"Experience, travel - these are an education in themselves. Euripides"
The Ultimate Classroom
This trip has always been about more than just sightseeing, this is the ultimate learning experience with different teachers guiding us every day. There's history, of course, that's a given, geography and culture too. Plus learning languages, maybe not fluently but enough for us to get by in. Maths will be a daily lesson, the art of making and sticking to a budget. There'll be extra-curricular courses as well; art, music, sport. Hopefully, by the end, we will all appreciate what this global classroom has to offer.
Some of Our Goals
Language
None of us expect to come home fluent but we do want to try our hand at becoming conversational in at least one European language. Right now, we’re learning Italian and Spanish but if we can pick up key phrases in other languages along the way, that’ll be a bonus.
Culture
One of the greatest things about international travel is learning about people and culture and the rituals, beliefs, values and symbols that define a communities’ way of life. If there was ever a time to try to better understand our fellow man and grow in respect and tolerance, surely this is it.
Cooking
We want to be able to cook one local dish everywhere we go, so along the way we’ll be asking for help from local chefs. This is also a time to expand our palates and try different regional dishes too. so join us for a bit of culinary fun.
Activities
Learning how to play the bagpipes in Scotland, sail a yacht in Greece, make a rug in Istanbul, and identify zebra dung in Botswana. These are just some of the experiences we have so far on our agenda. This is all about feeding our curiosity and overcoming our fears.
Life Skills
There are going to be long periods of travelling, queuing and waiting on this trip. This is the time we’ve set aside to learn new things over the course of a year, life skills. Some we’ll use going forward, others we may not. Still, they’re good to have; how to read a map, communicate in sign language, tie a reef knot etc.
Family
There’ll be plenty of internal learning goals on this trip as well. Being together 24/7 as a family, experiencing joys as well as setbacks will challenge us to be kind, patient, generous, to deepen family bonds and experience personal growth together. Ultimately, it’ll be about how to find and nurture genuine happiness.
How You can Help
Want Us To Learn Something New?
If you want us to visit, share an experience, learn a new skill or pay it forward, drop us a line and we’ll do our best to get there.