Do Overs?

We are now exactly one year and six days into our one-year around-the-world trip, for which we quit our jobs, jumped off the cliff, home schooled our children, and traveled to 19 countries around the world.

We are about to fly to Rhode Island, where we typically spend our summer vacation with family and friends.  After that, we will move to Myanmar and get on with our "regular" lives of living in a foreign country doing humanitarian and development work and attending international schools.

As I reflect on our trip, and think about the big picture, and as we visit friends here in Southern California, I think about what I would do differently, if we were to start the trip over again.

I would:

1.  Go slower and visit fewer places.  Upon the advice of people who had already taken similar trips, we revised our trip itinerary several times, slowing it, and reducing the number of countries and places we planned to visit.  

I still think, however, that we planned too much and didn't allow enough down time.  

I would go at a much a slower pace.  Visit fewer countries.  See fewer sights.  I would plan more "rest stops".  I would allow time for us to just be in a city or town or village, to experience life in different places.  I would allow more time for processing all that we say and all that we did.  Time to just "be".

The Cara Mia off Catalina Island, where we spent four days with my childhood friend, Edie, on her gorgeous sailboat, lounging and catching up - a perfect "rest stop" on our Big Trip.

2.  Take school less seriously.  Except for math, we didn't need to take schooling so seriously.  As long as they were reading regularly, and writing regularly, the girls didn't need as much formal schooling as we did.  They learned so, so much from everything we did and saw.  By osmosis.  By doing.  By experiencing.  By participating in the planning.  By asking questions of our guides and our new friends and acquaintances.  By seeing and experiencing and becoming so accepting of so many diverse foods and ecosystems and people and clothes and cultures and religions and lifestyles and values.  There are so many ways to do things and the "other" is also "right".  This is what it means to be an world citizen.

3.  Take strong, well-made roller suitcases instead of backpacks.  There were very, very few instances in which we actually needed backpacks.  We always checked bags when flying (because we had toothpaste and shampoo and first aid gels, etc., etc.,  which exceeded the liquid limits found everywhere with carry-on bags).  And there were many time in which we would have had a much easier time (less sweat) had we pulled along a small suitcase with wheels.  We didn't need to "prove" we were travelers by carrying backpacks instead of suitcases.

4.  Plan side trips with part of the family, in various configurations, to separate from time to time.  Maya and I took a trip on our own at the beginning of the trip.  We left Mira with family friends at the end of our trip.  I took three different week-long trips on my own during our Big Trip.  Rob went off for a long boys' weekend for four days at one point while we were in Mexico.  These were fantastic breaks, but we should have planned time for more little side trips with two of us going in one direction while the other two went in another while we were on our Big Trip.  One year is a long time to be together 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week, for one year.

Photos of Rob and I during a rare four-hour period of being away from the kids while at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California, USA

All in all, it has been an absolutely fantastic year!  We have learned a lot about ourselves, about each other, and about our relationships with each other.  But I'd do things slightly differently if I were doing it over again.  If I was making recommendations to other families wanting to take a similar trip, I'd suggest they do things a little differently than we did it.

None-the-less, I would absolutely recommend a trip like this to anyone and everyone.  Life is fragile and short.  You might not be here tomorrow.  Take a leave-of-absence.  Take a sabbatical.  Quit your jobs.  Travel with your kids for a fair length of time while they're old enough to remember the trip.  Take a risk.  Do it.  Experience new things.  Create memories.  Spend time with loved ones.  Carpe diem!

-  Nadia

Happy Father's Day!

To Rob, an amazing father to our amazing daughters!

Love, 

Nadia 

Winding Down

It's hard to believe, but we are down to the last couple of weeks of our "Big Trip".

Unlike other portions of our trip, since we're in the western states of USA, we are spending our time with long-time friends and with family I haven't seen in years.  While we're still exploring new things, much of our time is spent story-telling and answering questions about our year-long, 19-country adventure.

Some of the Al-Alawi clan at the Grand Canyon:

Saif, Amira, Mira, Nadia, and Kamal (back row)

Alia and Maya (front row)

One question I've been asked a few times is "are you tired of it?"  (or varieties of that question, such as "are you ready to stop").

In all honesty, I'd have to say 'yes, I'm ready to end the trip'.

It has been a fantastic year, full of adventures and learnings and discovery of all kind, but...

We know that if all goes well, we will settle in Myanmar (aka Burma) for the next few years.  That in itself is an adventure.  Where in Yangon will we live?  In an apartment or a house?  Where will the girls go to school?  Will we finally get a new dog (to "replace" Sawa, the white German Shepherd who had been part of the family for 14 years)?  What is it like on the coast of Myanmar?  And how about the north - we only visited Yangon and central Myanmar when we were there in November.  And what about the other expats - what are they like?  I want to end the trip mostly so that I can find the answers to these questions!

I'm also ready to stay in a place with a kitchen for more than just a week or two.  I like eating fresh fruits and vegetables.  I like creating delicious meals from them.  I like being able to control what and how much I eat (especially now that we're in USA where food habits tend to be pretty different from our family food culture).  I miss being able to open a fridge and make a quick and simple snack or meal without having to go to a restaurant for it.

And (while I hate to admit it), I'm looking forward to wearing some different clothes -  I'm tired of my four or five shirts!!  I want a few more items of clothing.  I don't want to HAVE to do laundry every few days.

Nadia

Wrapping Up

As Mira and I wrap up with our school, I realize how soon the trip will be over. In less than two weeks, we will have been on the road for a whole year. We have visited 19 countries, and over 60 cities, not even counting the ones we only went to for the day or the small villages/campsites we have spent the night in. How many 15 year olds get to say they have visited 19 countries? Let alone that many in just one year. It's been amazing. We have had so many adventures. From giant railway station rats, to zip lining into tree houses, to swimming with sea lions. Before we left, I couldn't imagine traveling for a whole year, but now, I can't imagine going back to normal life. RIP Alaroni Big Trip. Maybe we shall do it again one day.

Maya

Back in the US of A

We are now back in USA, on the mainland, and I'm suffering from culture shock.  USA is so, so different from where we have been traveling for the past 11 months.

Being in USA means that we now have access to anything and everything we could want, from organic gluten-free snacks to shoes of every size and width to 50 different types of corn flakes.  It also means that we are bombarded with marketing and advertising.  Buy!  Buy!  Buy!  New!  Improved!  Latest model!  No need to repair that old one!

Being in USA means that we have access to some of the most advanced healthcare in the world (as well as tons of junk food and fast food restaurants!).  It also means that drugs are promoted for every ailment (instead of lifestyle changes), a large majority of the population are unhealthy and on medicine of some kind, and medical care facilities are on every other street corner.

Being in USA means that the standard of living and average income are both relatively high.  It also means that money is the center of the universe and people are judged by how much money they earn, how big their house is, and what kind of car they drive.

It's a different kind of place, in good ways and bad ways.  Either way, it's weird to be in USA after a year of exploring other cultures.

Nadia