Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand December 2014 / January 2015 | Page 49

Life & Travel
homesick or missing
people. When
special days
or holidays come
around, you do miss
your family
and friends. We were
able to fly both
of our fathers
out to see us though
and spent
two and a half
wonderful weeks
with them.

and brought up with the idea that
formal education is very important.
So, we didn’t want our kids to fall
behind academically. This caused
a stress for us that, in hindsight,
we shouldn’t have worried about.
The boys are back in school
now and thriving. Plus, they
got to see twelve UNESCO World
Heritage Sites. They saw the Great
Wall of China, the Terra Cotta
Warriors, the Cambodian temples
of Angkor Wat, and Machu Picchu
and more—they certainly learned
a lot about history and culture.

It was also
an adjustment
for our children
to be together
all of the time.
Their disharmony
was at times
challenging.
When one family
member is down,
all are affected when
you stay in small,
often one-room,
places. But I think this trip has helped
the family communicate and cope
better with difficult situations.
IF YOU WERE
TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN,
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE
OR DO DIFFERENTLY?
I would disregard all formal
education. Forget about math,

English, French, and grammar
and just focus on the world or road
school learnings, as they truly
are the most impactful and best type
of learnings around.
I would pack half the stuff we did.
You need so little on the road
and can buy what you need
as you go. The lighter the travel,
the better.
I would research more family
volunteer opportunites beforehand
and tap into organizations such
as Servas International (www.
servas.org), which is an organization
that promotes world peace
and understanding between cultures.
HOW HAS THIS ONEYEAR JOURNEY CHANGED
YOU AND YOUR FAMILY?
We are now even more open to change,
new challenges, and adventures.
We share a closer bond through
the unique experiences that we have
shared as a family—a closeness
and accumulation of life memories that
nobody can ever take away from us.
Many people wait until retirement
to accomplish their dream, but life
is too short and many never
reach their goal due to health
reasons or finances. I can now
die and be content—I have no regrets.
It is a pretty darned good feeling!

What they might remember
the longest, though, are other things.
Felix remembers in great detail
how to make a chicken curry from
scratch, which he learned during
a class in Vietnam. He was the only
kid in the class, and everyone voted
his dish as the best! Emile fell in love
with elephants at the Elephant Nature
Park in Chiang Mai. He now wants
to go into animal conservationism.
While book learning is important,
we think the kids soaked
up a lot of knowledge and inspiration
from the travels alone.
Anoth