How Are We Doing?
Cover Photo: Photograph of the nearly full moon covered by clouds that tease the Kenyans with half-hearted promises of rain. The mystique of this image portrays both a glimmer of the sight to come and an eeriness of disappearing light, depending on the movement of the clouds and of course, your perspective. The mixture of the anticipation and angst perfectly captures my mood.
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We are officially at the 9.5-month mark of continuous global travel, and in central Africa no less! It is surreal to know that people birth babies in this time and yet it has all seemed to fly with uncontrollable speed. Now finding ourselves in the last quarter of our travel year, comes with a flood of mixed emotions. Some days we don’t want to go back home—don’t want to wake up from this dream. Other days, we are tired and ready to sleep in our own beds and enjoy the comforts of a routine. While the 90 days we have left will likely go quickly, we intend on savoring every last second.
In terms of trip documentation, we are behind. On social media, we are posting about three countries ago, and it has been weeks since our last blog post. I am in the midst of five write-ups, literally—Morocco, Palestine/Israel, Rwanda, Traveling Maxims, and South America. Each post averages over four-typed pages long, which leaves me to think that I am in actually in the middle of a dissertation that will be too dense for anyone to read, except for maybe my dad who remains my #1 fan. The kids and Kapil have been writing too. Kapil is in the midst of two posts (that I know of), and the kids have some amazing journal entries that just need to be transcribed and shared. We’ve begun creating some videos of our trips and have enough material to make at least 36 videos (one for each country/location) but will start with six!
Nine months into this adventure, the kids have finally hit their academic stride. They wake up and try and tackle “school” before and after breakfast and are starting to reap the benefits. Kenza and Kaysee both finished their math and language arts curricula three months early and Zayan is on track to finish shortly. We have supplemented their curriculum with Cambridge workbooks that we found at a bookstore in Kenya and they are all still keeping up with their Spanish. The best part is that we are reading like crazy. “Books and Breakfast” and/or “Books and Bed” have become regular activities for all of us, as we get so engrossed in our reads, that we can’t seem to put them down. The feeling is quite contagious, but still, when someone doesn’t feel like reading the back-up activity seems to be equally engaging—drawing/coloring of some kind. Over the last two weeks, the pace of school and avid reading has left me wondering, “why the heck did it take so long to get into the rhythm?”
Kapil and I have officially redone 1st, 3rd, and 7th grades. We have become experts in all things Algebra, Geometry, English/Grammar, Spanish, History, Geography, and Life Sciences—well, at least for elementary and middle school. While teaching can be extra time consuming, with the positive attitudes of late, I actually find myself looking forward to school time.
We are in the midst of trip planning for Madagascar and South Africa (which will be at the end of May), and haven’t locked-in much else. Seeing how the kids dominated the Patagonia “W” circuit and enjoyed hiking about 100 kilometers in a week, we unexpectedly swapped our Vietnam/Cambodia trip for a 19-day tent-camping trek through the Nepali Himalayas. Which means that we have somewhat of a plan until mid-June.
All of this is to say that life on the road has been busy. The constant togetherness, pace of travel, and trip documentation has eaten-up even the littlest slivers of reflection time…and we have been experiencing some heavy stuff. From genocide and violence, to poverty and poaching, our family has absorbed it all with curiosity and compassion.
As the kids have gotten more comfortable with traveling, their independence has soared. They pack well, wake up at odd hours, handle redeyes like champs, and are flexible with airport lines, security checks, plane seat assignments (even if that means separate seats), and everything else. They have become great little (or not so little) travelers. Before every flight Kenza and I have routines of perfume trials at the Duty Free shops; during flights, the kids enjoy school, movies, and a soda (depending on how long the flight is); and after, the kids fill out their immigration forms and without prompting fall into unspoken roles: Zayan grabbing luggage off of the belt with Kapil, Kenza finding a luggage trolley, and Kaysee floating between the two roles, helping both with luggage and a second cart.
