Roamers Report #16 May 15, 2025

Dear Fellow Travel Enthusiasts,

Welcome to the 16th installment of the Roamers' Report!

It’s been nearly a month since my last update, and a lot has happened. We wrapped up our action-packed time in Peru with a trek to Machu Picchu and a memorable week volunteering at an animal rescue sanctuary deep in the Amazon rainforest. After that, we enjoyed a few relaxing days in Lima, catching up with friends and exploring the city.

We’ve now moved on to the Galápagos Islands—but I’ll save that for the next update so this one doesn’t stretch into epic length territory. Check out our posts on Facebook if you want a sneak peak. 

I also want to circle back to something I mentioned last time: we had hit a wall in our travel experience and were wondering if 10 months was our family’s limit. I’m happy to report that the mojo is back! Francesca rediscovered her spark in Peru, and I found mine here in the Galápagos. That excitement for travel and exploring new places is burning as brightly as ever.  And now we have the opposite fear, that we won't be ready to return in little over a month's time. 

That said, the pace of “fast travel”—moving every couple of days—has taken a toll. So we’re all very much looking forward to arriving in Panama, where we’ll be staying in one rental house for a full month. The idea of not packing and unpacking constantly sounds like a dream at this point. Also, sharing one hotel room in the Galápagos has meant tension levels among the kids have spiked (like clockwork), and the subsequent parental blowups are... let’s say, frequent. We’re hopeful that our upcoming four-bedroom home in Panama—thanks to the People Like Us home exchange community—will provide some much-needed breathing room. 

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

Here are some pics from our adventures in Lima, the Amazon rainforest and The Sacred Valley including Urubamba, Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu).

Francesca, Ryan and Finley got off at km 104 to hike the Inca Trail to the Sun Gate, while Austen (she'd had enough hiking for this life time in Nepal) and I stayed on the train and enjoyed a Father-Daughter day in Aguas Calientes.  The rest of the fam met up with us later that evening.  The next morning we headed to Machu Picchu together in the mist and rain. 

We spent an amazingly rewarding week with R.A.R.E.C (Rainforest Awareness Rescue and Education Center) located about 30 miles from Iquitos in the Amazon Rainforest. The non profit focuses on rescuing and rehabilitating Amazonian wildlife, including species such as manatees, ocelots, tapirs, anteaters, sloths, and various primates including white bellied spider monkeys. The organization also aims to educate the local community on sustainable practices that reduce pressure on the rainforest.  

Our tasks included cleaning animal cages, prepping food and feeding the anmials, creating enrichment activities for the monkeys and even a community outreach where the vets go into the nearby town of Petroleros to do checkups on the local dog population free of charge.

We were really proud of the kids who worked very hard in the sweltering heat under constant attack by mosquitos and even the threat of an escaped Spider Monkey.  And they understood the reasons that we were not allowed much contact with the animals - this was not a petting zoo or an eco-tourism play, but rather an ethical rescue and rehabilitation center where human contact and in some cases interaction was limited for their safety and wellbeing. The kids took it in stride and learned how important the work RAREC is doing is for these animals.

The human element was culturally enriching as well as there were so many nationalities represented at RAREC including USA, Canada, France, Spain, Peru, Colombia, England, Scotland, Israel and the Czech Republic.

We also got to take a few cultural field trips like a boat ride up the Amazon to spot pink river dolphins and a visit to a native Kukama tribe family. 

We explored the city on bikes on day.  Tiring, but fun.

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

Intro 

THE TRAVELERS' TWENTY

My lungs were radiating fire as I made my way up Calle Retiro—the steep slope leading to our Airbnb in Cuzco, Peru. What started as a run had downgraded to a jog, then to a labored walk. Sure, I could try to blame the altitude, but we’d just spent three weeks in Nepal at even higher elevations. That excuse was flimsy at best.  And altitude certainly doesn’t explain the ache in my knees or the noticeable expansion of the soft roll encircling my midsection. Let’s be honest: that roll didn’t suddenly appear at age 55—but it had definitely thickened to a new level. 

Before we embarked on this year-long travel odyssey, a few friends asked how I planned to keep from gaining weight on such a long trip. It’s universally accepted—by me, at least—that when you're on vacation, healthy habits take a backseat to street food, late dinners, and gelato at any hour. You gain a few pounds, no big deal, and shed them once you're back home and on a routine.

But what about extended travel? 

Click here to read the full story.

In case you missed the previous Travel Stories, here is a link to the archive.

Travel Stories 

(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.)

On the homeschool front we've been in an interesting phase where we've been fast traveling so not as much time to sit and tackle the "three Rs" reading, Riting and Rithmatic, but we've had plenty of amazing experiences for the kids to draw and write about so those have mainly been the assignments in Peru and The Galapagos so far. 

They also participated in some structured classes while at RAREC in the Amazon rainforest.  The girls participated in a conservation class and Ryan attended a class on .  

All of us participated in classes on butterflies and moths and one on frogs and toads followed up by some field research.  

They do have their end of year assessement tests coming up though so we'll be hitting the books again in Panama. 

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

Peru: Lovely Lima!

Peru: The Mystery of Machu Picchu

Peru:The Sacred Valley - Urubamba & Ollantaytambo

Peru: Culturally Rich Cuzco

Nepal: Smokey Mountain Pokhara

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

I kind of stole my own thunder on this one by mentioning it at the top of the update.  I'll just cut & paste here to fill in the section. :) 

I also want to circle back to something I mentioned last time: we had hit a wall in our travel experience and were wondering if 10 months was our family’s limit. I’m happy to report that the mojo is back! Francesca rediscovered her spark in Peru, and I found mine here in the Galápagos. That excitement for travel and exploring new places is burning as brightly as ever.  And now we have the opposite fear, that we won't be ready to return in little over a month's time. 

Here are our Cultural Observations post for countries we have visited for at least one month.  A caveat as you read these, they are not all "cultural" in the typical sense of the word and none are meant to be taken in a negative light, but merely just some observations from an observant family of travelers. 

Nepal Cultural Observations

Indonesia Cultural Observations 

Vietnam Cultural Observations 

Philippines Cultural Observations 

Thailand Cultural Observations 

Morocco Cultural Observations 

Spain Cultural Observations 

Bosnia Cultural Observations 

Greece Cultural Observations 

(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) 

I am getting a bit more comfortable with keeping the trip stats.  As time goes by and the stats grow, it is getting fun to track the various cities we've been to and the modes of transport we've taken, etc. 

Here is a quick list of countries we've been to so far on this trip. They are places we have stayed overnight for at least one night. The bold ones are places we've lived in for an extended period of time (over 3 weeks). 

• United States

• United Kingdom

• Greece

• Croatia

• Bosnia and Hercegovina

• Slovenia

• Austria

• Italy

• Spain

• Portugal

• Morocco

• Romania

• Thailand

• Philippines

• Taiwan

• Hong Kong

• Vietnam

• Indonesia

• Nepal

• Peru

• Ecuador (Galapagos)

Here is the link to the full trip stats page.

Thanks for joining us on our journey. I have tried to keep to my self imposed routine of sending a Roamers' Report every 2 weeks, but it hasn't always worked out that way. But I do post more regularly on social media (mostly FB, but some Instagram too) so if you want more real time updates please follow our Five Tickets to Roam FB page .

Regards,

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