or a lighter, a small pan, lemon wedges, butter, and small paper cups; nature will provide the rest, including the fresh-caught lobster itself, ocean water, seaweed, rocks, and driftwood for a piping hot open-air fire. Below the waterline, use rocks to create a fire ring to contain your fire. Walk the beach to gather sticks and wood to fuel the fire (or make it easy on yourself and bring some dry wood to ensure the fire starts). Make sure to follow any shore or island regulations regarding open fires. Build a fire and let it burn for a while to build a bed of hot coals; then place a large pot filled with about five inches of water on the coals. After the water reaches a rapid boil, add the lobsters. Holding each claw carefully, remove any rubber bands, and toss the lobster in the pot. Once all lobsters are in, cover the pot with the lid. Cook until the lobster are bright red and the meat is white; the cooking time depends on the number and size of
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the lobsters, but about eight to ten minutes heavy boil often does the trick. Melt the butter in the small pan while the lobsters cook. When your lobsters are ready, serve them by dumping your pot of bright red lobsters directly on the rocks. Just remember to stand uphill of where the boiling water will flow, avoid the steam, and don’t dump lobsters on the sand. Pour some of your melted butter into your small paper cups, grab a lemon wedge to squeeze on the meat, and find that perfect stone to crack open your meal! Many people serve Maine lobster with steamed corn-onthe-cob, steamers (clams), and potatoes and onions, but you may prefer to keep it simple and save room in your belly for more lobster. After it’s all over, your hands will have a delightfully pungent lobster smell — but don’t fret. Grab a few leftover lemon wedges and wash your hands vigorously with them in the ocean, using sand and small pebbles to help scrub. Before the water rises and extinguishes your fire, you could roast marshmallows and make S’mores (if you aren’t already full). And remember, always pick up the shore when you’re done, leaving it in better shape than you found it. A Maine lobster bake is messy, rejuvenating, beautiful, and delicious — all the best things in life. Can’t come to Maine? You can have a lobster bake in your kitchen at home. Many businesses in Maine will ship live lobsters directly to you. Use your stovetop instead of a natural fire, and add salt to the tap water; otherwise, the process is the same. Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
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Worldschooling Projects
How to travel with a Worldschool Mindset W
orldschooling means different things to different people. It can include following a traditional homeschool curriculum while on the road, ditching the books and letting the world be the only teacher, highlighting interests and academic learning with targeted trips, or simply exposing your children to new places and cultures. It can be in place of attending a traditional school or supplemental to it. Regardless of how the term is defined today, the idea has been around for a very long time; school exchange programs and study abroad opportunities have long used travel experiences to engage students while expanding their worldview. The educational movement of worldschooling pairs travel with sometimes intentional, often unexpected, learning. But you don’t have to be traveling full time in order to reap the benefits. Taking a worldschool approach to traveling with kids, whether on a short trip out of town or spending a month abroad, is easier than you think. And the benefits of turning travel into educational experiences are priceless. Math Becoming comfortable with spending money is a great way to learn the basics of math. Consider giving kids (or having them earn) an allowance to spend and track for the duration of the trip, and ask them to calculate exchange rates. Addition, subtraction, number recognition, multiplication, and division are all involved. Travel also presents the perfect opportunity to practice budgeting, a life skill everyone needs. Add in fractions and measurements through a cooking class and get a literal taste for the culture at the same time. Allowing your learners a chance to map out and plan a sightseeing route targets logical reasoning and teaches practical skills in the measurement of distance and estimation of time. Social Studies/History Historical landmarks make meaningful keepsake photos, but don’t let an awesome selfie be the only takeaway. Discuss the significance of the structure and encourage them to take a minute to picture the way it might have looked in its heyday. Some companies run historical walking tours, giving a narrated glimpse into the way things were. Local museums can offer a wealth of knowledge, and visitor centers, history museums, children’s museums, historical societies, and libraries are all great learning resources before, during, and after your trip. English Keeping a travel diary is a great way for kids to improve their writing skills and reflect on the day’s experiences. Older learners might respond well to prompts for journaling or creative writing, depending on their age and writing ability (for instance: write about how your experience differed from your expectations); search for these online or come up with your own. Try a postcard exchange site such as www.postcrossing.com before your visit
