Family Life on the Road: The Good Stuff
As authors of a worldschooling guidebook, we’ve read hundreds of articles, blogs, and books and talked with dozens of traveling families. We’ve been privy to personal accounts and have heard touching stories as we conducted our research. Without a doubt, the overwhelming majority of current and former travelers paint a similar portrait of their respective family’s journey: “Our time on the road was amazing”; “We loved being curious together, solving problems together, trying new things together”; “We are closer, stronger, more alive and attuned to each other and the world.”
Gems of the Journey
We coauthors heard some common gifts of a Wonder Year: togetherness, simplicity, freedom, and new perspectives. Of course, there were challenges, too, and some unexpected twists and turns in the journey. In this blog, we’ll share guidance and the inside scoop on extended family travel, from navigating family dynamics and finding community to getting out of your comfort zone and more.
Togetherness
On the road, togetherness is the default. We see each other’s vulnerabilities and bravery, and we cheer and support each other through hardship and growth.
As traveling parents, the joy of togetherness is multiplied. As adults, we interact with new places, people, landscapes, and legends and have wonderful learning experiences. Then, as parents, we pause, look around, see our children, and delight all over again in their joy of discovery. Our common goals and shared experiences strengthen the bonds of the family.
Imagine that each person jumps into a pond from different locations on the shore: ripples spread out from each entry point, and when they meet, new patterns and waves of beauty are created. Family travel is collective joy that builds and entwines, tumbles and shines, in a daily repertoire of discovery.
Simplicity
One of the slow-release outcomes of a Wonder Year is the experience of living simply. On the road, we don’t have to juggle a million balls. A lifestyle of noise and busyness can be replaced with focus and clarity. This helps us reprioritize and see anew the essentials—health, sleep, food, learning, experiences, and time together. We can connect in the moment and appreciate the little things. For Julie, a three-minute hot shower made her feel like royalty, and a shot of espresso while sitting in a camp chair made her buzzed for days. We heard from many travelers that they were happy living simply and showing their kids that the “rich” life can be a simple life, independent of material wealth.
Simple Pleasures of the Road
* Really starry nights
* Cotton pillowcases
* Clean socks
* A closet
* Hungarian goulash in Budapest
* Rainier cherries in Washington State
* Turkish coffee in Istanbul
* A new toothbrush
* Stillness
* Dinner with friends
* Raw juice from a coconut sliced open by a machete
* Sunsets
* Real maple syrup
* Noticing
* Being fully in the moment, no multitasking, nowhere else to be, nothing else to do
* Watching a spider spin a web for an hour
* To-do lists that fit on a tiny piece of paper
* Reading a lot
* Reading without a mission
* Every meal together
Freedom
When we finally walk out the door to start a Wonder Year, we can exhale and release the tendency to push, produce, and do all the things, all the time. Instead, we can tune in to the rhythm of the world. We can wander, stay longer. The only demands upon us are those we’ve chosen. Days may be framed by sunrises and sunsets. Kids can sleep ’til they wake up. When you’re driving down the road, there’s no reason you can’t stop in Farson, Wyoming, among the big sagebrush and ricegrass, to watch a pack of wild horses. Maybe three hours later, your kids will edit their photos of horses or write a poem or ask you to turn around and go back to see them again, because you can.
While traveling as a family, we also enjoy the freedom to express ourselves fully. Maybe it’s the freedom to try something new or work through things that make you anxious. Kids might feel safe to dabble in new interests without pressure. They might even find new voices, try new styles, or explore identities.
New Perspectives
One common reason why families set out on a Wonder Year is to take their children away from the familiarity of where they’ve grown up. It’s hard to imagine how profound it can be to witness the opening up of our children’s minds as they see new places and gain new perspectives. From the moment we leave home, they start processing, considering, trying on new ideas, and testing their beliefs. They begin to appreciate that their ways are not the only ways, whether it’s how people eat, sleep, cook, speak, gather, worship, celebrate, dress, live, wash, or play.
New perspectives can emerge when our kids reconcile how they see the world with how the world sees them when they are the other—the “foreigner,” the “one with the accent,” the person who isn’t understood. They may catch some of a news broadcast or see in the press a representation of their country that is not the one they know. As they gain cultural literacy, they acquire the critical thinking to challenge their own assumptions and those of others.
Julie’s son Johnny had an extraordinary change in his concept of time. At nine years old, he was walking among the olive trees in Sicily with his seventy-year-old friend, Catarina. Looking across the verdant hillside, Johnny asked about a town off in the distance. Catarina answered, “That’s Vita, the new town. It was established in 1609.” “New?” Johnny asked, half laughing, and not immediately understanding. The rest of the trip, he told everyone about how awesome it was that Catarina called Vita the “new” town. He got it.
Putting ourselves out in the world is to open our eyes and to keep noticing until we’re able to see through someone else’s eyes. That’s when we’ve gained a new perspective. It’s a beautiful thing to see in our children and a beautiful gift of a Wonder Year. Hopefully, it’s also a gift they can keep giving back.
Togetherness, simplicity, freedom, and new perspectives—sounds poetic, right? But perfect? Well, no. In this blog we also talk through some of the challenges that might come up for your family—dynamics, provocations, and forks in your wandering way. We’re here to assure you that with a little preparation and forethought, some luck and good timing, a sprinkle of good karma and a teaspoon of humor, you can navigate almost anything.
