A Day in the Life…

This is a post in response to a question from Diane Davis on what a typical day is like for us these days. We decided to split it up into a few different types of days to give a full flavor. It was a combined effort to write this one, led by William!

Travel Day/Arrival Day

These days are usually a little hectic.  We wake up earlier than we’d like in order to pack (which involves fitting a little more than seems possible into our carry-on bags and backpacks), clean up and check out of our hotel or apartment (doing our best not to leave anything behind), and find our way to the airport, train station, or ferry terminal.  Sometimes we find our way using public transportation (e.g. London’s public transportation is excellent!) and sometimes we use taxis or a private driver (e.g. my mom wasn’t interested in trying out the public transportation in Africa).  

When we’re flying somewhere, we have to be attentive to making sure all of our liquids are in quart bags so we can make it through security without the typically-grouchy security workers getting mad at us. That is getting easier as we have made our way through many of our liquid products, but at first it was tough cramming what we had into six quart bags (one per person). 

A few times we have decided that a stop in a city along the way would be worthwhile (e.g. Dubai; Cambridge; Oxford; Verona).  And no matter where we are we always have to be extra vigilant keeping hands on our bags (and younger siblings) and watching out for thieves or pickpockets. A couple questions we are always considering is “When will we eat?” and “Do we have enough water?”  If it makes sense, we end up buying something close to where we leave (like sandwiches at or near the airport or train station), but if it’s a fairly quick trip and we know we will arrive in time for lunch or dinner, we hold off.  For water, we have silicone bottles that we’re always filling with water we buy from stores (except for when we were in Rome, where there was good water from fountains!).

One of the most important aspects of our traveling is communicating with our next place (if it is an apartment), making sure they know when we will arrive so that they can show us to our place. We try to be proactive with our communication since WiFi might be an issue upon arrival. We also have to make sure we have offline maps downloaded onto our phones so we can navigate upon arrival if WiFi is unavailable.

After arriving in a new city and settling into our hotel or apartment, if it is not really late, we typically take a trip to a grocery store.  This might be the sole purpose of our first outing or maybe we will do it on our way back from our first sightseeing trip.  If we’re staying in a hotel, we mostly just get water and maybe a couple snacks, but if we’re staying in an apartment, we also buy bread, butter, milk, cheese, yogurt, and depending on the place, maybe some meats and vegetables for a meal (or peanut butter and jelly!). Sometimes it’s pretty tricky to find a grocery store that meets our needs. In Cinque Terre, the stores were tiny and very limited, and even though we only need basics, it took some searching to find these foods. (And we never found sandwich/toast bread!  And it was surprisingly difficult to find vegetables aside from tomatoes.)  We typically eat out at least once a day but we almost definitely eat out the first day we arrive somewhere.  Our first day tends to be pretty relaxed as we settle in and get acquainted with our surroundings.

Our following days fall into one of these categories:  Sightseeing Days (most typical); Day Trip Days; or Relaxed Days

Sightseeing Day 

A most typical day is a sightseeing day.  We wake up however early is necessary for what is planned for the day and to allow enough time for my parents to get coffee.  Often we have something we’d like to see that we have tickets for early in the morning or something we want to be in line for first thing in the morning in order to avoid crowds or midday heat.  We do a lot of sightseeing on foot (unless we need to save time) because we like to incorporate walking as exercise.  On these days we typically wind up walking 10-13 miles.  We also like to climb the bell towers or cathedrals when that’s an option.  On sightseeing days we always eat at restaurants.  If the hotel offers breakfast we give it a try and for lunch and dinner we find recommendations on TripAdvisor.  We don’t usually do laundry or grocery shopping on these days because the days tend to be pretty full.  It feels really good to sit down at the end of the day.

Day Trip Day

We also have some days where we take day trips.  These are trips my parents have planned to nearby cities or sights but don’t want to make things more complicated by staying there overnight.  We usually get an early start and the first stop is finding good coffee. On our way to Lugano we passed a Starbucks and, because it was familiar and predictable, my mom decided to get a latte. She said it was horrible and gave it to us to drink! I really didn’t think it was that bad.  My brothers and I enjoyed it!  We eat dinner on our way home from our day trip and have a normal bedtime (which is pretty late these days: see below).

Relaxed day around hotel/apartment… homeschooling, resting

Finally, we have relaxed days when we stay closer to “home” and on these days we focus more on homeschooling.  We wake up, get ready for the day, have breakfast (at our apartment—if we’re staying in one—or in the hotel/nearby if not), and get started on our math and other homeschooling.  My parents go out for a bit on their own (to get coffee) and have a little time just the two of them.  When they’re back they’re available to help us with math or other schooling or they do things like schedule blog posts, organize pictures, read, do laundry, etc. These are the days where we also do things like get haircuts or try to find new shoes, shampoo, ibuprofen, or other items we find ourselves needing.  It can be surprisingly tricky to find these things.

Bedtime

Sleeping arrangements are different in each new place. Before bed, we usually get to watch a show on Netflix (a family favorite is Full House or Fuller House).  More recently we’ve also been reading together Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet.  It’s about a boy who moves to East Germany during the Cold War.  We are all really enjoying it!  After watching and reading, my dad prays for us and we say goodnight. By this time it is usually around 11p.m. Much later than at home!!

Homeschooling

Another thing we are learning this year is how to homeschool.  We all do math on Khan Academy and language-learning on Duolingo (specific to the country we are in).  Dr Calvery, who works at Bear Creek, has also been writing region-specific curriculum for us.  It is a mix of different things: learning about politics and history (e.g. the Cold War while in Berlin); literature (Dante’s Divine Comedy while in Florence); church tradition and Rome as a church center (e.g. the Holy See and the Pope’s various communication styles); architecture (the Duomo; La Scala; Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II while in Milan); climate and engineering (MOSE while in Venice); etc. We research the topics using the sources Dr Calvery provides, write about them, and visit the relevant sights in the city.  I really enjoy doing this work; it is totally different from doing school work in a classroom because I can get up whenever I want to eat something and every couple or few hours we pause schooling and do something around the city.  Also, in school we never go to a restaurant for lunch! The transition back to normal school might feel a bit weird at first but I know I will be super excited to get back to Bear Creek and all my friends.