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Laura Ambrey to exchange postcards with someone from the area, which promotes writing skills and gives you the chance to get an insider’s opinion and recommendations on the destination. On the other end of the trip, you can follow up with people you’ve met by exchanging details and becoming pen pals. Art Art museums are great resources to see classic works of art but don’t always highlight local art. If you are in a place that’s famous for a particular handicraft or traditional art form – think basket weaving or batik – consider visiting the artisans and seeing the whole process; better yet, sign up for a class and learn it first hand. Your own little artists can also take inspiration from the sights around you. Pack colored pencils or watercolors, head to a viewpoint or famous landmark and ask the kids to draw or paint what they see. Language If your child is learning a foreign language, a trip to the language’s country of origin is a great way to practice and lock in understanding. For all travelers, it’s polite to learn how to say a few words or phrases in your destination’s native tongue – hello, goodbye, please, thank you, and pardon me are a good start. Little kids will enjoy reading a colorful picture dictionary and meeting local kids to practice new vocabulary. Science Even old, dusty natural history museums have wow factors! Taxidermy animals offer a creepy but intriguing 3D view of local fauna. For hands-on science-related opportunities, consider volunteering: release baby sea turtles in Mexico, spend the day on a farm in the rural U.S., or feed rhinos in South Africa. Companies such as Discover Corps specialize in nature and wildlife adventures tailored for families. Larger aquariums often will have touch tanks and offer programs that allow you to swim with sharks, rays, or dolphins, offering an exciting (although sometimes controversial) wildlife experience. Have your child prepare some questions for the keepers and trainers beforehand. Before you start planning a worldschool curriculum, whether it’s full-time or for a week-long trip over summer break, it’s important to remember that finding ways to make every aspect of travel a learning experience isn’t necessary – sometimes, the best learning is done simply through observation and osmosis.
Cat Chiappa
Young at Art A
rt museums frequently rate as “must do” stops on worldwide travel itineraries, but they often have a reputation of being formal, quiet spaces that are not always family friendly. However, they are the perfect places to bring children of all ages to learn, as they provide rich experiences that can teach valuable skills for lifelong learning. In fact, many museums even have gallery spaces and interactive gallery guides designed specifically with kids in mind. Here are some tips to help enhance any art museum visit for children of all ages.
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Scavenger Hunt Start at the end first. Typically, a visit to the gift shop is the last stop of a museum visit — but the next time you plan a visit to an art museum, take your kids to the museum store first and head to the postcard section. Depending on your child’s age and attention span, ask him or her to choose 3–10 postcards featuring different pieces of art found at the museum. Encourage a selection of different styles, colors, and mediums. Most importantly, each postcard should represent a piece that ignites your child’s curiosity. Once you have confirmed with the staff that the chosen pieces are onsite, challenge your young learner to go on a hunt, postcards in hand. Watch the excitement as rounding each corner becomes an opportunity for discovery. Tableau Start a conversation about a specific work of art. Ask your child to find a painting in the gallery that depicts an interesting scene, or discuss each discovered piece from your scavenger hunt. As a family, discuss what is happening. Ask questions about the subject: who are the people depicted and what are their relationships? What would it be like to live in that moment? Then, dive a little deeper and imagine what happened before and after the moment on the wall. Once you have started a conversation, try to arrange yourself a safe distance away into a tableau mirroring what is shown in the painting, or even quietly act out the scene the painting depicts, as well as the imagined before and after moments. This fosters deep conversation and learning but can also make for an entertaining family photo opportunity!