In the beginning, Kapil and I traded-in our couple and individual time for family togetherness. Only going to a lobby or a porch step to sit together to steal quick moments. I recently found an “invitation” from Kenza, written in the first few months, encouraging us to have a 1-hour date outside of our hostel room! It was a big gesture for a small moment that seemed next to impossible to capitalize on. But over time, increased confidence has organically produced these opportunities without formality. Now, for the most part, Kapil and I get to sleep in the same bed/room (as the kids have enjoyed their own space) and depending on the place, we get to indulge in early morning individual time (Kapil: running/working out, and me: writing/reading) and quick 1-hour dates here and there (eating breakfast, watching a sunset, etc.).
This was the “coupon” the kids gave us a few months into our trip, when we were in Costa Rica (Aug 2018)
This was a picture I found on my camera (taken by Kaysee) while Kapil and I were catching a sunset in Zambia (April 2019). Though this photo is clearly shot with a very dirty camera lens, it is a precious photo and a cute reminder that we are always being watched :)
Honestly, we remain so grateful. We have actively lived about 275 days of gratitude and we continue to do so. We can count the sicknesses on one hand—Zayan’s ear fungus (Amazon), Kapil’s frostbite and resulting shingles (Switzerland/Morocco), stomach flu for all of us (Morocco), and minor colds/stomach discomfort here and there. And aside from feeling far away from friends and family going through health difficulties and our personal troubles back home—storage unit break-in and bank fraud where someone in The Bronx (NY) pretended to be me and withdrew a total of $19k over 5 separate branches in two hours—we’ve been lucky. We haven’t been robbed abroad, lost anything of importance, or faced a problem we couldn’t solve (by God’s grace). We’ve overcome some very scary situations but have remained alive to tell the tale—at least thus far. We remain humbled by our planet’s fragile beauty, positively overwhelmed by our ever-growing global family, and ultra-committed to being an active contributor to solutions of peace, conservation, and empowerment of the vulnerable.
Blah, blah, blah. As I re-read what I just wrote it sounds like bliss…and it is 85% of the time. But that 15% is filled with crummy attitudes and generally getting on each other’s nerves. There are still arguments, tears, and daily “consequences” for someone. The kids miss their friends and our family, and because our internet is not reliable and now have 10+ hours difference between them and us, other than texting, we don’t get to communicate with others all that frequently. In fact, until recently, Kenza was debating whether she should fly home a few months early to be with family (mostly because she still gets a bit nervous for new experiences and is unsure about her interest in trekking the Himalayas).
The short summation of the 15% is simple—we are tired. Thirty countries in 9.5 months means that we move around quite a bit. Beyond taking in new sights, smells, and adventures, we are constantly sleeping in new beds in new places and never stay long enough to really unpack. We are always alert for critters, cautious of water, and never know where to put the toilet paper. The planned 100+ days of malaria pills has been tossed out the window due to stomach issues and our sunscreen and bug spray supply has dwindled. Our over-worn clothing is starting to fall apart and our familial water conservation (code for, sporadic showers), means that we probably smell. Kapil recently pointed out that the cleanest part of any place we stay is always the shower!
Now, we all find ourselves starting to think about our upcoming return home. We romanticize about the foods we will eat, the conveniences of our modern lifestyle we will experience, and all the fun we will have in reuniting with friends and family. The kids have created lists of things they want to do with their weekends, from rock climbing and hiking, to short trips and sleepovers. Personally, I’ve dreamt of my first day back at home (before diving into work), which would go something like this—waking up without an alarm clock; drinking an early morning French-pressed dark roasted coffee; enjoying a guaranteed hot shower; sending a quick email or two (with Pandora music playing in the living room) because we have reliable Wi-Fi; dropping off the kids to school for someone else to teach them; getting a facial and pedicure; reflecting for hours (on the trip, on finances, on a new car, on the new “to do” list); visiting with family; and eating a box of Hot Tamales and full Ciscero’s cheese pizza.
I have no illusions that reintegration will be easy. I am sure that depression will soon follow the three-weekish honeymoon (enough time for us to get back into our home and routine). Though we will likely still be reliving this year of travel through reflective writing and social media posts, the actual experiences will seem like a distant memory. We will have to carry our traveling orientations of wonderment and gratitude back into our “normal” lives…but make no mistake, we will be envisioning our next adventure!
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Enjoy our first true venture into the video world—a quick introduction to our family embracing our new identity as travelers and stay tuned (by subscribing to our YouTube channel here or search: Franklin Street Globetrotters) for our upcoming regional videos!
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