Hi Fellow Travel Enthusiasts,

Welcome to the 3rd installment of our Newsletter with updates from our year abroad.

General Update:

We are settling into a comfortable travel rhythm.  It feels less like a vacation now and more like something bigger and slower.  We are feeling a bit more like locals, establishing relationships with the local butcher and baker (no candlestick maker yet) and wine shop owners (who happen to be the cousins of our AirBnB host), but it still doesn't feel like we're on a yearlong adventure. 

I think that is partly because all our friends are on summer vacation now and we're enjoying seeing everyone's social media posts of their fun trips. I think once summer is over and other kids are back in school, what we're doing will feel more real for us. 

Note: I think I am settling into a cadence of sending one newsletter every two weeks. That seems about right considering we are slow traveling, but if you crave more, I am posting more regularly on our Five Tickets to Roam Facebook and Instagram pages as well as blog posts on our website www.fiveticketstoroam.com. Social links are on our webpage. 

Where We've Been & Where We Are:

(An overview of the countries and cities we've been since the last newsletter and an update on where we are currently)

Myrtos (Crete), Greece

Since our last newsletter's report on London and Chania, we have settled into our home for the next month, a small beach town in southern Crete called Myrtos (sometimes spelled Mirtos). The population of this small, but popular village on the Libyan Sea is about 500 people, although that number swells with tourists (both foreign and domestic) in the summer and on weekends. Note: The Libyan Sea (which I had never heard of) is the name for this part of the Mediterranean Sea. It apparently isn't too widely used and you may not find it on whatever map you are looking at. 

Myrtos has some lovely "tavernas" and shops and we have been pleasantly surprised that they all open early (or at least at a normal time in the morning) and stay open VERY late - 9pm-10pm for shops and past midnight for most restaurants.   

Given we are traveling for an extended period of time and on a budget we eat in about 2/3 of the time, making simple dishes like pasta in our kitchen or grilling meats and fish from the local butcher on our roof deck grill.

Since we have a car we also take day trips (after morning home school) to other beaches, hikes or other points of interest (more below).

Travel Stories:

(Hopefully humorous stories about real events that happened to us on our trip)

Two for the price of one today.....

Between Some Rocks and a Hot Place

If I knew that tourists on Crete and other Greek Islands were dying in alarming numbers from hiking in the sweltering heat, I probably wouldn't have embarked on an impromptu climb, solo with no water.... 

..... [Click here for full story]

The Myth of Traveling Kindness

An original origin story/myth about a group of travelers who impress a god with their change of heart for someone not as fortunate as they are. Inspired by true events...... [Click here to read the full story].

Homeschool Update:

(Many of you may not care about the home schooling portion of this, but since it's ostensibly the reason we are doing this, I will provide a brief update during these Newsletters.)

Curriculum:

This aspect of our trip is going better than Francesca and I had anticipated on two fronts. First, the kids didn't stage a total rebellion for having to do school in the summer as we had expected them to.  There was a little bit of grumbling, but when we explained that by doing some school now it would (a) make it easier for them when they started with their actual Pathways teacher in September and (b) we would not have to do as much each day when the school year started if we did a little bit each day now.  They seem to accept that and are rolling with it (the Roamers travel motto). 

Second, Francesca and I know, from facilitating our kids' online education during the pandemic, that we are not the most patient teachers and our kids don't listen to us like they do their "real teachers" at school.  So we girded our loins for a frustrating battle. But to our surprise, teaching Finley and Ryan has been super easy.  Ryan basically teaches himself and Finley finds most of her 1st grade recap and some of the 2nd grade prep pretty easy.  Austen, who has some learning development challenges, struggles the most, but after a few days of frustration, mostly on my part, Francesca has largely figured out how to motivate Austen academically and they have settled into a comfortable rhythm.  

After doing some self reflection I realized that my personality - very results and task driven - is not the best to work with Austen. She responds much better to Francesca's more empathic, flexible approach.  We're all finding out our roles on this adventure. :)

Gym Class:

I have tasked myself with coming up with a physical education curriculum during our travels.  While our kids do get plenty of daily exercise swimming and playing in the waves each day, I like to have a special "gym class" for them 3 days per week to take advantage of the surrounding environment in Myrtos - other than just the beach.  So far we have done a rock scramble up a dried out riverbed, a hike to some ancient ruins, stair climbs and some lap swims in the ocean.  We plan to start Monday morning yoga next week although I'm not sure I'll count that as gym class. Sorry kids!

Field Trips:

We reduced our summer home school from 5 days per week to 4 (mostly because they were blazing through the review and prep workbooks we bought them and we want them to last until Pathways starts in August), but we also added a fun field trip every Wednesday on their off day. It was initially every Thursday, but I realized quickly that it would not be conducive to me sticking to my intermittent fasting (36 hours every Monday and Thursday) so we switched it. It works out nicely now that they have school for 2 days, then a field trip, then another 2 days of school before the weekend. 

Tech Free Tuesdays.....on Sundays:

Even before we left, Francesca and I had been planning to have one or two days where we don't use any technology, or at least not screen based tech like laptops, tablets or smartphones.  Once we settled in Myrtos we implemented that plan starting with one day per week.  We initially thought it would be cool to call it "Tech Free Tuesdays", but since some of their school work is online and I also had some work that required my laptop or at least checking and answering emails on my phone, we switched it to Sunday. But we still call it Tech Free Tuesday, we just do it on Sundays. :)  

Interestingly, Francesca and I have had a harder time with this than our kids. They typically only get 30-45 mins of screen time per day (which can be revoked for serious transgressions) and a family movie one or two nights per week (usually on the weekends). But it hadn't occurred to me just how reliant we adults are on our cell phones and how often we turn to them. I found myself challenged as to what to do when I am going to the bathroom (yup, you heard me!), waiting in a checkout line or lying in bed at night or in the morning. At some point we may bump it up to two days per week, but for now I'll try and get through Sunday tech free. 

Blog Posts:

(Blog Posts Published since the last newsletter - in case you missed them on social media)

Sympathy For Minotaur - July 2, 2024

A Gelato Fueled Adventure in Chania Crete - June 25, 2024

London Calling - June 15, 2024

Truth Serum:

(A does of truth about some of the things that did not go according to plan or worries that we've had about the trip)

I was expecting to have more to write in this section.  More second guessing, more worrying about bickering and fighting among the kids and adults due to the prolonged close proximity, especially before we get into a travel groove, but honestly, everything has been pretty chill.  Of course the kids fight (more or less constantly), but no more than they did back home. And given how safe it is here, we are granting - and the kids are appreciating - more freedom to roam by themselves without parental supervision. They will go on beach walks together or to the store to get groceries or Francesca and I will go out for a date night and leave them home.  I am sure that these worries will come and go and be replace by new worries or concerns, but as of this newsletter, there is nothing juicy that I need to come clean about. 

Trip Stats:

(I'm a little reluctant about this section because this trip is supposed to be more about quality and experience than sheer quantity, but I find stats like this interesting nonetheless) 

Here is the link to the trip stats page.

Thanks for joining us on our journey.

Regards,

The Roamers - Dan, Francesca, Ryan, Austen & Finley