“I Spy” Art museums are the perfect place to practice color and shape recognition for younger children. This reinforces skills and ideas younger children are already practicing and introduces them to concepts in a new and meaningful way. As you move through the galleries, engage your child in a game of “I Spy.” You can play simple versions of this by asking them to find colors or shapes in the art or try more sophisticated ones by inviting them to identify symbols or count certain objects found within art throughout the gallery spaces. Tell Me A Story Prior to your visit, do a little research about the pieces and exhibits the museum has to offer. Identify any themes or artists that might be interesting to your child and try to find a book
that relates. For example, there is a great series of books by James Mayhew about Katie, a little girl who visits an art museum with her grandmother and jumps into the paintings, learning about the artists along the way. Alternatively, you could try to find a book about a particular artist or subject that relates to something in the galleries. Once you have identified a story, sit with your child near the related piece, and take a moment to read. Then, ask him or her to draw an interpretation of the art or another related moment from the tale.
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OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
F
amilies who want to keep kids learning outside the classroom and are headed out to one of the U.S.’s national parks are in luck — many national parks in the United States offer a Junior Ranger program to help young visitors learn and understand what they see through various educational activities. Since its inception, the Junior Ranger program has introduced millions of kids across the world to the importance of experiencing and protecting national parks through hands-on activities. Activities range from short hikes, watching a film, word searches, or attending a ranger program. The activities are created for kids ages 5-12 years old, but children and even adults of all ages are welcome to participate. Once activities are completed during a park visit and participants have filled out the questions in their Junior Ranger booklets (booklets can be picked up at each park’s visitor center), their answers are shared
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Amanda Bird
with a park ranger, and the child is asked to recite the Junior Ranger oath to “Explore, Learn, and Protect.” After reciting the oath, the child receives an official Junior Ranger patch or pin and a signed certificate. Over 250 National Park Service sites hand out free booklets designed for each park, though some parks charge a nominal fee of $3 per booklet. Some parks provide different booklets based on age groups (so children could be completing different activities from one another), while other parks use the same booklet for all ages. Allow plenty of time at each park to complete the booklet. This can take anywhere from 30-90 minutes, depending on the activities. While parents can explore on their own if their child is involved in a ranger-led program, most parents enjoy the experience of the activities themselves.
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At 103 years old, Rose Torphy became the oldest-ever junior ranger in January 2019 at Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon Conservancy, the not-for-profit organization that funds the program and that conducted Torphy’s swearing-in, said it was honored to have her as its newest ambassador to help spread the word about the park’s beauty and virtues. Nearly all national parks also offer resources for teachers and homeschoolers, including videos, lesson plans, and web chats with rangers. Utilizing these tools online before a trip allows young visitors the chance to be fully engaged and to ask questions. Rangers will also often meet with families who call in advance and are traveling during low-traffic times. Visit the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/kids/ jrrangers.cfm for a complete list of parks that participate in the Junior Ranger program. Families not able to visit the parks in person can still participate by earning badges at home. The Junior Ranger program offers activity books covering topics like caves, fishing, bats, eclipses, underwater habitats, the night sky, archeology, and paleontology. Kids can also learn about the National Park Service’s conservation efforts through its Historic Preservation Act Junior Ranger Booklet or its Wilderness Explorer and take a look back into history through Discovering the Underground Railroad. There’s even a Songs for Junior Rangers CD. There’s also a Webrangers program that allows kids to become a Junior Ranger online. Its over 70 activities can be integrated into a child’s curriculum, whether at home or school. The activities are grouped into categories focused on people, history, nature, puzzles, science, parks, and animals, and cover a wide range of subjects including forest fire fighting tools, map reading, rip current safety, the Ten Essentials, careers with the National Park service, releasing baby sea turtles to the ocean, the world of the Ancestral Pueblo people, settlement of the west under the Homestead Act, animal tracks, and more. And if that isn’t enough, partnerships with private organizations give kids even more opportunities to explore. Acadia National Park in Maine, for instance, encourages kids to participate in Acadia Quest, a series of family-oriented challenges in the park organized by the Friends of Acadia that encourage visitors to “Explore, Learn, and Protect.” Family and friends form a team, complete the optional registration (if the team wants to be eligible for prizes), pick up a copy of the Acadia Quest packet or access it online at friendsofacadia.org/ events/acadia-quest, and complete and track their activities. These activities, a series of hikes on paths and trails suggested by the Youth Conservation Corp and trail crew members, give visitors a true flavor of the park. Complete six activities for a full Acadia Quest or three for a Speed Quest. The U.S. National Park System is as unique as it is majestic, offering new perspectives at every turn. With opportunities to hike the dramatic peaks of the Olympic Mountains, discover the sprawling landscape of the Smoky Mountains, explore the marvels of America’s first national park in Yellowstone, or watch lobsters play in the tide pools in Acadia National Park, there’s something for everyone.
