Roamers Report #4 July 20, 2024

Hi Fellow Travel Enthusiasts,

Welcome to the 4th installment of our Newsletter with updates from our Worldschooling year abroad. Note that we have rebranded it as the "The Roamers Report" because, well, why not?

Note: If you  cannot load the pictures or wish to view previous newsletters, you can read this edition and previous ones from our Newsletter Archive on our website at this link.

General Update:

We have come to the end of our time in Greece, our first slow travel stop on our World School adventure. 

When we first started planning this trip I was in favor of super slow travel - like visiting only 4 places/countries for the year and staying for 3 months in each.  One reason is that I was not sure what my work situation would be and if I would have to be working more or less constantly which would not be conducive to moving around a lot. But also I just really wanted to emphasize quality over quantity and make sure we were not just enjoying a year long travel spree, but rather that we were having deeper, more meaningful cultural experiences.  

But I don't make the travel itinerary, Francesca does. Oh of course she'll include me in her thought process, but ultimately she makes the call.  And it's a good thing because after nearly 30 days in Myrtos, Crete, while I have truly loved it, I am DEFINITELY ready to move on, as are the kids. Thankfully Francesca is carefully curating an itinerary that aims for a balance of long term stays of 30 days or more (Myrtos/Greece, Mostar/Bosnia, Chaing Mai/Thailand. etc) with short term "bridge stays" in between (Athens/Greece, Dubrovnik/Croatia, Venice/Italy, etc). I believe this will strike the perfect balance for us. 

The Slow, Slow, Fast! Slow, Slow, Fast! The rhythm feels right. It will be interesting to see if that changes over time or based on the specific place where we are staying.  Stay tuned. 

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 & Vryses, Greece

We have finished up our wonderful month in Myrtos and a 2 day mini trip to the small, off-the-beaten path village of Vryses, about 40 mins from Chania. Francesca planned this short stint as our month at the Myrtos AirBnB was up and she wanted to break up the long drive back to Chania for me (note: I am the designated driver as I am the only one who can drive a stick shift which most of the European rental cars are it seems - unless it's a ploy by Francesca - she makes all the rental car reservations - to get me to drive the whole time). Here is a link to an overall post I did on Myrtos summing up our experience there.

Vryses, is a charming, little one street town. You can tell it doesn't cater to international tourists as the signs are generally not in English as they are with most of the places we've been to in Crete.  I will be publishing a blog post on Vyrses later, but here are some photos of the highlights. 

Athens, Greece

We just finished up a 3 day discovery trip to Athens.  We took the overnight ferry from Chania to Piraeus which was a blast for the kids. I'll be posting more about Athens in a few days (hopefully), but Athens was all about history and visiting some of the main tourist sites.  Some initial pics below.

We also managed to meet up with the family of one of Finley's friends from 1st grade. The dad is of Greek descent and was visiting some relatives at the same time we were passing through. Finley LOVED seeing her friend Olive. In fact, our friends were staying with some local friends of theirs who had kids of similar ages so it was a big kid party and they all enjoyed hanging out together and playing hide and seek, tag and other games while the parents got to do some adulting.  

I think all the kids are missing their friends - in the way that all kids do over the summer when they don't see them every day.  Ryan has been able to FaceTime or message with a few of his friends so far and Austen has written a few postcards to friends.  We'll see how they feel as time goes on. It will be interesting to see if they miss their friends more or if they get used to not seeing or thinking about them.  

Dubrovnik, Croatia

We are now spending three days of discovery in Croatia's Dubrovnik (based in a small village nearby called Stikovica) before taking the bus to Mostar, Bosnia's lush, idyllic village nestled on the Neretva River where we'll spend the next month. I'll be posting on Dubrovnik after I catch up on Vryses and Athens, but here are some highlights.

Travel Stories:

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

Gentlemen, Start Your Bouzoukis!

