Austen's Reflections

June 12, 2025

1. What was your favorite part of the trip?

My favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the malls because I like shopping. I like buying stuff from all the different H&M’s. No matter what country we’re in, all the H&M’s are the same and that makes me feel like  I’m at home.

2. How do you think you grew as a person as a result of this trip?

I think I grew as a person because I’m more independent now. I would have never gone to the bathroom by myself before the trip. I couldn't go to the grocery store by myself before this trip and now I feel comfortable going to the grocery store by myself.

3. What was the hardest part of traveling for a year?

The hardest part of traveling for a year was being in close quarters together.   I wish I had more space for myself. That would've been nice. Some days I felt like we were traveling too much. 

4. How did “worldschooling” compare to learning at your home elementary or middle schools?  Be sure to consider both positive and negative aspects.

Worldschooling is different to learning at my school. I feel like there was more schoolwork in homeschooling even though there is really more time in elementary school. But in homeschooling we have a field trip every week while in elementary school we only have four field trips a year. Overall I prefer being in elementary school because I get to see my friends.

5. What culture did you find the most interesting to you and why?  A culture can be a country (Morocco) or region (ie. Basque culture) or a religion (like Buddhist or Islamic culture).

The culture I found the most interesting was the Basque culture because of its little villages built around a town square. I also enjoyed watching a band play music on the weekends. Food in Spain is really good, especially the pastries.

6. How did it feel to travel with your family for a whole year?  Be sure to consider positive and negative factors. 

It felt exciting to travel around the world with my family. But I felt like I was getting less alone time with mommy and daddy. I felt like I was getting less alone time with mommy and daddy because we always had stuff planned.

7. What, if anything, would you do differently if you were to do this again?

If we were to do this again I would make the trip shorter and there would be less traveling. We would stay in one place for a little while. When we travel so much I get too tired.

8. Would you want  to do a trip like this again? If yes, where would you want to go?

I would want to go on another trip like this again and I would want to see Finland. I want to go to Finland because I want to see the northern lights. I also want to go to Finland because I want to see Santa's village.  I went to Japan before the trip with just my mom, my dad and me. I want to go  again but with my siblings so I can teach them how to make fake food.