At the end of our trip, we captured some reflections, including some advice we might give to another family considering a long trip.

Paloma

This year has shown me how many was there are to live, and we are only living one of them. I know I will remember seeing children everywhere in different living conditions living such different lives all over the world, but they are all happy and playful, some more than others. Children pick up on their culture more strongly than adults so observing them shows me more about that country’s culture. I hope I will clearly remember all of the experiences I have had this year, because I will never have those same experiences again.

I think that the things that worked were:

1. The busy schedule (at least for me) worked, but we took such a long break from europe and I think once you are in leisure mode, you’re stuck.
2. Visiting local villages
3. Cooking classes
4. Playing with babies
5. Packing the countries with activities so we don’t have to be in a particular country for a long time
6. The break in spain was good; maybe the rest of europe is optional, didn’t add much to the trip.
7. I want to spend less time in asia, more time in africa and south america.
8. I love passion fruits!!

What are you grateful for about this year? What has it brought to you, and what do you hope to remember?

1. The time with family
2. The ability to see so many different ways to live
3. The babies and children all over the world are always excited to connect
4. We visited hard countries, ones I may never visit again
5. It showed me that the things in the news are not on another planet. They are right in front of us, waiting for people to help change them.

If a friend were going to do a trip like this and asked for your advice, what should they do the same?

1. The packed schedule (although mom didn’t like it, i did)
2. The cooking classes
3. The local activities
4. Visiting developing countries
5. Do the exact school year; leave summer open

What should they do differently?

1. Don’t go to Europe; the break in Spain was good though. Once you are in leisure mode, you’re kind of stuck
2. Less time in Asia—more time in South America and Africa.
3. More exercise throughout the countries (hikes, biking, running,) The gyms aren’t the most fun

Anika

What are you grateful for about this year?

I am grateful for so many things. One of them is my family.

1. Paloma. Annoying, catastrophic Paloma. She has been equivalent to my punching bag this year. Any anger I have, any things I have to say, I hurdle them at her, and she catches them with not very widely open arms. She has also defended me against anything my parents had to say.
2. Dad. As the financier, he should have a mention anyways. I want to thank him for getting us out there, even though I didn’t want him to. Also for the amazing activities and accommodations that we have had.
3. Mom. The complainer in the family. I want to thank her for listening to my complaints. She has been a great advocate for me as well, and I am grateful for that.
4. Pirate. She is still back at home, and I miss her. I want to thank her for being my cheerleader, even in my head. 2 months until I see Pirate. Pirate wouldn’t complain.
5. Sam. Our travel agent has helped us in so many ways. From booking plane tickets to getting us a spot at Machu Picchu’s best hotel, she has been a lot of help.
6. Malar. She has helped me a lot with my writing skills this year. She looked over almost every piece I published to the blog, and gave helpful critiques.
7. My friends. All of them. They have chatted on the computer with me hundreds of times, and kept me present to myself.
8. Kevin Bacon. Thanks for bringing me a smile.

If a friend were going to do a trip like this and asked for your advice, what should they do the same?

1. They should use packing cubes. A travelers greatest weakness is lack of space. This way, you can have a small bag you can carry with you and isn’t too heavy. Trust me. It helps.
2. Get a small suitcase. This way, you can carry it on the plane, and it is not too heavy to be unpleasant to carry.
3. Have an extra cube of emergency candies, because you will need them.
4. Bring your own small pillow. I brought one, and used it at airplanes, airports, hotels, tents, and so many other places. Make sure to bring an extra case for one as well. One to put your head on, and one to get dirt on.
5. Have at least one small backpack in the family. This way, you can use it to carry stuff like groceries, where it would be inconvenient to bring a big one.

What should they do differently?

1. I can’t think of much that went wrong this year, but if you are a kid, get in the action early. Then you can help plan and go to the places you want.
2. Skim over the plan from day-to-day to make sure you aren’t going to places you don’t want to without you knowing. (I have been to way too many religious sites this year.)
3. Go in more of a pattern, instead of hopping from Asia to Africa to Australia and back to Asia again.
4. Plan at least a year in advance. Then you can make sure to go to all of the places you want to go, and probably can get cheaper prices for them too.
5. If you are doing a whole year, leave towards the beginning of the summer, so when you get back you have lots of time to play with your friends.

Hayes

I’m grateful for…

1. It felt like forever at the time, but 10 months is short in hindsight. Thank goodness for photographs and writing along the way! At this moment, 2 days from the end of the trip, I’m so happy we did it.
2. Having a travel agent was awesome. Expensive, but worth it not to have to figure out all the details, get to do a lot of exciting things, and probably do 2x or 3x the quantity of learning than we could have done ourselves. It was also extremely helpful to have someone else to “blame” when things were tough. I think if I were the target of every complaint it would have been a lot more difficult emotionally.
3. I love my girls and my wife even more (is that possible?). I’m very grateful for the time with them, and to have gotten to know them all a bit better. They are great people and I’m proud to be a part of this family.
4. I’m glad I have had them work on year-long-projects. I hope they take their books further, either working with a publisher or self-publishing them before the summer is over. I hope it has helped them learn more and remember more, as well as find some of their personal passions.
5. I’m feeling a bit nervous about going back home! I have to find a job. I’m not sure yet what I want.

I’d do differently…

1. I’m not sure if this would have been possible in our case, but it would be better to have had more time to plan.
2. I would have liked to spend more time with friends around the world.
3. It would have been a good contrast to spend a fair amount of time in one location (like 2 months contiguous) to make friends, be forced to assimilate local customs, etc.
4. While the travel agent was wonderful, the value was not always 100% evident. Sometimes it seemed I could get something similar by choosing the top rated everything on tripadvisor. They do have local guides and drivers who are awesome, and know what is available and what it’s actually like, so that was a valuable service. Because they prebook things, they also helped get things like permits with short notice, which would have been impossible alone. They also save a lot of time and decision-making, so I don’t really have regrets here. 
5. I’d add more group trips with other families where possible. We had a lot of very personal, and often private, tour experiences. On balance this was better, because it let us focus on our interests and not feel like we were part of a herd. But it got lonely, and groups, especially with other families, would have been nice for the social interactions. It would have been interesting to add in a Backroads tour or two during the school holidays, for example.

Rachel

What makes me grateful about this year? What has it brought me, and what do I hope to remember?

I am grateful for the time with Hayes, Paloma and Anika. I am grateful for the incredibly rich and intense learning. I am grateful that I made it home alive. I am grateful for all of the time with friends and family. I am grateful to have a reprise from our life in Palo Alto and the opportunity to witness so many different ways to live.

I think this has brought me  greater awareness of my children – Paloma is alive exploring the world, connecting with people, and strategizing hacks to make people’s lives easier. Anika loves animals. Hayes is an amazing man who has an idea and can put it into action and follow through at a very high level for an extended period of time. It was so hard for me and yet I am in awe of how much we did and how rich each experience was. I understand world religions better. I understand the desperation for sufficient supplies of clean water in every community. I understand that tribalism is one of the core drivers of the human experience. I better understand how incredibly difficult it is to be an adolescent girl in most places in the world and how lucky we are to be alive right now right here – even in such divided times.

I hope to remember how alive Paloma looks when interacting with people all over the world. I hope to remember what rock star dad Hayes has been to the girls and how generous he was with me when I was so uncomfortable. I hope to remember how lucky I am to be alive right now right here.