T-minus, like, 11 months...ish?
Shit’s getting real now, folks. Mike and I have been planning our Big Trip/Worldschooling adventure since before we had kids to worldschool. Before we were married, even. I can still remember where the seed was planted. It was Teacapan, Mexico. We were staying in our VW Westfalia camper van in a campground right by the beach. There was a family with the same model of van right next to us at this tiny campground, so we got to chatting. They had three kids who were fairly well spaced out in age. Something like a senior in high school, a middle schooler, and a kindergartener. They were traveling around North and South America with their kids, homeschooling them along the way. The kids were well-behaved, happy, and friendly. The whole family was wonderful, really.
We had never heard of such a lifestyle, and we immediately loved it. I’d known a couple of homeschooling families before that - one was fantastic and done for great reasons, the other was…not. But here we were seeing it in action, on the road, with an amazing crew having amazing experiences. We were sold!
So over all our years together (20+ now!) we’ve always kept this in the back of our minds. In fact, I don’t think our kids have ever known a time when this wasn’t going to be part of their childhoods. So when people ask what the kids think of it, my answer probably seems a little blasé. They’re excited but also understand the realities of being away from normal life for long stretches…but ultimately they’ve just expected this forever, so it’s kinda just a part of who we are and who they will be. It’s like they know they’ll lose teeth and go to high school someday. It’s just life.
But to get a little deeper into that, we also are making sure the kids know they are not just props getting dragged along on an adventure for their parents. We watch travel shows with them and look at maps and read books and ask them where they want to go. The big kid wants to surf and is most excited about Australia. The little kid wants to go to Thailand because we saw this show where the hosts went to this creepy, realistic doll factory and brought one home with them. Priorities. But you know what? Sure! Let’s go to Thailand and see if we can find a creepy doll. And then let’s go surfing in Australia. Why not?
They also get to be in charge of a lot of their schooling. We’re all working together to decide how it will work, and we’re very excited to let them lead the way on all sorts of stuff. “Kids, you read about this city and tell us what to do there.” “You teach us grownups what you learned about the Roman Empire.” Obviously we’ll guide the way overall, but we hope to build in a lot of leeway (especially later in the trip) so if any of us feels like changing course here and there, we can let whimsy take over.
More than anything, Mike and I have always shared the educational goal for our children that they love learning. Nothing makes me sadder than kids who aren’t curious about the world. Hell, I’m still a kid who’s curious about the world, and that’s why we’re taking this trip.
Anyway, this trip will be tough and scary and exciting and amazing and exhausting and frustrating and life-changing and…all of it. And it’s real! It’s finally really happening. Craziness. I can’t wait! And also ohmygodI’mnotready.
Yep. That sums it up.
