Wrecking Ball
May 13, 2024
A couple of days ago we passed the One Month To Go mark before we head off on our World Schooling adventure. We still have a lot to do with final wellness and dental visits, prepping the house for the renters and other assorted tasks, but emotionally we are all more than ready.
Recently, despite all the to-dos, I have found (made?) time to read, mostly books about families traveling the world, but others as well like “The Girl Who Fell From The Sky” about a 20 year old Australian woman who survived a fall from 15,000 feet in a skydiving accident and recovered to be able to walk again unassisted. At one point she talks about the “sliding door” aspects of the decisions we make in life and how they lead to encounters with people or experiences. And how, if just the slightest different decision were made we would not meet those people or have those experiences.
I feel that way a bit about taking this trip. Although this world schooling adventure is a deliberate and well thought out decision, not a spur of the moment one, it will still lead to encounters with people and experiences that will be, no doubt, both enriching and challenging. Experiences that, like the sliding door scenario, we would not have if we did not go. That said, a trip like this is less like a sliding door and more like taking a wrecking ball to the side of our house and walking through it.
For some people the prospect of moving every month and having limited wardrobe and possessions would be a waking nightmare. And I totally get that. For others, the allure of immersing in diverse cultures and forging new connections would be a dream realized. And likely for many it would be somewhere in between.
Most people we talk to are excited for us and acknowledge that it's going to be a great experience for the kids and the family. At least that's what they say outwardly. I'm sure there are many who think it's crazy and they wouldn't do something like this for a number of reasons. And while, on balance, we do think it's going to be a positive experience or else we wouldn't be going, I'd be lying if I said there weren't some doubts in the back of my mind that I keep pushing out of reach. Like will this be detrimental to our kids' education? Will this be detrimental to our family dynamics? Will it be detrimental to our marriage? Most of these, we believe, will be tipped in the positive direction, but we certainly talk to, and read accounts of, people who have taken similar adventures that have run into these issues so we know it's a possibility. But we're getting out that wrecking ball, opening up that wall and walking through.