The Band was hot, figuratively and literally.  The two flashy bouzouki players were dueling speedy solos while the quiet classical guitarist seated in between them was adding a steady, familiar sound as a base underlying the frenetic picking of the ancient Greek instruments blazing to his right and left.  And the sweat was dripping profusely from all three troubadours on account of the evening heat despite being up in the mountains. 

So how did I come to be in a remote mountain tavern with this international group of amazing people listening to talented local musicians, one of whom coincidentally turned out to be our AirBnB host, drinking Raki late into the night? If you're interested in finding out, click here for 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.)

As mentioned previously, Francesca and I have found the teaching of our kids to be not so difficult thus far. I think not having the distractions of 9-5 work and other social responsibilities to interfere, where we can just focus on being present for their education, makes it easier and more productive.  

That's not to say that it always goes smoothly each day, but Francesca and I have naturally developed a team teaching system where if one of us is getting frustrated the other one will seamlessly step in and take over.  Initially we would have to ask or offer, but now it's just a look we give or get and we put the transition into action. 

And lo and behold, I actually am starting to feel a joy in watching the kids learn and start to understand concepts. I am beginning, for the first time, to understand why teachers teach young kids, despite relatively low compensation for their skills and having to deal with overly involved parents. In fact, I would be lying if it didn't cross my mind that we may feel a let down or a distraction when the kids actually start their official homeschool program with Pathways interrupting our groove. I never thought I would say that! :)   Don't worry Pathways people (some of them are part of this distribution list) I am sure we'll be grateful to have the support of the Independent Study Consultant come August. :)

Oh and we recently added Yoga Mondays to our Health & Wellness/PE curriculum. :) 

Blog Posts:

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

I know that I said previously that my blog posts will not merely be travelogues recording where we went and what we did, but rather more human interest stories with a touch of humor.  And I believe I have stayed true to that, however, that said, we do like having a link we can send to friends who travel that sums up our thoughts on a particular destination.  

As with Francesca's and my first Round The World trip in 2009 where we blog post links to send to people who are looking for travel ideas, we hope our Five Tickets to Roam website and blog posts will serve a similar purpose. 

To that end, I have written a blog post that is primarily a travelogue about Myrtos in the hopes that others may consider this wonderful little beach town if they travel to Greece/Crete. The link to that blog post can be found below. 

Magical Myrtos: The Hidden Gem of Crete July 15, 2024

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)

As I mentioned in the last Newsletter, many of the concerns we had about our travels have proved not to be an issue, at least not yet.  However, one new concern has presented itself as we adjust to life on the road.  

While I would not say the Jahns Family are "beach people" we have all enjoyed having the ocean in such close proximity as we not only use it 2 or 3 times per day as a way to beat the heat, but it has also served as a 2-4 hour daily time suck and cure for boredom. Sure, as an adult we understand that there is so much to see and do here, but as a child without a car at their personal disposal and none of the typical distractions like after school activities, play dates with friends, etc the temptation to want to resort to being on a screen can be overwhelming. Hence our newfound love of the ocean.  You're bored?  Let's go to the ocean!  

So what's the concern?  Well, as we prepare to leave Greece and head to Mostar, Bosnia for a month, it's dawning on us that there will be no ocean to provide a daily activity that the kids love.  There is a river, but we are not sure about how accessible it is for swimming and there is no pool in our AirBnB dwelling. And given that Mostar is a pretty small tourist town, we are concerned that it won't be long until we hear calls for "We're bored!  We want more screen time!".  But we also are committed to not increasing screen exposure on this trip and, if anything, we hope this trip will lead to less of a reliance on screens for amusement. 

In Johnathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation, he writes that when teenagers have their smartphones taken away for a week or more (i.e. as punishment for something), while the teen initially reacts with anger and disdain, within a few days they go through a complete metamorphosis, and seem happier and more engaged and, surprise, surprise, they find creative ways to have fun that don't involve their phone.  Likewise, we know that if we weather the initial onslaught of discontent, our kids will eventually figure out fun things to do no matter what is available to them in a small town. 

Of course, we could be completely wrong. We'll see.  Stay tuned!

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