Marine life at Lake Navaisha with friends

Environmental Solutions in Action

Kenya is an environmental inspiration. In 2017, they banned plastic bags, and you’ll see very little single-use plastic in the country. Many people walk, ride bikes, or use public transportation. There’s a lot the global north can learn from Kenya’s strong leadership on environmental issues. Kenya walks the talk.

Learn about Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai organized women’s groups to replant the deforested areas outside Nairobi. Kids can visit the forest and read more than six children’s picture books written about her life and contributions. Her activism united women’s rights with environmentalism.

Inspiring Animals!

Within Nairobi, you can see wild animals in the national park–including lions walking with skyscrapers in the background. Further afield, a Kenyan safari is magical. We landed at a conservancy north of the capital and, as our little plane touched down on the dirt runway, hundreds of zebras munched lazily. As we spent a week at two separate safari locations, we saw everything on our bucket list–lions, cheetahs, rhinos, warthogs, and hippos–as well as animals we didn’t know existed. Consider the spring hare: a nocturnal animal with a kangaroo’s hop, a rabbit’s ears, and a squirrel’s tail.

The Nairobi National Park juxtaposes a wild jackal with a modern skyline.

There is No Language Barrier

…Assuming your first language is English, that is. Although Kenya has dozens of languages, English is the official language and you can talk with just about anyone. From the Masai warriors to the Muslim communities on the coast, English is spoken here.

In our experience, Kenyans are friendly, curious, and kind. You’ll want to talk to everyone! The dialect has a different accent and vocabulary than North American English, so enjoy the difference. You just might have meaningful conversations and make life-long friends.

Great in Summer Months

Whereas Asia’s monsoon corresponds to the American summer vacation time, and crowds busy U.S. national parks, Kenya’s summer is an ideal time to visit. It was cooler than I expected. Even at the equator, I wanted my puffy jacket at night. It’s not the rainy season or the hot season, it’s just perfect 60-80 degree weather. Tourist attractions are not overwhelmed, plus the great migration begins in late June and July.

Not so hot at the equator

Diversity Inspiration

Kenya surprised me with its diversity. Tribes have by and large lived together peacefully for centuries. Each tribe has a unique language, dress, or other marker. For example, when we attended the wedding in Nairobi, one of the young groomsmen carried a walking stick or staff. He explained that it’s one of the symbols of his tribe and he carries it with pride  to special events. There are 42 recognized tribes, and people of Indian descent are now considered one of them. 

Most Kenyans are Christian, but there are also many Muslims, especially on the coast near Lamu or Mombhasa. 

Safety and Ease of Travel

We felt safe the entire trip. In fact, when we were on safari with Porini camps, a Masai guard walked us to and from our tents after dark with a spear and someone born with the sense awareness only time in nature can grant. No one but trained military patrols or police are allowed to carry a gun. Not even on safari. I asked our guide one day when a rhino was huffing at our safari jeep. He laughed it off to say that rhinos don’t really want to hurt anyone and asked, “is it true that people misuse guns in your country?”

No TSA PreCheck needed!

With all these learning opportunities going for it, consider including Kenya on your international worldschooling itinerary. You won’t regret the decision. Instead, you might, like me, be plotting how you can return.

A group of elephants, otherwise known as a parade of elephants

The post Destination Inspiration: Kenya appeared first on Wonder Year Travel.

Fernweh is a German word coming from fern (“far”) and weh (“pain”) – literally, “far pain,” most often translated to English as “a desire to travel,” or, more simply, “wanderlust.”

Our third traveling family is the Diop Family: mom Helga (44), a political scientist from Iceland working in development cooperation; dad Yaya (45), an ex private bodyguard from Senegal; and their children Klara (27), Mariama (22), Daniel (20), Ingibjorg (16), Idrissa (15), Joseph (13), Cheikh (12), Alexander (9), Richlove (7), and Hekla (5). They also have two grandchildren Jökull (22 months) and Salka (20 months).

Please tell us about your family.

Homeschooling in Dakar, Senegal

We are a large family, with nine of us living at home at the moment. I have an incurable travel bug and  cannot stay put in one place for a long time. I’m either traveling with my family; traveling for work, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa; or dreaming of traveling to far away places with daddy and the kids in tow.

Please tell us a bit about your journey.

Our travel style varies. We mostly slow travel, staying for extended periods of time in other countries–most often Africa. At the moment, however, we just finished a two-month trip in Europe to Poland, Italy, and France. 