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TURNING YOUR
Travel Plans INTO AN
Academic Roadmap In 2014, when what would become the largest recorded outbreak of Ebola began, Bekah Fankhauser and her family were living in ground zero. Due to her father’s position as a physician serving the Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital in Liberia, Bekah responded to a situation that would prove overwhelming for many with grace and maturity. Working tirelessly in the treatment unit, Bekah prepared meals for doctors and nurses. The family would eventually be evacuated from Liberia and live in quarantine in North Carolina, but when asked about returning to Liberia, Bekah responded, “Yes, that’s where my home is.” As daring as it may sound, the Fankhausers’ story isn’t all that far-fetched. In an increasingly mobile, connected world, more and more families with children have chosen to seek out knowledge by interacting with the world around them. Known as world-schooling or roadschooling, many have found that the art of travel can enhance the educational journey while benefitting all members of the family. However, it can be difficult to chart how and where to educate your child, as well as what to teach them. Fortunately, Laurel Springs School can provide the academic roadmap that your child needs. Laurel Springs is a fully accredited, global online private school that provides flexible scheduling, extensive course offerings, dedicated support, and a knowledgeable and experienced faculty. For the world-schooling family, the ability to individualize your child’s education based on where you live and what your child wants to learn is critical to their personal and academic success, and that individualization is the cornerstone of Laurel Springs’ philosophy.
A Laurel Springs world-school education is unique, personal, and authentic, and like the Fankhausers, our courses wrap around your child’s lived experience. For example, if you’re planning to explore Hong Kong and stroll the Great Wall of China, World History and Chinese 1 can allow your child to meaningfully engage with the country’s history, culture, and people. Similarly, if you wanted to check off each of the United States’ National Parks, Earth Science and Forestry & Natural Resources can help your child understand the land in new and exciting ways. Our world-school education helps to strengthen that bold mindset, while cultivating student agency, advocacy, and time-management skills. This academic medium allows students to transcend a traditional schooling experience and tailor it to their personal voice, choice, and passions. Whether you are an experienced world-schooling family or are dipping your toes into the possibilities for the first time, Laurel Springs can provide the academic challenge, exploration, and flexibility that your child needs. For more information, please visit LaurelSprings.com.
Zélie Pollon
Little Heroes
CREATING SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
PHOTO COURTESY OF KIDZIDEAZTECH
I
n June, Nathaniel Dsouza became the youngest person to address the EMBData World Summit on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, the largest conference of its kind in South America. The then-15-year-old attended the conference in Bogota, Colombia to talk about his global online coding platform for young people everywhere: KidzIdeazTECH. The free coding platform is meant to make coding fun and bring together kids from around the world to work with mentors and create their own apps. “I wanted to share how I learned coding, which was fun,” Nathaniel said of his decision to create the platform. Despite his young age, Nathaniel has already been in the technology business for years. When he was only 10 years old, he started mentoring 16-year-olds in robotics. At the same time, he was trying to get his friends interested in coding, but he realized they weren’t as engaged because they hadn’t been shown the best ways to learn. Nathaniel decided then to make it his mission to show others how great coding can be. Enter KidzIdeazTECH, which Nathaniel built at age 12, launched at 13, and continues to grow. It’s aimed at kids, run by kids, and free for all. This is one educational platform that keeps kids connected, whether they are learning to code through worldschooling, homeschooling, a traditional school environment, or just for fun. And what makes it fun? “One key aspect is incremental learning. Instead of inputting every bit of information in, then trying to make something, we do it incrementally,” Nathaniel said. “From day one, they learn a little, but enough to have something on screen. Within one or two weeks, they come up with an idea for an app. Then, they start making the app with mentors helping them.” The kids and mentors work together as a team. The mentors help with more complicated aspects while kids learn the basics, eventually creating a fully functioning app. Anyone can form a team. Kids can bring in four to six of their friends, or they can be placed randomly with another team
with members from the U.S. or anywhere else in the world. The platform already has 10 working teams, located in China, India, and in eight different states in the U.S. Linking kids everywhere has become part of Nathaniel’s vision. He has always been homeschooled, learning from his father (who is “highly into electronics” and wrote software in India) as well as turning to technology as a natural path for his learning. “One thing my dad always helped me with was not giving me the answer even though he could… so Google became my best friend,” Nathaniel explained. But Nathaniel admits that before creating KidzIdeazTECH, he might have been a bit anti-social. “Being able to get social interaction on a regular basis is really, really important. I see that now.” And KidzIdeazTECH helps. This past summer in Bogota, Nathaniel not only spoke about his global coding platform but also introduced his newest app, KidzSentry, directed at helping prevent school shootings in the U.S. Nathaniel commented that “after every shooting, adults talk about what needs to be done to stop it; I always wondered why nobody ever asked us kids what we want to have done about it.” Nathaniel’s app, which received a positive response from the audience, is his answer. The app has three different features, developed to interact with a school’s security cameras: facial recognition and identification of intruders; weapon recognition; and lockdown and drone deployment to direct police to the shooter’s location. Nathaniel is hopeful the larger context of his presentation was also heard by the adults in the room, as his message is an important one: “instead of just looking at how we can make more money, we need to be thinking about how we can use these new technologies like AI to create social change.” For more information or to create or join a team, visit KidzIdeaz.tech.
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Full Service Travel Agency We are a mother-daughter team with Magical Destinations Travel. We both share a love for traveling! Torie has spent a summer in Italy teaching English as well as backpacked in Germany, Norway, Iceland, France, Austria, and Denmark. Together we have traveled across the United States and to England, Jamaica, Haiti, Cayman Isles, and Mexico. Our Services are FREE to you when you book a Vacation package with us through Magical Destinations Travel. We take care of the planning, so you can focus on making those Magical Memories with your family. Let us know how we can help plan your next Magical Destination!
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Sketches “I wish the turtles would come back to our sea. But they eat too much plastic, and they die. If they were here, they’d be feasting on the jellyfish, and we could go swimming again without getting stung.”
“It’s horrible that the elephants aren’t safe. This year I’m going to Thailand, and we will volunteer at an elephant sanctuary — but not ride them because that’s very bad! We will just help them.” Max Tuscano, age 9, is an animal lover who is learning the value of donating his time and money to conservation efforts. When he learned that many countries had lifted the ban on hunting elephants, he decided to put his feelings on paper.
96 | Everywhere Magazine August/September 2019
TURTLE DRAWING: SEBASTIAN TUSCANO (DARCY TUSCANO); TURTLE PHOTO: TYLER/STOCK.ADOBE.COM; ELEPHANT DRAWING: MAX TUSCANO (DARCY TUSCANO); ELEPHANT PHOTO: SARAVUTH/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Sebastian Tuscano, age 9, is a Junior Ambassador for Playa Patrol, a volunteer-based non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to environmental conservation. He loves to swim at the beach, but during the past few summers, his Mediterranean paradise has been taken over by huge numbers of jellyfish.
Pitch us your idea for an upcoming issue. Share your stories about your round-theworld trip with your toddler, your thru-hike on the PaciďŹ c Crest Trail with your teenager, or how you taught your little girl to ski, or share your travel secrets with our readers.
Send us the photographs from your last family trip. We love to feature real families on real adventures. We need your images of interesting architecture, close-ups of bugs, action shots of kids snorkeling, and mountain vistas that can ďŹ ll a 2-page spread -- photos of families out in the world that will inspire another family's next adventure.
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