I work remotely, which allows us to travel when we want and homeschool our children when on the move. Until now, we have taken flights and rented accommodation, but we are preparing a van to bring abroad soon. We believe the van will be a better fit for our large family and be more budget-friendly. 

What was one of the most important ingredients in getting your family on the road – what did you do that worked out well?

The most important part for us was to be able to sustain ourselves financially while on the road, and have a base to return to when we wanted. We tried the “sell all and travel the world“ thing, but that did not work for our family. It is stressful to have children and not have somewhere to call home when you feel like returning to your home country. It also proved stressful not to have a stable income and be able to plan our future financially. Hence, we took a break for some years to build our little base in the countryside of Iceland and secure our income remotely. We are happy and proud to have managed to work it out, and we are excited for our future slow travels.

Buying souvenirs in Senegal

What’s outside your window right now? What fascinates you about where you are?

Last week it was downtown Nice, France. We decided to visit there for three weeks so I could take courses in professional French and all enjoy a sunny European city. It’s amazing to step outside your apartment and walk only 200 meters to a beautiful beach. Today it is the Icelandic countryside, beautiful Icelandic horses and a glacier. Iceland is the most amazing country in the world during the summer. We don’t want to be anywhere else during that time. 

Can you describe a time when learning for your kids or family happened organically and profoundly…when you learned outside the “plan” you started with?

Recently we have been strictly following their curriculum from home and it has worked out fine, but I love when we let the kids choose. Once while in Africa they wanted to make a bow and arrow, so we went to the market, bought everything they needed, and then built it ourselves. Another time our son wanted to learn computer programming, so we signed him up for courses on Khan Academy. I have multiple examples like this when the kids decide what they want to focus on and we follow. When we do that, they are more interested and seem to learn more than when the ideas come from us and are imposed on them.

What have you discovered about your family by being on the road together?

How much I enjoy being with my family without outside distractions, but at the same time how important alone time is. I wouldn’t change being able to show my children the world this way, but I´m happy to mix it up with normal routines back home in Iceland in-between. I’ve also discovered that travel does not solve problems, it magnifies them.

What does community mean to you, and how have you found it during your travels?

Visiting their grandmother’s sister in Senegal

We don’t seek community while traveling. On the contrary, we enjoy not being part of a community and being only us. We like not having to answer to anyone or think about anyone other than just us in our small bubble.

Are there other traveling families you are particularly inspired by? Why are they inspiring?

Yes, I love following:

@nestaautourdumonde we met them during their travels here in Iceland, and we love their view on life and their travel style. They slow travel with their three kids and are expecting the fourth one on the road.

@worldschoolfamily is a large family like ours that homeschools and travels. They just finished a three-month Europe trip and are now creating a base in Portugal. 

@malimish live in their Sprinter van with their three kids and cats. They share their everyday life and show us what life on the road looks like.

@worldtowning have tried it all, starting by living in a town in France, living in an RV driving around Europe, and now living aboard a sailboat. They share vlogs about their daily life. 

@macs_explore for their exceptional photo and video capture skills and their adventures with their two teenage boys. We met during their travels in Iceland and had inspiring talks about travel and life.

What do you wish a fellow worldschooling family had told you before you left home?

It will not be like you expect it to be, everything will go wrong and the kids will get homesick. But that’s ok–it’s all part of the adventure and this journey you are on together. 

Grabbing WiFi where she can, Helga works remotely in Dakar.

What’s your favorite story to share about this experience? 

When I was stuck at the border of Western Sahara and Mauritania at 3 o’clock in the morning, with one suitcase and two kids in tow, trying to hitchhike my way to Senegal. I decided to take public transport from Spain to Senegal because my car broke down in Spain, and I had to be in Senegal in a couple of days for work. I knew everything always works out in Africa, so I decided to just go. And of course it worked out, and we reached Senegal after four days and four nights on the road.

What are you excited about seeing/doing/learning next?

Bringing my van outside of Iceland and experimenting living in it with my family. We are converting it into a camper and hope to be able to give it a try soon.

Many thanks to Helga and her family for spending time with us to share their experiences. You can follow along and learn more about their journey at:

• Facebook: MommyNeedstoTravel
• Instagram: @mommyneedstotravel

Or on their website, www.mommyneedstotravel.com

The post Fernweh Families: The Diops appeared first on Wonder Year Travel.